The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is a high performance variant of the Challenger equipped with a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI engine rated at 707 hp (527 kW) and 650 lb⋅ft (881 N⋅m) of torque. Also notable, this engine is also available in the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat full-sized sedan, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk SUV, and as the Hellcrate engine swap kit. The inner driving light on the left front has been removed to allow air to get into the engine resulting in more torque, and the wheel wells are different from the standard SRT to accommodate the 20-inch aluminum wheels.

The SRT Hellcat is equipped with two separate key fobs; use of the “black” fob limits engine output to 500 hp (373 kW), while the “red” fob enables full output capability.

The Hellcat has a quarter mile time of 10.85 seconds; this was accomplished with street legal drag tires. On stock tires the Hellcat was able to achieve 11.2 seconds at 125 mph (201 km/h) on the quarter mile.

Seriously, this is a difficult car to launch on a sticky drag strip, let alone the public-road-like conditions on which we test. Its launch traction is easily overwhelmed by the engine’s massive amount of torque.

Although standing-start acceleration runs in the Hellcat are breathtaking, the real eye-widening happens once it’s rolling. Top-gear acceleration from 30 to 50 mph and from 50 to 70 mph happens in 1.8 and 2.3 seconds. Passing other traffic poses no worries beyond avoiding the attention of the local constabulary. Booting the gas pedal at anything less than triple-digit speeds goes something like this: The big coupe squats back, the transmission quickly kicks down to a lower gear, and the car rockets forward, its rear tires slipping and fighting to maintain contact with the road.

A tamer Hellcat experience can be found within the “SRT Performance Pages” of the car’s standard 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen infotainment system. Here, owners can adjust the Hellcat’s dampers, traction control, shifting, and horsepower settings. The latter function offers options to keep the stable doors open and let all 707 horses run free or to corral 207 of those ponies. The same settings can be accessed by swapping between the Hellcat’s red and black proximity keys—the former defaults to the high-horsepower mode and the latter to the less-powerful option. Either way, the Hellcat remains a handful. If the goal of the lower-horsepower setting was to give Hellcat owners a more civil driving experience, then Dodge failed—in a good way.