An SRT Car More Powerful than a Viper V-10?

wayoflife

wayoflife

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Well this sure will be interesting as hell if in fact the new Hellcat Challenger ends up being more powerful than a Viper V-10....

SRT’s ‘Hellcat’ Supercharged HEMI May Be More Powerful Than Viper V-10
spy-shots-of-a-2015-dodge-challenger-srt8-powered-by-the-hellcat-supercharged-hemi-v-8_100435715.jpg

Dodge is set to introduce a mild update for its Challenger for the 2015 model year, an update that's expected to include the addition of a new supercharged HEMI V-8 for the range-topping SRT model. The new supercharged HEMI V-8, which has been nicknamed the Hellcat, is believed to be a 6.2-liter unit, and according to some recent comments from SRT boss Ralph Gilles it may just be more powerful than the 640-horsepower V-10 in the Viper supercar.

"We have a situation where, you know-- we may have a situation--where the flagship car is not the most powerful car in our arsenal,” Gilles told Hot Rod magazine. “So we have an internal horsepower race as well as an external one."

The Challenger SRT with the Hellcat will likely be a special model, similar to the 2014 Chevrolet Z/28 which is priced at $75k. This means pricing will probably fall well north of even the Challenger SRT 392’s $46k starting price, which makes sense if the car ends up the most powerful in SRT’s lineup.

The good news is that the mighty mill is expected to end up in other SRT products. Let’s hope one of them is a hardcore Viper developed along the lines of the GTS-R racing version; such a car might just be the ticket to dethroning the 2015 Corvette Z06 in the American supercar wars.

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/srt-hellcat-supercharged-hemi-may-more-powerful-viper-160012740.html
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Can't wait to see it :cool:
 
LOL!! No kidding!! I just hope a few people I know will be able to get their hands on one for some R&D :D
 
This will probably end up like the grand national back in the '80s when they were faster than the vette. Had to stop production on them because God forbid they build something faster than their top of the line sports car.
 
SDG said:
Yea me too! They were taking bids on the viper assembly plant at one point.
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I read somewhere last week that they have an abundance of the new '14 vipers. I'm sorry, but when you overproduce a $110,000 base price super car, you're gonna have a little trouble selling them. My two cents
 
SRT is in a crappy corporate position where Fiat will not allow them the tools and the room necessary to make the Viper what it needs to be. Viper sales are non-existent for a two fold reason. It is too expensive for what it currently is as offered and more importantly it is handcuffed by fiat not allowing Viper anywhere near their top production car the Ferrari F12. This includes not allowing the HP to be close, does anyone believe the largest displacement motor available in a car is only capable of 640hp, and not allowing Pirelli to supply SRT with it's top tire equivalent to the michilen cup tire on the top Z06/ZR1 models that allow them to post the incredible magazine numbers.

Current news is the viper is due for a '15 refresh which will likely include a 20hp boost as well as the introduction of the ACR with 30-40hp more than current. This will allow room for a 645hp challenger to top the current GT500.

At then end of the day though, the base for Viper sales is too small and too saturated. And I am a viper fanatic.
 
Never really been impressed with the Challenger platform. Several teams tried to race these in the street stock series run by Grand Am (was the Grand-Am Cup when I raced in it, then became the Koni Challenge, then the Continental Tires Challenge, etc) and even with tons of concessions from the series (carbon fiber body panels, giant brakes, significant horsepower advantage versus most of the field), they still weren't even remotely competitive.

They are pigs. They handle like crap, weigh a ton, and don't do much of anything good. Slap enough horsepower under it and I'd imagine it would put up decent strip numbers but even then you've got to wonder if they will spend the time/money/R&D resources to upgrade the transmission and rearend to match or if they are simply going to sell a timebomb thats going to grenade rearends and transmissions the first time someone slaps a set of wrinkle walls on their Challenger.

I'd much rather see this engine put in the Viper. At least that platform has the potential to be a top notch sports car.
 
bbailey said:
Never really been impressed with the Challenger platform. Several teams tried to race these in the street stock series run by Grand Am (was the Grand-Am Cup when I raced in it, then became the Koni Challenge, then the Continental Tires Challenge, etc) and even with tons of concessions from the series (carbon fiber body panels, giant brakes, significant horsepower advantage versus most of the field), they still weren't even remotely competitive.

They are pigs. They handle like crap, weigh a ton, and don't do much of anything good. Slap enough horsepower under it and I'd imagine it would put up decent strip numbers but even then you've got to wonder if they will spend the time/money/R&D resources to upgrade the transmission and rearend to match or if they are simply going to sell a timebomb thats going to grenade rearends and transmissions the first time someone slaps a set of wrinkle walls on their Challenger.

I'd much rather see this engine put in the Viper. At least that platform has the potential to be a top notch sports car.
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With you until then last comment. There's nothing wrong with the V10.
 
Irish JK said:
With you until then last comment. There's nothing wrong with the V10.
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Don't disagree at all. It's a great engine that has tons of potential over and above what its producing in the Viper. One of the things I've always loved about that platform, there's TON's of horsepower potential in that engine and very little need to shore up the block when trying to access it (exact opposite of the NSX I ran in Grand-Am where we had to do all kinds of work to the block just to keep it alive through a 6 hour race).

My only real point was that I'd rather see the higher horsepower engine in the Viper versus the Challenger because the Viper is a substantially superior platform to the Challenger. Wasn't intending to knock the V10 presently in the Viper.
 
I want to see this engine in the SRT Grand Cherokee. A brick that runs deep into the 11s in the 1/4 mike would be awesome.
 
bbailey said:
Don't disagree at all. It's a great engine that has tons of potential over and above what its producing in the Viper. One of the things I've always loved about that platform, there's TON's of horsepower potential in that engine and very little need to shore up the block when trying to access it (exact opposite of the NSX I ran in Grand-Am where we had to do all kinds of work to the block just to keep it alive through a 6 hour race).

My only real point was that I'd rather see the higher horsepower engine in the Viper versus the Challenger because the Viper is a substantially superior platform to the Challenger. Wasn't intending to knock the V10 presently in the Viper.
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I concur doctor.
 
JeepKeeper said:
I read somewhere last week that they have an abundance of the new '14 vipers. I'm sorry, but when you overproduce a $110,000 base price super car, you're gonna have a little trouble selling them. My two cents
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Very true!

I looked it up, and I guess it was back in '09 when the factory was for sale. My friends uncle offered to buy it, but didnt pony up enough cash. I guess they offered 5.5M and chrysler was asking 10.

http://wot.motortrend.com/report-chryslers-viper-brand-attracts-just-one-bid-of-55-million-5028.html

Kind of a shame because the 2 prototype cars they made on the viper frame were pretty sweet.
Here is a pic I found on my phone.
devon.jpg

I think when they couldnt get a crash tested frame the whole thing went down the tubes.
 
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