What happens when you pit a new Dodge Hellcat and Shelby GT350 in a drag race? With a horsepower difference of 200 horsepower, drag race fans would say that such a contest is not fair. However, nobody ever said life was fair, especially when drag racing is concerned.
In the outside lane, we have a 2016 Dodge Challenger Hellcat with a supercharged 6.2 liter Hemi motor. This beast puts out 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. In documentation from the factory, the Hellcat does a sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in the low three seconds and the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds.
In the inside lane, we have a 2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang with a 5.2 liter flat plane crank V8 engine producing 526 horsepower and 429 lb-ft of torque. While Ford doesn’t make official claims on 0-60 times, “estimates” have been put forth of less than 4 seconds. Quarter mile drag times of 10.8 seconds can also be found online.
Now, back to the race at hand…
With such a power difference between vehicles, I would expect the more powerful car to completely humiliate the less powerful vehicle. Does that really happen?
In watching the video, it looks like the Hellcat pilot is short-shifting. Perhaps he is trying to avoid wheel-spin and the myth that the Hellcat is overpowered. However, his straight-line performance does not seem to make sense.
In the video, the Hellcat got up to 147 miles per hour while the GT350 managed to attain 142 miles per hour.
There is that glorious noise of screaming large displacement V8s. This in and of itself makes who won the final race a moot point.
After watching the video, I realized that American muscle power is back in a big way and that car buyers and car fans are indeed, the winners. Now, to see who won the race and by how much, you can hit “play” below. I would also tell you to turn your speakers on full, if you love the sound of roaring American iron.
