Check ten sources to find out the top speed of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, and you will get different answers. Fed up with this uncertainty, the owner of one took it to the racetrack to check out for himself how fast it goes. Had Dodge been lying all along? This is the moment of truth.
So, how fast is the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170? It depends on who you are asking! But ask the automaker, and they will tell you they governed the speed at 149 mph (240 kph), even though the engine can do more. Way more. But it would run out of rubber on the race track. So that is as much as the high-traction radials from Mickey Thompson can withstand.
"Nobody puts power to the ground like Mickey, and nobody creates power like Dodge," said Dominick Montouri, President of Mickey Thompson. But that rubber has a lot of power and torque to deal with.
Since the moment Dodge unveiled the HEMI-powered monster, we have been living with the idea that it is an insane machinery, which is too fast and too powerful for its own good. And that reality is definitely not twisted.
However, fake information snowballed for a couple of months: the Demon 170 can do 215 mph (346 kph) with the right pedal down. As impressive as it may sound, it is just as untrue. Before the official unveiling, there were sources pointing at that top speed, but Dodge has never really confirmed such hazardous numbers.
The Challenger SRT Demon 170 was banned from the drag strip
Just keep in mind that the National Hot Rod Association banned the outrageous Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 from the drag strip unless it is equipped with a roll cage and a parachute that assists braking.
Photo: RacerX | YouTube
We can all blame it on the 6.2-liter HEMI V8, tuned to pump out a mind-blowing 1,025 horsepower and 945 pound-feet of torque. It makes the motorized beast flash from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) in just 1.66 seconds and run the quarter mile in an NHRA-certified 8.91 seconds at 151.17.
But that's the speed that the Dodge engineers tested. It's not for everyone out there. And that's not all. The automaker has one more ace up its sleeve. The car generates the highest G-force acceleration of any production car at 2.004 Gs, Dodge claims. An eight-speed automatic transmission puts that insane amount of power down through the rear wheels.
So, the owner of this 2023 Challenger took his car to a private airfield in Florida to check all these numbers for himself. Car enthusiast and passionate about everything fast, he's got a one-mile strip in front of him.
On a first attempt, he hits 146 mph (235 kph). Then, he switches to Track mode. "It's a lot more vicious," he says after his car breaks traction, leaves rubber on the tarmac, and he needs to start again. He knows he is not getting anywhere the top speed if the Demon starts to go sideways. On a second run, he reaches 147 mph (237 kph). He complains that the car lays over right before hitting 135 mph (217 kph).
He is planning to make a new attempt in December, during a similar event at the same airfield. By then, he hopes to figure out what is wrong with the frustrating show that his car put on.
Photo: RacerX | YouTube
Several experts saw the data log, and they noticed the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 started dumping boost pressure at around 133 - 134 mph (214 - 216 kph).
It does go over 149 mph, but there is a "but"
So, he went out again to put his Demon to the test in an undisclosed location in Mexico, and the car acted completely different. He recorded the data provided by the speedometer, and he did 152 mph (245 kph). However, the Demon 170 Owner's Manual indicates that tires may exceed the speed rating of 149 mph (240 kph) only in drag race applications and never in highway use.
The Demon 170 that RacerX put to the test is one of only 3,300 that Dodge built. Each of them started at $96,666. The number of the Demon, of course. However, checking a few option boxes will take well above the $100,000. Things got even nastier if the owner went for the wheels in carbon fiber two-piece, measuring 18 inches at the front and 17 inches at the rear, which Dodge sold for $11,495.
However, this is as far as the SRT Demon 170 goes. Dodge has already retired the HEMI-powered muscle car together with the almighty engine to make way for the electric Charger Daytona and its ICE sibling. That one doesn't get a V8, but the twin-turbocharged straight-six Hurricane engine. That is how Dodge is trying to bring consolation to all those that are heartbroken after the demise of the HEMI.
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