A friend from work recently bought a 15 Charger Hellcat in powder blue (not sure what the color is actually called), and he's a little scared of it (coming up from a mostly stock Evo), so he asked me to wail on it a little to see what it would do. I thought I'd give you guys a brief review since there's been so much interest here.
First, I REALLY like the electronics Dodge put on these things. The infotainment center is full of cool stuff, like a 8' boost gauge, HP readout, G tracking, etc. Also, I like the ability to dial the HP up or down depending on need. It starts off with 500 HP, but if you have the red key in the car, you can switch to sport or track mode and go to 700. You can also switch to eco mode to save gas, or valet mode to supposedly reduce power to 300 HP (though I didn't try it). Also, the LCD in the gauge cluster displays a big, bright digital readout of your speed, which I really like. Not sure why Ford finds this such a hard thing to do.
The interior is pretty nice, and everything is comfortable, but honestly (except for the electronical gizmos), it doesn't feel quite as 'high end' as the GT500. That was just my 5 minute impression though. Anyhow, as far as driving, it doesn't feel like a 4500 lb car (though it is). It feels light and controllable, and the visibility is pretty good (something I dislike about the mustangs). I launched the car from a stop or near stop twice (once in track and once in sport mode), and wailed on it from a second gear pull once.
From a stop, in track mode, you have pretty much no traction. TC is off in this mode, and the tires out back are only 275's though they are Pirelli PZeros, which are arguably better than the useless stock Goodyears on the GT500. I basically just matted the gas, and it spun through first, second, and third back to back in the space of about 3 seconds and 40 MPH before bogging in 4th. So without electronic nannies and good tires, this is going to be a very scary car from a stop. However, to it's credit, it stayed pretty straight the whole time - it didn't kick out either way, just got a little loose.
In sport mode, I matted it from a dead stop, and TC did a very good job in modulating wheelspin without feeling like it was limiting performance. I was actually very impressed. I let off at ~78, which took roughly 4-5 seconds. I feel like it pulls pretty similar to my car from a stop on the street in this mode, maybe a hair slower, but keep in mind I am running DR's and it is running stock tires. Hard to tell how accurate the butt-o-meter is, though, especially when comparing an auto to a manual.
For the second gear pull, I used track mode so I could paddle shift, and it spun a bit on the hit, but grabbed and went. Again, very stable, no kickout to either side. I felt way more confident with this car than I did with my first GT 500.
Overall, I still like the GT 500 better because it feels much more raw, much more rare, and I just like the overall look a lot better. But the hellcat is an awesome car, and if they actually do make that Jeep GC hellcat, it's going to be VERY hard to resist.
The TLDR of it is I don't think it's really any faster than our cars, at least with DR's (how mine rolls 24/7), and may be a bit slower, but with stock tires on the GT500 and an average driver it will probably beat most GT500's. Will take them both to the track sometime soon and find out.
Oh, and here's a pic of his ride. I'm going to link him to this post, guys, so please be civil. The guy is a great dude, and he's super proud of his new ride:
First, I REALLY like the electronics Dodge put on these things. The infotainment center is full of cool stuff, like a 8' boost gauge, HP readout, G tracking, etc. Also, I like the ability to dial the HP up or down depending on need. It starts off with 500 HP, but if you have the red key in the car, you can switch to sport or track mode and go to 700. You can also switch to eco mode to save gas, or valet mode to supposedly reduce power to 300 HP (though I didn't try it). Also, the LCD in the gauge cluster displays a big, bright digital readout of your speed, which I really like. Not sure why Ford finds this such a hard thing to do.
The interior is pretty nice, and everything is comfortable, but honestly (except for the electronical gizmos), it doesn't feel quite as 'high end' as the GT500. That was just my 5 minute impression though. Anyhow, as far as driving, it doesn't feel like a 4500 lb car (though it is). It feels light and controllable, and the visibility is pretty good (something I dislike about the mustangs). I launched the car from a stop or near stop twice (once in track and once in sport mode), and wailed on it from a second gear pull once.
From a stop, in track mode, you have pretty much no traction. TC is off in this mode, and the tires out back are only 275's though they are Pirelli PZeros, which are arguably better than the useless stock Goodyears on the GT500. I basically just matted the gas, and it spun through first, second, and third back to back in the space of about 3 seconds and 40 MPH before bogging in 4th. So without electronic nannies and good tires, this is going to be a very scary car from a stop. However, to it's credit, it stayed pretty straight the whole time - it didn't kick out either way, just got a little loose.
In sport mode, I matted it from a dead stop, and TC did a very good job in modulating wheelspin without feeling like it was limiting performance. I was actually very impressed. I let off at ~78, which took roughly 4-5 seconds. I feel like it pulls pretty similar to my car from a stop on the street in this mode, maybe a hair slower, but keep in mind I am running DR's and it is running stock tires. Hard to tell how accurate the butt-o-meter is, though, especially when comparing an auto to a manual.
For the second gear pull, I used track mode so I could paddle shift, and it spun a bit on the hit, but grabbed and went. Again, very stable, no kickout to either side. I felt way more confident with this car than I did with my first GT 500.
Overall, I still like the GT 500 better because it feels much more raw, much more rare, and I just like the overall look a lot better. But the hellcat is an awesome car, and if they actually do make that Jeep GC hellcat, it's going to be VERY hard to resist.
The TLDR of it is I don't think it's really any faster than our cars, at least with DR's (how mine rolls 24/7), and may be a bit slower, but with stock tires on the GT500 and an average driver it will probably beat most GT500's. Will take them both to the track sometime soon and find out.
Oh, and here's a pic of his ride. I'm going to link him to this post, guys, so please be civil. The guy is a great dude, and he's super proud of his new ride:
