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Morning, folks!
I don't post on here much, but wanted to make a few quick statements.
From what we know (have heard or seen), the Hellcat IS a few pounds heavier than the current 392 SRT.
They're fine-tuning the "tooling" at the Brampton, Ontario plant for production. A few have already been built, but production is expected to begin in earnest any time now.
Ralph Gilles (head of SRT group) had a Hellcat at Watkins Glen a few weeks ago. No report on what was done there.
Chrysler took the Hellcat to the 1320" and turned 10.9x with a 6-speed (and roasted the clutch after four passes). The 8-speed automatic should improve the 1320' time by 2 to 3 tenths.
The Hellcat "should" break the 200 mph barrier without too much difficulty.
Information coming from reliable sources are guessing pricing in the high $60K area before options (which shouldn't be many).
They expect a similar 3-year / 36,000 mile warranty as has covered SRT models in the past.
The suspension and drivetrain have been heavily modified from the new SRT Challenger chassis to accommodate the increased stress loads.
The interior looks nothing like the initial SRT8s built in 2008.
For the critics, yes, she's heavy and big. That's what makes this coupe so relevant. She is a great touring car as well as (now) a strip/street fighter. You can drive it all day and not be hurting when you get to the dragway. It will hold 5 adults relatively comfortably, plus 20 cubic feet of cargo. (My '09 SRT has never seen anyone in the back seat, and I do my hauling in my other vehicle, so this is a moot point to me, but might be important to car-nuts with families.)
I have no idea of fuel mileage numbers on the Hellcat, but wouldn't be surprised with a 19 mpg overall figure (based on 6.1L and 6.4L numbers).
The current SRT8 is surprisingly nimble (three sets of worn front tires on my '09 6-speed attest to that). With the changes to the chassis, expect it to handle better than previous models. Like the Z28, the Hellcat will be sporting wider sneakers (275's) and rims (9 1/2").
This is a great time to be a performance car nut. When one of the big three ups the ante, another responds with bigger/better/faster models....then another.
We all benefit from the battle for performance supremacy. I'm glad we have the opportunity to consider buying these cars, regardless of the brand on the nose.
Lately, 2-door coupes have become like the motorcycles/computers of our times....
You might have the fastest model "out of the box" TODAY, but tomorrow another, faster one will be offered that will blow you away.
As for specialized purpose, no car will excel in every department. One will be faster on the strip, another on a road course, and another on the street. If things were made uniformly, we'd have just one tool in our toolboxes.
So let's face it, most of our cars (no matter which brand, model or trim level) are driven on the street for about 99% of their lives. I'm not making purchase decisions based on the 1% of the time they're not. I know I'd never use all of the potential performance my car offers, but it's nice to know it's there if I want/need it.
And as a footnote, I think you'll see something pretty impressive being developed for the Viper. You can't offer another car that can out-perform your Halo car for long without risk of losing customers.
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