Meet The ‘Roided Up New Dodge Challenger Hellcat That’s Ready for the Drag Strip
As if the king of muscle cars wasn’t badass enough already…
Though an all-new Dodge Challenger is slated for model year 2019—by which time today’s car will be eleven years old—the company has some late-life updates in store for the venerable muscle car, including a steroidal wide body kit for the flagship Hellcat version and an all-wheel drive version of the 5.7-liter Hemi V8.
This is according to trade magazine Automotive News, which reports that the Dodge Challenger GT AWD concept that debuted at last fall’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas previewed the wide body kit and all-wheel drive system that will appear for the 2017 model year.
Only the Challenger’s smallest V8, the 372-horsepower 5.7-liter, will get the all-wheel drive system, though, as the more powerful 485-horsepower 6.4-liter engine makes too much power for this system to handle.
The Hellcat doesn’t get all-wheel drive, but it will get the widened bodywork sometime in 2017. The fat new fenders will permit installation of wider drag racing-style tires, and the new edition is dubbed the Challenger American Drag Racer (ADR), as a muscle car analog to the Dodge Viper American Club Racer (ACR) road racing edition.
Better still, look for the Challenger ADR’s supercharged 6.4-liter Hemi V8 to be pumped up beyond today’s astronomical 707-horsepower rating. A bigger horsepower number from the Hellcat could prove to be even more eye-catching than any new widebody fenders.
h/t: Automotive News
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