(FCA US LLC)
Dodge is dishing out details about its new Challenger SRT Demon muscle car in a series of a dozen videos leading up to its official reveal at the New York International Auto Show in April.
This week we’re told that the Demon will weigh more than 200 pounds less than its Challenger SRT Hellcat sibling, a 707 horsepower heavyweight that tips the scales just shy of 4,500 pounds.
Dodge says weight was cut from the wheels, brakes, suspension, steering and interior components. An X-ray rendering of the car in the video highlights all of these areas, plus some sections of the chassis, suggesting a switch to lightweight high strength steel or aluminum parts.
It also reveals what appear to be exceptionally wide wheels, backing up rumors that the Demon will feature a widebody style -- rumors that appear to have been confirmed this week by spy photos purported to be of the Demon that were posted by Instagram user @illegal_machine.
Along with massively flared front fenders, the car in the photos features an air intake that covers at least half of the width of the hood, double the size of the Hellcat’s. Also noticeable are light-colored, almost white brake discs. That could mean they’re carbon ceramics, which would explain some of the weight loss.
More intriguingly, there’s a button on its center stack marked “Racing Fuel” that suggests there’s a built-in mode that optimizes the car to run on very high octane fuel, a unique feature for a mass produced production car, but one that might explain how Dodge is increasing the horsepower of the 707 Hellcat V8 in the Demon.
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Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Test Drive:
