Hot Laps Around PIR in the 707-Horsepower Hellcat

"Earthbound And Down" (andrewkrok)
07/17/2014 at 16:51 • Filed to: 2015 dodge challenger hellcat, hellcat, dodge challenger, mopar, hemi

100

I was on the first wave of the media drive for the 2015 Dodge Challenger, which included some seat time in the 707-horsepower Hellcat. I can't talk about driving impressions until Tuesday, but I can share some video that I shot for my job at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I did some hot laps in the lower-powered variants, instead choosing to sit shotgun for the Hellcat laps. My driver was Marco Diniz de Oliveira, SRT's Vehicle Dynamics Engineer. I am an okay driver, but by no means am I prepared to get the most out of a 707-horsepower muscle car that nobody's driven yet.

On the other hand, the man who helped build the car is certainly capable of blasting around at ten tenths. Not only does it make for a better video, but also, I now have an actual idea of how capable the car is.

DISCUSSION (100)

Saracen > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:04

damn, that blower whine.

also, very nice rev matching on the downshifts (it's not automatic, you can see his right leg blip the throttle)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:06

First thing I noticed: Fuck Yes Manual Gearbox :)

Nibbles > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:10

Fuck all y'all haters, this is proof

The 700+ horsepower, 4000+ pound land yacht can take a fucking corner

Saracen > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
07/17/2014 at 17:11

and nice heel toe downshifts!

Earthbound And Down > Saracen
07/17/2014 at 17:15

Again, another reason the engineer was the person to drive the car, and not me.

I can't drive that kind of car for shit, and I won't learn anything by trying to drive better than I can.

Earthbound And Down > Saracen
07/17/2014 at 17:16

That's why I had the engineer drive it. It would have taken me all my laps to figure out how to drive it, and then it's not a good video, and I learned nothing about the car's actual capability.

Dsscats > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:18

I KNEW IT COULD HANDLE. I JUST KNEW IT

heeltoehero > Saracen
07/17/2014 at 17:22

Were they heel-toe downshifts or does the car have active rev match, like the C7 and 370Z?

Earthbound And Down > Dsscats
07/17/2014 at 17:23

I ain't saying shit of whether it can or can't.

I am a whore and I like receiving invites to press events.

Saracen > heeltoehero
07/17/2014 at 17:23

They're heel-toe downshifts. Watch his right leg, he's blipping the throttle on his downshifts.

Earthbound And Down > heeltoehero
07/17/2014 at 17:24

There is no active rev matching on the manual transmission.

Ultrakill > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:28

Love how the A-pillar is directly in front of this cheap ass camera.

Dolemite > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:28

I think I could explain to the officer: "You hear that noise? The faster I drive, the more of that I get." "Yeah....I can't ticket you for that, be on your way, citizen."

Earthbound And Down > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:28

Fun fact: At the end of the walled back stretch of PIR, the Hellcat was running between 130 and 140 mph. I didn't spend much time staring at the speedo, understandably.

And to prove just how much faster the engineer was compared to the journalists, Marco managed to catch the last-place driver (from our group of five cars) at the end of our first hot lap. The initial lap in the video was supposed to be a warm-up. So much for that, eh?

Blair > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:30

What if the new SRT Hell Cat was actually a decent track car?? Then what would people say!!!!!!

Nick Dina > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:32

At the begining of the video — what was he doing on the touch screen? Are there any dynamics control you can adjust through it?

Earthbound And Down > Ultrakill
07/17/2014 at 17:32

Sorry, next time I'll build a roll cage in the car so I can mount my GoPro Hero3 Black to that. The window was the best choice to get the steering, shifting, and track all in one frame. Suction cup mounts don't work well on cloth headliners.

I'll save my comments on the A-pillar's size for Tuesday when the embargo lifts.

Earthbound And Down > Nick Dina
07/17/2014 at 17:34

Just like previous SRTs, there are a number of different readouts you can have the screen display. I'm not sure what he changed it to — probably either g-force readouts or temp gauges for the transmission, oil, etc.

There are settings to change on there, but those require more than a single button press, and the Hellcat was already set up for aggressive track driving before we even got into it.

LugNutz > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:35

Pretty much what I expected. BLAAAAAAAST down the straight, then tippi toe tippi toe through the corners. It needs better tires (P Zero Nero All Seasons aren't exactly great), bigger tires (275s and 707hp, yeah that'll work awesome), or less weight (Clarkson might describe is weighing slightly more than the Moon). As a freely admitted Shmopar hater I can't say I would ever own one, but wouldn't mind hitting the strip with one if it had some ET Street Radial Pros on it.

Titan-E34 > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:35

Kinja'd!!!

Try the whine

PatBateman > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:38

BLOWER WHINE. EXHAUST NOTE. SPEED.

If you don't like this car, you're a Commie bastard and can promptly go straight to hell.

ICantStandNewJalopnik > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:38

That was a nice comment by Ultrakill. You are one of the first to provide us an awesome video, and this Jackhole makes fun of your video? Don't let the internet eat you. For every one of him, there are tens of thousands of us who say, "Thank you! It was awesome!"

EarendilE30 > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:38

A 1:42 at PIR with the chicane? Not bad I suppose for what looks like an open lapping day. Of course, I might have expected the horsepower alone to beat a 170 odd hp racecar , but hey, no one wants to wreck the new SRT I guess :)

Note: That was the first video and lap I came across for a comparison. It's been a long time since I've personally been on PIR and I couldn't get a good sense for the speed from that video.

Nick Dina > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:38

Thanks for that. I have never been in one.

Earthbound And Down > ICantStandNewJalopnik
07/17/2014 at 17:40

Oh I don't let it get to me. I just try to respond to as many comments as I can in the time that I have. Positive or negative, everybody that comments deserves my attention, whether or not they're being giant pricks about it. :)

I was trying to be THE first of the Wave 1 attendees to get the video up, and I haven't checked around yet (I don't want to make myself sad when I find out otherwise), but I knew that when I posted it up, I had to share this big chunk of 'Murica with Oppo and Jalopnik as a whole.

giddymow > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:40

damn that thing is fasssttttttt

Jarrodrex > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:41

Forget retirement I'm cashing in my 401k for this.

Earthbound And Down > Nick Dina
07/17/2014 at 17:42

SRTs in general (not referring to things that are embargoed right now, no, not at all) are pretty fun.

Sensible? Well-built? Competitive in the segment? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

A blast to drive, though? Absolutely. Unequivocally.

ICantStandNewJalopnik > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:44

I can't imagine how awesome that ride was. Was the power just insane? It looks like he was full brakes going into the transitions to the point of ABS. I'm really jealous of you. I hope you had a blast. That blower whine is enough for me to say, "Okay, I'll take two of those, please!"

NickD > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:44

"I now have an actual idea of how capable the car is." and so I'll end the article with no information whatsoever.

Sheriff Of American Douchetown > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:44

Me: This thing will plow into a tree.

Kinja'd!!!

JayBe_III > giddymow
07/17/2014 at 17:46

It's not actually fast at all. In fact it never moves. Instead, it turns the world beneath it to give the illusion that it is moving.

Thor's Hammered > Ultrakill
07/17/2014 at 17:46

Where's your video of this?

Earthbound And Down > Sheriff Of American Douchetown
07/17/2014 at 17:47

No. If that would have happened, Jalopnik would have posted it themselves, because I would have sold them the video for dolla dolla bills, y'all.

Chris Furlough > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:48

Where to start?

Whoever put the cones between turns 2 and 3 is a moron. That's where you WANT to be so that you can power through 2, not pinch it off, and have to tiptoe through there. Turn 6, you want to swing out wide to the right towards the edge of the track. He has the power to do so. He needs to attack turn 7 harder, and he misses the apex in turn 12 by about 5 feet.

This is my home track, I know it very well, and it allows me to see the capabilities of this car. His brake points for turns 1 and 10 demonstrate that he needs better brakes, and/or tires. As he's WAYYYY back from where normal cars brake. (Including my bud in his C6 Z06 doing 140+ in both places).

Earthbound And Down > NickD
07/17/2014 at 17:48

Can you read? It was literally the second god damned sentence in this post.

I can't discuss driving impressions until Tuesday, when the embargo lifts.

BrownStickWagon > Blair
07/17/2014 at 17:49

They'd say, "George got a new ride", and "blimey we'd better get back to olde England right quick, those damn Yanks have gone and BLOWN the whole thing...."

Kinja'd!!!

Earthbound And Down > ICantStandNewJalopnik
07/17/2014 at 17:51

I guess this doesn't count as speaking to the characteristics of the car:

He was very good at threshold braking. No ABS. He sailed past every yellow set of cones (the braking zones for the journalists, because they don't want the cars wrecked and the brakes destroyed).

Sheriff Of American Douchetown > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:51

Make it rain!

Kinja'd!!!

Ultrakill > Thor's Hammered
07/17/2014 at 17:51

In your mom's sock drawer.

Thedude > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:55

So does the car at all feel like a 'tank with a jet engine strapped to it', or have they tweaked the suspension / handling / cut weight to make it a more nimble vehicle?

4wsprelude > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:55

I thought it would be a little bit moar engine noise in the cabin. The vids of the exhaust sound was so angry. Maybe because it's a go pro but still.

/justalittlebitdisappointed

/justatinybit

Gav > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:56

I can only imagine that is what the Armaggedon is going to sound like.

madmaxx67 > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:57

I can personally vouch that Marco is a heck of a driver, he's wiped the track with my face many a time karting and in Solo. Thanks for the share, fun car.

Earthbound And Down > Chris Furlough
07/17/2014 at 17:57

We were Wave 1. Dodge had to have another 50+ journalists driving after our wave, so they wanted all the cars in one piece. Chris Harris wasn't there doing giant smoky drifts and shit, and nobody there was as remotely talented as an actual race-car driver.

Two, maybe three people in our wave (out of 25 or so) had actual, working knowledge of PIR prior to this event. The cones were there to direct us to a line that was safe and sensible. We didn't miss out on anything by having to be soft around that corner.

If you give journalists carte blanche in a preproduction car with stock brakes and stock tires (however stout those things are), you're going to have a bad time. That's why BMW lost three M3s/M4s at Road America. Most of my ilk think they're god's gift to cars, and when you give them 707 horsepower, they're going to pretend that they've become a fucking Le Mans driver in ten seconds.

Feel free to e-mail FCA and tell them you think they aren't running media drives correctly.

Earthbound And Down > Thedude
07/17/2014 at 17:58

I'll come back and tell you on Tuesday, so nobody yells at me.

ME 4-12 > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 17:59

Just listen to that supercharger whine. I love me some forced induction air flow sound.

Earthbound And Down > madmaxx67
07/17/2014 at 18:00

I think the engineers have the most fun job out of anybody, including us. They get to build it, beat the everloving shit out of it, and then show it off to the world.

Thedude > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:01

Hahaha, fair deal. I look forward to hearing about it. I'm a Corvette guy myself, but have a soft spot for Mopars since I rebuilt a '70 Barracuda 'vert from the ground up for my father. :)

Jon > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:01

Were you out there today? If so, you dodged about 10 degrees of heat between the last several days and today.

It's a balmy 88F 30 minutes South of PIR at the moment.

Earthbound And Down > Ultrakill
07/17/2014 at 18:01

Dude, the least you can do when trolling is try to be good at it.

Earthbound And Down > Jon
07/17/2014 at 18:04

I was out there on Tuesday.

It was still very hot.

Frank M. Whitaker > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:05

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail

http://www.cash2.us

madmaxx67 > Chris Furlough
07/17/2014 at 18:06

I think the cones were there to slow people down. It looks like he wasn't really wringing the thing out, either. There are areas of the course that it looks like he could have been in the throttle earlier and heavier too. I mean, not an expert on this track at all, and the video cam being set pretty far back may make it seem slower, but I would be willing to bet there was some time left out there.

jip1080 > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:07

As someone who grew up in PDX and grew up at that track, I love that they brought 707hp of gas guzzling awesomeness to hippyville USA.

Also, quick plug for Pro Drive Driving School @ PIR. Did the skidcar school when I was first learning to drive a street car. Had Gary Bockman as my instructor. EPIC. My father had given my mother and I gift certificates to the skidcar school for Christmas. Gary knew my dad from other business dealings. At the end of the class we did the autox course. I would run, then my mother. First lap I set an ok time, then my mother beat it. Second lap I spun part way through, my mother waxed the floor with me. Third lap I was very on top of things and set a pretty good time. My mother beat me again. What I learned later (~8 years later) was the conversation my father and Gary had a few days later. Gary was in my dad's office and asked how my mother and I enjoyed the school. "Loved it, even better that little karting boy got beat by his 'slower' mom HA!" Gary then replied with "Well, she might have been running with a bit more traction than your son."

Initially the lesson I learned was "get more experience, get better at driving." When I found out the whole story the lesson I learned was:

NEVER TRUST THE OLD GUYS

For any parents in the NW, seriously, send your young drivers to the skidcar school. Worth every penny!

https://www.prodrive.net/

Chris Furlough > madmaxx67
07/17/2014 at 18:08

Yes, without a doubt.

Ultrakill > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:09

Dude, Bro, Guy, Cow, Milk, Wow.

Solarplex03 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
07/17/2014 at 18:16

yes, same or beefed up viper manual....... somehthing like that i didnt care after i seen yes. all that matters is yes it has one.

7:07 > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:16

ICantStandNewJalopnik > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:19

Woah! No ABS? They shut it off, or it just wasn't kicking in? I thought I heard the tires squealing just a little going into a few of those corners. Gosh, that must've been scary and fun all at the same time.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Frank M. Whitaker
07/17/2014 at 18:20

I BET YOU BOUGHT A 3-SERIES GT, ASSHOLE.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:21

Doesn't seem to be too happy going around those corners but it does seem to be a beast in a straight line. Nice close ratios on that gearbox too. Very cool.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Ultrakill
07/17/2014 at 18:22

Totally...where's your in-car video? Oh....

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Nibbles
07/17/2014 at 18:24

Lol barely. Looks much happier in a straight line but that's what its for. Certainly worth every penny of its price, although I'd want to do a few things before tracking it.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > PatBateman
07/17/2014 at 18:24

I'm trying hard not to like it but once in a while I forget and start to like it a little bit.

I'd rather have a V8 > heeltoehero
07/17/2014 at 18:28

heel toe. Marco is a driving machine.

I'd rather have a V8 > heeltoehero
07/17/2014 at 18:29

heel toe. Marco is a driving machine.

PatBateman > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
07/17/2014 at 18:29

Embrace your feels. There's nothing wrong with it. It's natural.

Nibbles > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
07/17/2014 at 18:31

When I buy one, the only track it's gonna see is Bandimere

I'll get the rest of my enjoyment from cruising around and terrorizing my neighbors :)

CharlesBarkley > EarendilE30
07/17/2014 at 18:31

Second Lap was approximately 1:32. I don't know what a great time is, but that's quite a bit quicker than 1:42.

CharlesBarkley > EarendilE30
07/17/2014 at 18:31

Second Lap was approximately 1:32. I don't know what a great time is, but that's quite a bit quicker than 1:42.

Ratchet when he's all hopped up on synthetic energon > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:32

Well I'll be damned. I thought Dodge said this would only be offered with the ZF 8-speed auto.

CRider > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:35

I'm going to yell at you anyway. Jalopnik doesn't do embargoes , and neither should you. I want to know what this car is like, and I want to know NOW.

PragmaticPanda > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:38

I guess I don't get it. It sounds great until the whine's tiny-airplane-trying-to-take-off-sound kicks in. N/A all the way for me it seems.

Susan > Ratchet when he's all hopped up on synthetic energon
07/17/2014 at 18:39

I'm pretty sure they NEVER said that, actually. o.O

EarendilE30 > CharlesBarkley
07/17/2014 at 18:49

Sir, you are quite right. I apparently didn't carry the one, or carried too many ones, as that lap is indeed a 1:32 not a 1:42. This makes a lot more sense to me :)

Road Rebel > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:50

I'm surprised it wasn't running faster, he must have been holding back. That back stretch is nearly 1800' with 50ish mph corner leading into it. I did a racing school in a stockish (other than tires/brakes/cooling system) 2011 Mustang GT, the longest straight started out of a 50MPH turn and went slightly uphill for 1300' you could get the Mustang to the mid 120's before braking into the next corner. I cant imagine that an extra 300HP wouldn't make more than a 15MPH difference with an extra 500'.

GreenN_Gold > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 18:54

It sounds glorious.

ToastedTires > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 19:12

Need telemetry

GLHNSLHT2 > heeltoehero
07/17/2014 at 19:27

my thoughts too. They sounded just a bit to perfect for the fat guy who couldn't even sit in the right driving position to be making.

Earthbound And Down > CRider
07/17/2014 at 19:35

Did Jalopnik get invited to Hellcat?

Sometimes, in order to do my job, I have to follow the rules.

Dy-no-mite Jay > Ultrakill
07/17/2014 at 19:35

shut up and just be glad we have a video!

67mgb > Dsscats
07/17/2014 at 19:36

Yeah, buddy! Ralphie ain't stoo-ped. It's MY2015, not 1970.

Earthbound And Down > ICantStandNewJalopnik
07/17/2014 at 19:36

It *has* ABS, Marco just never smashed hard enough to engage it.

67mgb > Jarrodrex
07/17/2014 at 19:41

...the pearl worth everything. No law says you have to keep it; but just for a moment or you'll always say " I wish I had..".

cogito ergo zoom > Nibbles
07/17/2014 at 19:41

WHAT? Did you watch the fucking video? Jesus Christ that thing was wallowing around like a wounded water buffalo. You could fucking HEAR the under-steer as it pitched and dove through the tighter turns. Did you not see how long he had to wait to get on the power coming out of the turns?

While AWESOME on the straights and sounding bad ass too (love that SC whine), watching it try and go around a corner was painful.

philsphan09 > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2
07/17/2014 at 19:42

I love you

cogito ergo zoom > Dsscats
07/17/2014 at 19:44

Well watch the video and see that it can't...Spend some time learning about driving on a track and then watch the video again. It'll open your eyes. It's amazing what a little knowledge will do for you.

cogito ergo zoom > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
07/17/2014 at 19:46

No it's not happy in the corners.

1337HPMustang > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
07/17/2014 at 19:48

Wow even the m4 warrior is impressed. Would you take an m4 over a hellcat?

teknishn > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
07/17/2014 at 19:54

Agreed, he was taking corners like his grandma was in the car.... or because the car weighs nearly 4500lbs. He doesn't even hit that gas at the normal apex because it would probably just go right off the track or end up facing the wrong direction. The apex for that car is basically as soon as its lined up straight again. Lets face it.... its not a road race car.

Full disclosure... I road race myself regularly.

norsairius > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 19:59

Was Richard Hammond stuck under the hood? Sounds like he was having a crisis. We know he loves the Dodge Challenger.

(seriously though, this car sounds awesome)

DiscoTReK > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 20:04

Can't stop looking at the bare real estate between the nag screen and the passenger air vent. Pull a "Hellcat" emblem there or something.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > philsphan09
07/17/2014 at 20:15

Kinja'd!!!

SlaughtrHousJak > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 20:25

i was gonna ask the same thing. i was guessing rev match, but maybe not eh? if not, very nice.

SlaughtrHousJak > SlaughtrHousJak
07/17/2014 at 20:29

i take that back. very nice.

DeathDeathDeath > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 20:30

This is not ten tenths, this is eight tenths.

Nibbles > teknishn
07/17/2014 at 20:31

It's not a road race car. And anyone who actually expects (or ever expected) it to be is a moron.

Nibbles > cogito ergo zoom
07/17/2014 at 20:31

Auto Financer > Earthbound And Down
07/17/2014 at 20:35

I autocross in the detroit region in the same class as this guy. Needless to say, Im not in first place