Challenger SRT Demon 170 is a 1,025hp Hellacious Send-Off

by Matthew Guy

Published: March 20th, 2023

challenger srt demon 170 is a 1 025hp hellacious send off

Sometimes, when a long-serving person with a great record retires from a company, the place will throw one helluva party. Dodge has been doing the same for its Charger and Challenger, the aggro cousins that are departing at the end of this calendar year.

The final iteration of this beast? The outrageous Challenger SRT Demon 170 will be one for the history books – and we won’t even make ya click the jump to find out why. Here’s the key stat: 1,025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque.

We’ll take a moment to digest those numbers, knowing they will be on offer to anyone who can throw down the $96,666 asking price set by Dodge. And, before anyone squawks about additional dealer markup, the company says they’ll be prioritizing allocation for dealers who play by the rules and sell at MSRP. Now, there are a thousand ways around that but at least Dodge is making an effort.

(Editor's note and disclosure: Mr. Guy wrote this story based on his virtual attendance at a press briefing a few weeks ago. Dodge also invited us to attend the actual launch event in person. For scheduling reasons, it worked better for me to attend. I will be updating this story with any new info and pics, but Matthew gets the bulk of the credit for doing the bulk of the work. As for the disclosure: Dodge covered my flight to Las Vegas and fed and housed me so I could attend -- TH)

Anyway, to the car. According to factory hotshoes who’ve been behind the wheel, this thing will be capable of reaching 60 mph from a dead stop in claimed 1.66 seconds, delivering the highest g-force acceleration of any production car at a hair over 2.0 G. Gravol for the passenger, please. The quarter-mile? That’ll be dispatched in an NHRA-certified 8.91-seconds at 151.17 mph, says Dodge, though they freely admit those numbers are achievable in the right hands in the right conditions. Translation: Joe Schmoe is unlikely to replicate these times the first time they head to their local track. We’re told the car can still pop a wheelie and hop a Coke can.

All of the above assumes the car is being fed a steady diet of E85 ethanol blend, and the car is capable of draining its 18.5-gallon tank in less than six minutes at wide-open throttle, by the way. Here’s a key difference compared to the standard Demon: If the Demon 170 is filled with normal E10-grade 91 octane gasoline out of the pump from that Sunoco on the corner, its ECU will recognize the difference and adjust itself accordingly – no more time-consuming swapping of parts and such that showed up in a so-called Demon crate. Just fuel the thing and drive.

Of course, E10 knocks output down to 900 horsepower and 810 lb-ft of torque, a fair walk from those headline numbers but still outstripping just about anything on the road today. Since horsepower output is determined by the percentage of ethanol detected in the fuel, Dodge is only providing ‘red’ keys with the SRT Demon 170. We think they just ran out of grey ones. Brakes are Brembo-branded, with 14.2-inch stoppers up front and 13.8 inchers out back.

What did they do to a standard Demon to achieve these power numbers? Well, blow up a number of powertrains in testing, for starters. That’s why this car is being unveiled today and not at last year’s SEMA show in Vegas. Beyond that, there’s a modified 3.0-liter supercharger with a 105mm throttle body, high-flow fuel rail and injectors, and an upgrade of just about all primary power components in the engine save for the camshaft. The Power Chiller tech is functional, as are the Air Grabber hood and Air Catcher headlight eye.

This, of course, necessitated beefing up the driveline with better housings, new cases and mountings, stronger-by-half rear diff cover, and a prop shaft that’s apparently 30 percent stouter than the oak tree that’s already on the Demon. The eight-speed automatic also got a stern talking to. Harnessing this power in the back are 315/50/17 Mickey Thompson ET Street R drag radials, with 245/55/18 Mickey Thompson ET Street tires up front tires. Again, this differs from the Demon in that those 0-60 and quarter-mile times were achieved with delivery rubber in place and not pizza cutters plucked from the Demon Box.

There’s a TransBrake for extra fun, fettled for the 170 compared to other examples of the technology, and alert readers will have spied the lack of Widebody fender flares on the front flanks of this car. Removing them saved 16 pounds, according to Dodge. Snazzy optional two-piece lightweight carbon fiber wheels are also part of an overall SlimFast program shedding 157 pounds compared to a Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody. Curb weight with the carbon fiber wheels is listed at 4,268 pounds. The EPA says it’ll do 21 mpg on the highway, if you care.

All manner of customization is on tap, from various and sundry badges to gear through the in-house Direct Connect catalog. Yes, a drag-style parachute will apparently be amongst the options. An entire palette of 14 Dodge paint colours is available, including tremendous old school names like Plum Crazy. As befits the type of theme Dodge has been curating, the car’s logo utilizes the Demon head but with a ‘170’ neck tattoo plus a yellow eye as nod to E85. Oh, and if a customer wants their car’s VIN to match the Demon they already own, that’s in the realm of possibility.

Starting today, gearheads can find dealer allocations for this thing via the Dodge Horsepower Locator tool at DodgeGarage.com, with ordering beginning on March 27th. The latest information shows 3,000 units planned for America plus 300 for Canada, which is 10x the number we expected. Yee to the haw.

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#Dodge #Challenger #V8 #Supercharged #DodgeChallengerSRTDemon170 #170 #Demon170 #Demon

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

Comments

Join the conversation

5 of 107 comments

El scotto on Mar 22, 2023

Serious question. Has Dodge ever made a V-8 track-focused Challenger? I think shenanigans would abound.

Like Reply
- See 1 previous
- 28-Cars-Later on Mar 22, 2023
  
  Between models there are something like 47 versions of the LX platform, I'm sure one of them was track focused.
  
  Like
- Ajla on Mar 22, 2023
  
  Isn't that what the original T/A was?
  
  Like
ToolGuy on Mar 23, 2023

"Removing them saved 16 pounds, according to Dodge. Snazzy optional two-piece lightweight carbon fiber wheels are also part of an overall SlimFast program shedding 157 pounds compared to a Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody."
From a different writeup: "The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 shaves weight with the addition of lightweight front brakes, hollow sway bars, passenger and rear seat delete, trunk trim, noise, vibration, harshness pad delete, and lightweight interior carpet with a minimal audio system."
• Did Dodge consider any lightweighting efforts with the lead-acid starter battery? Because Group 94 LiFePO4 saves 35 pounds of mass vs. standard lead-acid.
(If Dodge already did this, Old Guy apologizes for being mired in the past and slinks back to his cave.)

Like Reply
- ToolGuy on Mar 26, 2023
  
  For reference. (Also, carbon fiber.)
  
  Like

Recent Comments

FreedMike Not surprisingly, I have some ideas. What Cadillac needs, I think, is a statement. They don’t really have an identity. They’re trying a statement car with the Celestiq, and while that’s the right idea, it has the wrong styling and a really wrong price tag. So, here’s a first step: instead of a sedan, do a huge, fast, capable and ridiculously smooth and quiet electric touring coupe. If you want an example of what I’m thinking of, check out the magnificent Rolls-Royce Spectre. But this Cadillac coupe would be uniquely American, it’d be named “Eldorado,” and it’d be a lot cheaper than the $450,000 Spectre – call it a buck twenty-five, with a range of bespoke options for prospective buyers that would make each one somewhat unique. Make it 220 inches long, on the same platform as the Celestiq, give it retro ‘60s styling (or you could do a ‘50s or ‘70s throwback, I suppose), and at least 700 horsepower, standard. Why electric? It’s the ultimate throwback to ‘60s powertrains: effortlessly fast, smooth, and quiet, but with a ton more horsepower. It’s the perfect drivetrain for a dignified touring coupe. In fact, I’d skip any mention of environmental responsibility in this car’s marketing – sell it on how it drives, period.  How many would they sell? Not many. But the point of the exercise is to do something that will turn heads and show people what this brand can do.  Second step: give the lineup a mix of electric and gas models, and make Cadillac gas engines bespoke to the brand. If they need to use generic GM engine designs, fine – take those engines and massage them thoroughly into something special to Cadillac, with specific tuning and output. No Cadillac should leave the factory with an engine straight out of a Malibu or a four-banger Silverado. Third step: a complete line-wide interior redo. Stop the cheapness that’s all over the current sedans and crossovers. Just stop it. Use the Lyriq as a blueprint – it’s a big improvement over the current crop and a good first step. I’d also say Cadillac has a good blend of screen-controlled and switch-controlled user interfaces; don’t give into the haptic-touch and wall-to-wall screen thing. (On the subject of Caddy interiors – as much as I bag on the Celestiq, check out the interior on that thing. Wow.)Fourth step: Blackwing All The Things – some gas, others electric. And keep the electric/gas mix so buyers have a choice.Fifth step: be patient. That’s not easy, but if they’re doing a brand reset, it’ll take time. 
NJRide So if GM was serious about selling this why no updates for so long? Or make something truly unique instead of something that looked like a downmarket Altima?
Kmars2009 I rented one last fall while visiting Ohio. Not a bad car...but not a great car either. I think it needs a new version. But CUVs are King... unfortunately!
Ajla Remember when Cadillac introduced an entirely new V8 and proceeded to install it in only 800 cars before cancelling everything?
Bouzouki Cadillac (aka GM!!) made so many mistakes over the past 40 years, right up to today, one could make a MBA course of it. Others have alluded to them, there is not enough room for me to recite them in a flowing, cohesive manner.Cadillac today is literally a tarted-up Chevrolet. They are nice cars, and the "aura" of the Cadillac name still works on several (mostly female) consumers who are not car enthusiasts.The CT4 and CT5 offer superlative ride and handling, and even performance--but, it is wrapped in sheet metal that (at least I think) looks awful, with (still) sub-par interiors. They are niche cars. They are the last gasp of the Alpha platform--which I have been told by people close to it, was meant to be a Pontiac "BMW 3-series". The bankruptcy killed Pontiac, but the Alpha had been mostly engineered, so it was "Cadillac-ized" with the new "edgy" CTS styling.Most Cadillacs sold are crossovers. The most profitable "Cadillac" is the Escalade (note that GM never jack up the name on THAT!).The question posed here is rather irrelevant. NO ONE has "a blank check", because GM (any company or corporation) does not have bottomless resources.Better styling, and superlative "performance" (by that, I mean being among the best in noise, harshness, handling, performance, reliablity, quality) would cost a lot of money.Post-bankruptcy GM actually tried. No one here mentioned GM's effort to do just that: the "Omega" platform, aka CT6.The (horribly misnamed) CT6 was actually a credible Mercedes/Lexus competitor. I'm sure it cost GM a fortune to develop (the platform was unique, not shared with any other car. The top-of-the-line ORIGINAL Blackwing V8 was also unique, expensive, and ultimately...very few were sold. All of this is a LOT of money).I used to know the sales numbers, and my sense was the CT6 sold about HALF the units GM projected. More importantly, it sold about half to two thirds the volume of the S-Class (which cost a lot more in 201x)Many of your fixed cost are predicated on volume. One way to improve your business case (if the right people want to get the Green Light) is to inflate your projected volumes. This lowers the unit cost for seats, mufflers, control arms, etc, and makes the vehicle more profitable--on paper.Suppliers tool up to make the number of parts the carmaker projects. However, if the volume is less than expected, the automaker has to make up the difference.So, unfortunately, not only was the CT6 an expensive car to build, but Cadillac's weak "brand equity" limited how much GM could charge (and these were still pricey cars in 2016-18, a "base" car was ).Other than the name, the "Omega" could have marked the starting point for Cadillac to once again be the standard of the world. Other than the awful name (Fleetwood, Elegante, Paramount, even ParAMOUR would be better), and offering the basest car with a FOUR cylinder turbo on the base car (incredibly moronic!), it was very good car and a CREDIBLE Mercedes S-Class/Lexus LS400 alternative. While I cannot know if the novel aluminum body was worth the cost (very expensive and complex to build), the bragging rights were legit--a LARGE car that was lighter, but had good body rigidity. No surprise, the interior was not the best, but the gap with the big boys was as close as GM has done in the luxury sphere.Mary Barra decided that profits today and tomorrow were more important than gambling on profits in 2025 and later. Having sunk a TON of money, and even done a mid-cycle enhancement, complete with the new Blackwing engine (which copied BMW with the twin turbos nestled in the "V"!), in fall 2018 GM announced it was discontinuing the car, and closing the assembly plant it was built in. (And so you know, building different platforms on the same line is very challenging and considerably less efficient in terms of capital and labor costs than the same platform, or better yet, the same model).So now, GM is anticipating that, as the car market "goes electric" (if you can call it that--more like the Federal Government and EU and even China PUSHING electric cars), they can make electric Cadillacs that are "prestige". The Cadillac Celestique is the opening salvo--$340,000. We will see how it works out.