SRT Demon Could Be Dodge's Newest All-Wheel-Drive Monster

Tyler Wooley
by Tyler Wooley

We know from Dodge’s first and second teasers that it’s resurrecting the Demon, which will be over 200-pounds lighter than the current Hellcat.

In the brand’s newest teaser — appropriately titled “Body” — we get the best look yet at the Demon. It may not seem much different from the Hellcat at first glance, but the new SRT could be utilizing an all-wheel-drive system when it is released in April.

In the last few seconds of the video, the Demon’s license plate is “ which Car and Driver, probably correct in the assumption, deciphered to mean 2,576 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm — at each driven wheel. With the Hellcat making 4,010 lbs-ft of torque at each driven wheel, and the fact that new lightweight 18 x 11 inch wheels wrapped in 315/40R18 Nitto NT05R drag radials come on all four corners, this could be evidence in how the Demon puts its power to the pavement.

According to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the “Demon Branded” tires constructed specifically for the new model make it the first factory production car to come standard with street-legal drag radials. The four massive tires, along with protruding fender flares, make the beast 3.5-inches wider than it’s more civil siblings.

Adding an AWD system would surely add more than a few pounds to the Demon over the Hellcat, so the 200-pound weight loss from the second video must have been much more difficult to achieve than we’d originally thought.

Again, this is only the third video in the series. There is still much about the Demon we don’t know, but it’s more than likely going to put a smile on some faces.

[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Tyler Wooley
Tyler Wooley

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  • Energetik9 Energetik9 on Jan 26, 2017

    "wheels wrapped in 315/40R18 Nitto NT05R drag radials come on all four corners? Holy cow...315's? How will that affect maneuverability?

    • True_Blue True_Blue on Jan 26, 2017

      The Trofeo R tires designated for the Camaro Z/28 measure 305/30ZR-19 in all four corners, and that car pulls 1.05G on the pad. Not that it matters per se. This is a quarter-mile weapon through and through.

  • A4kev A4kev on Jan 27, 2017

    BigOldChryslersthe "AWD system used with the 8-speed couldn’t handle the torque?" Yah it was definitely the take rate.The ZF 8 speed which Dodge now builds under license in the USA, is as tough as an old GM autobox from the 60's-70's.Google the applications, many of them high torque, and it's obvious that it can handle a lot of abuse - torque.Modern work of art in my opinion.

  • Redapple2 Love the wheels
  • Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
  • Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Off-road fluff on vehicles that should not be off road needs to die.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Saw this posted on social media; “Just bought a 2023 Tundra with the 14" screen. Let my son borrow it for the afternoon, he connected his phone to listen to his iTunes.The next day my insurance company raised my rates and added my son to my policy. The email said that a private company showed that my son drove the vehicle. He already had his own vehicle that he was insuring.My insurance company demanded he give all his insurance info and some private info for proof. He declined for privacy reasons and my insurance cancelled my policy.These new vehicles with their tech are on condition that we give up our privacy to enter their world. It's not worth it people.”
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