Charger Hellcat Smokes Sleepy Corvette ZR1 in Drag Race
Once again, the almighty driver mod makes the difference in this race between a modern Charger and yesterday’s king of the hill.
The C6 generation Corvette ZR1 was known as the “king of the hill” for a reason. Back in the 2000s, it was quite literally the most powerful, fastest production Corvette by a long shot. After many years of ho hum performance, GM engineers shocked the world by dropping a 638 horsepower, supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 engine into the C6 and slapping a legendary nameplate back onto it. Back in 2009, that sort of power level was typically reserved for high dollar supercars. These days, that number is actually pretty tame compared to cars like the Charger Hellcat, a practical four-door sedan.
Yes, you could say that the ZR1 is the king of the hill no more. Even the latest C7 ZR1 could theoretically be taken down by a Charger Hellcat driven by the right person. And in the case of this video from the YouTube channel Wheels, this one’s most certainly sporting the driver mod. And, it appears, a set of tires appropriate for the drag strip. Meanwhile, the ZR1 looks to be wearing street tires. Which isn’t a great idea on a car known for having a hard time getting its prodigious power to the ground.
None of that matters if you can’t cut a decent tree, of course. And in this case, our Corvette driver looks like he’s either taking a nap or enjoying a donut when the light turns green. Meanwhile, our Charger driver nails the light and lays a gap on the ZR1 by the first 60 feet. The ‘Vette makes up a little ground after that, but not much. By the time each crosses the quarter-mile, there’s still a significant gap. The Charger lays down a respectable 10.74-second pass at 133 mph. Meanwhile, the ZR1 limps to a sleepy 11.68-second pass at 125 mph.
You could say that transmission choice plays a factor here, and it does somewhat. After all, the ‘Vette is a manual and the Charger is an automatic. But when you’re reaction time is equivalent to molasses crawling down a tree in the Canadian winter, you’re not going to win many races. No matter how much power you have, or what tranny you’re running. Even if you’re driving a car that “used to be” the best of the best!
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