Challenger Hellcat Takes on Raptor, and Wilderness
Here’s something you don’t hear everyday: The Dodge Challenger Hellcat takes on the wilderness.
You wouldn’t normally expect to see a Ford truck and a Dodge sports car racing each other across the winding mountain roads of Colorado. But that’s exactly what Motor Authority did in the video above. They pit a 2017 F-150 Raptor against a 2017 Challenger Hellcat. But instead of drag-racing the two cars, MA played to each vehicle’s strength, taking the Raptor over the mountain and the Hellcat around the peak.
The details
The new Raptor has a 3.5-liter V6 Twin Turbo motor with as many off-road features as you could possibly want in a truck — it will go “anywhere you want to go, at 100 mph.”
The Hellcat, on the other hand, is equipped with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine and an 8-speed automatic transmission. It can pull 0-60 in 3.7 seconds with standard tires, or an astonishing 3.0 seconds with drag tires.
Both cars have been updated for the new model year. That hopefully overcomes some of the problems each had in the past. The Hellcat, for example, had a bad run about five years ago with faulty alternators. And larger Ford pickups had an issue with delaminating in the fuel tanks when the company switched to a polyethylene tank.
Both vehicles are in their element in this race, with the Challenger easily cruising the winding mountain roads. The Raptor, on its over-mountain path, has no problem navigating the old mining trail. However, the truck was definitely a bit wider than the trail’s normal occupants of Jeeps and other small off-road vehicles.
Who won?
The Raptor finished the race first, arriving at the destination ahead of the Hellcat. But it’s not really a good judge of either vehicle, since neither could go full speed.
The Hellcat is a great car with tons of power in that supercharged V8. It just isn’t designed for the kind of off-roading that the Raptor is capable of. If you put these two cars on the strip and sent them flying down the track, it’s clear the Hellcat would come out on top. Still, it’s fun to watch, right?