Dodge Charger Jailbreak Takes on CT5-V Blackwing, IS 500

Pricey but utterly ridiculous Dodge Charger Jailbreak makes mincemeat of its lesser competition.

The Dodge Charger Jailbreak represents the highest trim for the potent sedan, one that’s been around for quite a few years now in various forms. It certainly isn’t cheap at $86,595, but one does get a lot for their money at least, in the form of a heavily upgraded Charger Hellcat Redeye with a wide body, suspension enhancements, and a slight 10 horsepower boost for its supercharged 6.2-liter V8, bringing that total up to 807 ponies. Recently, the folks at Throttle House decided to see just how well that translates to straight-line performance by pitting the Dodge Charger Jailbreak against the new Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and Lexus IS 500 in one epic drag race.

Even better, TH invited Top Gear’s Chris Harris along for the ride, mostly because he’s never actually driven any sort of Hellcat, shockingly enough. It’s an impressive machine, as we already know, but it’s also lining up against a couple of potent rivals. The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is packing GM’s supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that pumps out an impressive 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque, while the Lexus IS 500 is equipped with a naturally-aspirated 5.0-liter V8 making 472 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque.

While all three of these cars are pretty heavy, it’s worth noting that while both are down quite a bit on power when compared to the Dodge Charger Jailbreak, and the Cadillac is also packing a manual transmission, which promises to make it a bit slower. Regardless, none of that stuff really matters as much as how they perform, and that’s precisely what this three-way drag race aims to sort out.

When the rubber meets the proverbial road, the CT5-V Blackwing actually gets a bit of a jump start in the first race, though the Charger quickly makes up that gap and leaps ahead. With the less powerful Lexus trailing by a country mile, the Charger cruises to an easy victory, thought the Caddy isn’t too far behind.

Thus, the crew lines up for a roll race to see if that makes any difference, and it does, somewhat. The Cadillac fares far better here, though the Charger Jailbreak still beats it by roughly a half a car. Out on the track, Harris falls in love with the Dodge as well, saying that it’s “better than it has any right to be,” and calling it “utterly ridiculous,” in a good way. From a guy that’s driven just about everything, we’ll take that any day.

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.