Demon has 133 more horsepower, giving it a difference of almost eight miles per hour, but the real story is in the finishing numbers.
The video above comes to us from the Track Day TV YouTube channel and it features a half-mile duel between a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Channel host Dan Wang pilots the 707-horsepower machine in this half-mile matchup against the world’s quickest production car in the quarter mile to see how much of an advantage has in a longer race on an unprepped surface.
As you might expect, the Demon still wins with ease, but the Hellcat Challenger puts up a great fight on the long, high speed run, leading Wang to question whether the 840-horsepower Mopar muscle car is worth the added money.
The Introduction
The video begins with a dramatic introduction with Dan Wangtalking about the two cars. He states that “we already know how this story ends,” but he wants to still it himself, so he is taking his Destroyer Grey Hellcat to battle a GoMagno Demon on a half-mile airstrip.
During this introduction, you will notice that this is not your average YouTube video with a 20-something tripping over his words as he talks to his cell phone camera. This video has visual effects, background music and voiceover narration, as Wang strives to make his videos cinematic mastery compared to your average racing clips.
After giving us a close-up look at the Hellcat and the Demon, the two pull to the starting line of the half-mile airstrip for the head-to-head battle.
The Race
We first watch this race between supercharged Challengers from inside the Hellcat. We can see that shortly after the start, the Hellcat has a slight lead, but it doesn’t take long for the Demon to get up to speed, catch, pass and pull away from the 707-horsepower muscle car. We also get to watch from trackside, giving us a better look at how badly the Demon beat the Hellcat to the half-mile marker.
If looks like the GoMango Challenger beat the Destroyer Grey car by a few car lengths, but the real story is in the numbers. The 840-horsepower Dodge crossed the half-mile finish line with a speed of 164.23 miles per hour while the 707-horsepower coupe hit 156.35 miles per hour. The Demon won by eight miles per hour, which is a considerable figure in the half-mile.
According to Wang, the Demon is faster than the Lamborghini Huracan, the Lamborghini Aventador and the Ferrari 458, and the Challenger costs a fraction of the price of those European supercars.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
