Watch a Hellcat Charger Become the First in the 8s

Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat owned and tuned by Zdung Ho is the quickest of its kind in the world.

The red Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat shown here has been one of the quickest of the factory-supercharged Mopar sedans in the world for some time, but earlier this month, this beast became the first four-door Hellcat car to cover the quarter-mile in the 8-second range. This Charger belongs to Zdung Ho, who tuned this car himself and after spending some time running in the low-9-second range, he finally became the first Hellcat sedan driver to run in the 8s.

This video comes to us from the Zdung YouTube channel and it shows us the record-setting pass as it was made at Houston Raceway Park in Texas.

Zdung Ho’s Charger Hellcat

While Zdung Ho’s Dodge Charger came from the factory with the 6.2-liter Hellcat Hemi, topped by a 2.4-liter IHI supercharger, it has been heavily modified for drag strip dominance. The Hemi engine has been enlarged to 7.0 liters or 427 cubic inches by Demon Performance/TKM and topped with a 4.5-liter Whipple supercharger. It also his ThiTek cylinder heads, a Demon Performance blower camshaft, ID1700 fuel injectors, Stainless Works long tube headers, a Fore triple pump fuel system, a ZAutomotive Tazer and a Legmaker carbon fiber cold air intake. Zdung has tuned this combination himself, resulting in more than 1,000 wheel horsepower during this run.

In addition to the big, built Hemi engine, this Hellcat Charger also has springs from a Dodge Demon, a TCE 15″ Rear Brake Conversion, High Horse Performance/Bogart 15-inch beadlock wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson ET Street Pro drag radials, BMR suspension components, a Per4Mance Development differential brace and drive line parts from the Driveshaft Shop, including a driveshaft and axles.

Finally, this car has some weight reduction, tipping the scales at 4,220 pounds with the driver, so it is a few hundred pounds lighter than the stock Hellcat Charger.

There are other items as well and you can check out the entire mod list in the video description, but those components listed above are the key features that helped put Zdung Ho’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the 8-second range.

Setting the Record

In the video above, Zdung Ho begins by cleaning off the tires before staging at the starting line. When the green lights drop, the supercharged sedan sits at the line for a few seconds, as Ho makes sure that the launch is as perfect as possible.

He succeeds, as the Hellcat Charger pulled a 1.343 60-foot time and got to the eighth mile marker in 5.754 seconds with a speed of 126.61 miles per hour. With a big back-half pull, this Charger becomes the first Hellcat sedan in the 8s, running an 8.906 at 156.52 miles per hour.

Best of all, this record was run with a density altitude of more than 2,400 feet, so when Zdung Ho gets some of the insanely low (often negative) density altitude levels of the other record-holding Hellcat cars, he will surely go much further into the 8-second range.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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