Testing The Supercar-Killer Widebody Hellcat In Indianapolis

A Canadian reviewer tests one wild Dodge.

Perhaps the biggest complaint lodged against Dodge’s Challenger Hellcat is about its relative inability to turn corners. Sure, the Hellcat is fast in a straight line, but frankly, it’s a bit pudgy for its tires, giving it a tendency to push into the corners and throttle-on oversteer coming out of them. To remedy this and get the Challenger on a plane with high-powered exotics and sports cars, Dodge decided to tack on some over-fenders and fit some really wide wheels and tires. They’re massive 305/35R20 Pirelli P-Zero tires on 11-inch wide wheels cribbed from the more powerful Demon. And in this video review, Brian Makse is impressed.

Chevrolet or Ford would rather remove a bit of weight and add steering, suspension, brake, and aero upgrades in order to find faster lap times. But Dodge’s answer is to shout “MORE” at their engineers until they end up with something like this. The Hellcat Widebody does add an electrically assisted steering rack, but that’s to dial in different modes rather than to create a track star.

The big fenders, wider wheels and tires, and the Demon’s front splitter are the only differences between the standard Hellcat and the wide one. The tires obviously make a difference, as Dodge claims a one-tenth quicker 0-60 sprint, a three-tenths quicker quarter mile time, and a two second faster lap around a 1.7 mile road course compared to the standard ‘narrow body’ Hellcat.
 

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Dodge’s heavyweight 707 Horsepower screamer just got a little bit bigger and a little bit better. With a good set of wide and sticky tires, the Hellcat Widebody truly takes the muscle car into supercar territory. It does ‘fast’ in a way that very few cars do; certainly unlike anything at this price point. If you want to embarrass Lamborghinis and still have a nice comfortable place to sit, this is the car you really need in your life.