Hellcat Challenger gets close to the official top speed in a two-mile run from a stop.
This video comes to us from the C F YouTube channel and it features a 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat making a high speed run at one of the company’s “Straight Line Aerodynamic Testing Sessions”. This run took place on the space shuttle landing pad on Merritt Island in Florida and even though the stock muscle car had just two miles to stretch its legs – it nearly reached the official top speed of 199 miles per hour.
Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds Straight Line Aerodynamic Testing Sessions
Merritt Island in Florida is where NASA lands the space shuttles, but it is also where the team from the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds hold their Straight Line Aerodynamic Testing Sessions. This is basically a program that allows owners of high performance vehicles to test the limits of their machines in a safe area and to avoid calling it racing or some other name that comes with insurance problems, the company calls these high speed runs Straight Line Aerodynamic Testing Sessions.
In any case, participants have the opportunity to run their car hard in a straight line for a variety of lengths, ranging from 1.5-miles to 2.3-miles. In fact, a while back we featured a new Challenger Demon that hit 203 miles per hour on Merritt Island, but this time, we bring you a look at the Challenger Hellcat on a 2-mile blast.
As you might expect, the Hellcat is a touch slower, but the results are still mighty impressive.
Hellcat Hits 195
As you might know, a stock Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat has an official top speed of 199 miles per hour, but that was achieved using the two-run method. To reach that official top speed, Dodge made a high speed run in one direction and then the other on the same surface. This prevents a car from benefitting from a tailwind or a downhill track, since the reverse trip would be into the wind and uphill.
In testing and verification, the Dodge Hellcat Challenger actually went over 200 miles per hour, but with the two-run method, the average was 199 and that became the official top speed.
In the video above, the supercharged Dodge makes a 2-mile run from a stop in stock form, with the only upgrade being a Legmaker cold air intake. While the Dodge team ran on a much longer track to get to that official speed of 199, owner and driver Craig Fitzhugh hit 195.244 miles per hour in a standing 2-mile blast.
"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.
