Widebody Hellcat Review: Wider Body, Wider Tires, Greater Performance
While the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody is a fairly minimal package – it improves the 707hp muscle car in every way.
The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody is very similar to the original Hellcat Challenger which has been on sale since late in 2014. The Widebody package has the same 707hp supercharged Hemi, the same transmission options, the same high tech suspension setup and the same massive Brembo braking system, but as the name suggests, the Widebody package has a wider body. This flared body treatment, which has been borrowed from the new Demon, allows the company to mount up significantly wider wheels and tires along with adding a new Electronic Power Steering (EPS) system.
The company promises quicker acceleration and improved handling for the 2018 Widebody Hellcat Challenger, but can such simple changes lead to improvements that you can fell?
Hell(cat) yes.
To get a feel for the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody (and the new Demon), FCA hosted a media test drive function at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where we drove the newest Hellcat on the F1 Grand Prix course. Having driven the “regular” Hellcat Challenger with the 275mm-wide Pirelli tires on a few different road courses, I went into this drive event expecting a car that performed a bit better, but the Widebody Hellcat far exceeded my expectations.
Our drive began with a hard launch on pit road of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which quickly made it apparent how much better the 305m-wide Pirelli tires grip the road. Don’t get me wrong – you can still easily spin the tires if you get too greedy with the throttle, but these wider tires allow you to get further into the throttle sooner in the launch. This is also true when powering out of the turns, so while you still need to be patient with pushing the pedal to wide open throttle, the Widebody Challenger Hellcat will scoot out of the turns with more grip than the original Hellcat cars.
In addition to the greater acceleration capabilities, the wider tires of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody improves grip when heading into corners. When coupled with the new Electronic Power Steering system, which features a Track setting for the least amount of assist and the greatest amount of feedback, these wider tires greatly cut down on understeer as you enter a turn and through the middle of the turn, while also helping cut down on oversteer when you exit the turn.
In short, the improved acceleration times and the improved grip on a road course are both significant enough that when driving the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the advantages are noticeable.
So, the new Widebody Hellcat Challenger handles and accelerates better on a road course, but to see if these changes make a difference on the open road – we hit the local roads around the famous race track to see if the wider tires improve the road manners of the supercharged Dodge muscle car.
Although the Widebody Hellcat Challenger is just as comfortable as the original Hellcat Challenger when driving on public roads, a few hard digs at stop lights made it clear that, yes, the 305mm-wide rear tires do make the wider Hellcat a better road car. It is still an awesome burnout machine when the need arises, but there is no question that the bigger rear tires allow you to launch the Widebody Hellcat Challenger harder on the loose footing of public roads.
So, if you are in the market for a new Hellcat Challenger and you want the best grip possible in every driving situation, the new Widebody option is the choice for you. It looks meaner and it outperforms the original Hellcat in every way.
