Dodge Challenger’s Swan Song is the Infernal Scream of 1,025 Horses

Just how close to hell could Dodge push the wicked Challenger before moving on to its electrified replacement? We now have the answer!

In case you missed the news, the company’s almighty muscle car as we know it will retire at the end of the 2023 model year. Same thing for the four-door Charger, in fact. A series of “Last Call” special editions wraps everything up, and none is more extreme than the seventh and final one.

Called Challenger SRT Demon 170, it’s the fastest and most powerful car ever built by Dodge, largely eclipsing even the original Demon from 2018. Want some numbers? Prepare to have your mind blown.

Under the hood of this sensational Challenger is a 6.2-litre HEMI V8 fitted with a 3.0-litre supercharger. Output is no less than 900 horsepower along with 810 lb-ft. of torque, but it’s possible to get as much as 1,025 horsepower and 845 lb-ft. of torque when using E85 fuel. How insane does that sound?

Designed primarily for drag racing, the Challenger SRT Demon 170 explodes from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in just 1.66 seconds. Seriously. And with a quarter-mile time of 8.91 seconds, it becomes the first gas-powered production car in the world to beat the nine-second mark.

As you’d expect, the eight-speed automatic transmission is specifically calibrated to handle the extra power and torque. Dodge engineers have also employed several weight-saving measures to make the Demon 170 as lightweight as possible, such as removing the front fender flares (-7 kg) and offering aluminum and carbon fibre wheels (-71 kg).

The rubber that wraps around them is really something to behold, as you can see on the pictures below. We’re talking about Mickey Thomson ET Street R tires in a size of 315/50R17 front and 245/55R18 rear. With that kind of footprint, no one can confuse this Challenger with anything else, that’s for sure.

And then there’s the price, which is just as staggering. In the U.S., the 3,000 units will retail from $96,666 apiece (a nod to the number of the devil), with a fully optioned car topping $133,000. The price in Canada starts at $130,890, and we can tell you that only 300 units will stay on this side of the border. Production takes place in Brampton, Ontario.