2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody

MSRP:  $71,140

Engine:  6.2 Liter Supercharged V8

Stats:  707 HP / 650 ft-lbs of torque

0-60:  3.6 Seconds

MPG:  14.7!  Seriously.  It’s pretty great.

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Text / Photos / Video:  Yousef Alvi

700 Horsepower ain’t what it used to be…

Let me explain.  There is a precise moment in the history of the automobile.  BHC (Before Hellcat) and AHC (After Hellcat).  The period of BHC can be described as ‘blissful ignorance’.  It was a world filled with utter joy at the sight of 400 horsepower.  It was a world that got excited at the sight of a 250 horsepower sedan and was floored at anything over 500 horses.  Then, like a phoenix rising from the autopocalypse, rose the Hellcat.  A lowly ole sedan.  A lowly ole sedan from a manufacturer whose history is fraught with ownership changes, bankruptcies and the constant verge of financial collapse…produced a 707 horsepower sedan for less than $100k.   

The Hellcat wasn’t just a car.  It was an entire paradigm shift in automobile thinking.  Here was a sedan (A SEDAN) that makes 707 horsepower.  That you could buy.  Like right now.  For less money than a mid-level 5 series.  A sedan that makes more power than 90% of the super/hyper-cars on the road.  

A car that could/would spin through every gear.  A car that blasts through every measurable calculation to 60, to the 1/4 mile to even top speed.  The Hellcat decimated everything to such an extent that 5 years later… the public is numb.  If a lowly Dodge sedan can make 707 horsepower…then who cares if a Camry makes 300?  Who cares if a Mustang GT is now making 480 hp?  Heck who cares if an E63s makes 603??  The Hellcat makes more.  

I care but I’m a nerd.  That is not the point though.  The most amazing part of the whole Hellcat story is the manufacturer. Dodge people!  The perennial underdog of the entire automotive industry.  Dodge…a company whose ownership changes more often than my changing of socks..built a 707 horsepower, affordable(ish), showroom ready, sedan for $64k. 

It’s now 5 years later. What does the new iteration have to offer?

Well the price goes up to $71,140 but also does fenders. Giving you roughly an extra 5mm on all four corners but more importantly that enables fitting wider tires underneath. Now sporting ginormous 305 width tires on all four corners, the Hellcat oozes menace. It oozes intimidation. But more importantly…it has traction.  Oh sure, if you drive like an idiot, you can still spin the tires on command but now it’s manageable.  The wider tires give the Charger another bonus…excellent steering feel.  You can feel exactly what the front and rear tires are doing.  You can anticipate its next move instead of just reacting to it.  Making it one of the most tactile steering units on the road today. 

There is another more obvious bonus to the widebody.  Looks.  The narrow body Hellcat wasn’t subdued by any means but now it just looks downright brooding.  The body is molded and angled in such a way that it will scare passers by.  Fear is the most apt description.  So…obviously…I love it.  

I love this car.  I love this car in ways I shouldn’t love this car.  Is the interior chocked full of expensive materials?  Is it screwed together in laser like precision?  Is the driving position spot on?  No.  No in all three categories.  The interior is filled with your typical American material quality and construction.  Just good.  Not horrible.  Not the best.  Just average.  Body and interior fit and finish is also just ‘good’.  The driving position is more akin to a pickup truck than a car.  You tend be sitting so high up in the car that it feels like you are on the sunroof.  

If this was a normal car…then I would hate it.  I was spew vitriol till the heavens wept.  But this isn’t a normal car.  It’s a Hellcat.  It’s 700 horsepower of bravado, pantomime and excitement.   It’s a car that shouldn’t have this stellar of a ride quality…but it does.  It’s car that shouldn’t be this quiet…but it is.  It’s a car that shouldn’t have just whiffs of refinement…but it does.  It’s car that shouldn’t exist in today’s world but it is here.  That’s why I love it.  That is why the AHC period is the period that every enthusiast should relish.