Dodge Challenger Hellcat: All You Need to Know

The 2023 Dodge Challenger Hellcat is the last of a dying breed. It’s a modern muscle car in the truest form, with immense power and retro styling. The Challenger is slated to be replaced with an electric car by the same name in the next year or so. But for now, appreciate the Hellcat for what it is—a stupendously powerful and fun American coupe.

Among its many styling highlights, the Challenger Hellcat boasts 20-inch alloy wheels and a pair of large hood scoops to help feed its supercharged powerplant. The Hellcat Widebody variants include wider fenders and tires.

The beating heart of the base Challenger Hellcat is its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine. It makes 717 horsepower and 656 pound-feet of torque. In the Hellcat Redeye it makes 797 horsepower, and in the Hellcat Super Stock, it makes 807 horsepower.

The Hellcat routes power to the rear wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission. It’s also available with an 8-speed automatic transmission. In the Redeye and Super Stock trims, the automatic is your only option.

The Hellcat Super Stock is a straight-line beast. It’s capable of going zero to 60 mph in just 3.25 seconds and has a quarter-mile time of 10.5 seconds, while its top speed (tire-limited) is 168 mph. The base Hellcat has a top speed of 199 mph, and the Redeye can top out at 203 mph.

Fuel economy estimates are predictably dismal, coming in at an EPA-estimated 13 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway with the manual. With the automatic transmission, highway fuel economy climbs to 22 mpg. Fuel economy with the widebody and automatic transmission (including Super Stock and Redeye) is 13 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway. The 2023 Dodge Challenger Hellcat and all of its variants require premium fuel.

The Hellcat is available with SRT-tuned Bilstein adaptive dampers. They allow the driver to select one of three suspension settings: Auto, Sport and Track. The SRT Performance Pages allow the driver to dial in a number of other settings, including throttle response, steering feel, shift mapping, traction control and more. The Hellcat also includes a heavy duty rear differential, Brembo performance brakes and a performance exhaust system.

The Challenger Hellcat has two rows of spacious seating. Even the rear seats have adequate legroom for adults, though they might not have terrific views thanks to the large rear roof pillars. The Challenger Hellcat has 16.2 cubic feet of trunk space, which is stellar for a sports car.

The Challenger Hellcat comes standard with Houndstooth cloth seating, six-way power-adjustable and heated front seats and a six-speaker Alpine audio system. It’s also available with an 18-speaker Harman Kardon premium stereo system.

The Hellcat also comes with an 8.4-inch touch-screen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It has a logical layout, highlighted by the “dock” of icons at the bottom of the screen and the redundant physical buttons and dials. This infotainment system includes Bluetooth connectivity, satellite radio, intuitive voice command capabilities and multiple USB ports.

Buyers can select genuine leather upholstery, as well as upgraded Laguna premium leather upholstery, ventilated front seats, a power tilt-telescoping steering wheel and Alcantara cabin accents.

There are some modern advanced safety features available on the Challenger Hellcat. They include forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

Base MSRP (including destination charge) for the 2023 Dodge Challenger Hellcat is $73,885. The SRT Hellcat Widebody Jailbreak starts at $80,285. The SRT Redeye Jailbreak starts at $81,935 and the Redeye Widebody Jailbreak starts at $88,335. The range-topping SRT Super Stock starts at $90,340. That might seem like steep pricing, but considering what this supercharged monster can do on the street and track, the Dodge Challenger Hellcat is a performance bargain.