Fastest Hellcat

[recurveman]

I guess it's just me, I'm not a modified kind of guy. to me it's just another race car, if it's not in factory clothes. Yeah that's fast. so is John Force.

I'm in your camp Stonewall. There is a certain point where the only body and some components thereof are factory. There comes a point that things in no way qualify as factory stock.
Don't take this the wrong way. I admire anyone who is able to take these platforms from the factory and modify them to run in the 8s and even 7s. I'm just an old geezer who was primarily a street racer back in the 60s and 70s. Before anyone criticizes that you have to have been alive then and realize that's just the way it was. There were few tracks back then so we just raced where it was convenient. Every little area had its favorite straight stretch of road.
That wouldn't have been possible with today's cars. Mostly too much power and too fast for the street.
I loved it then and I love it now. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would be able to buy my 2021 WB Challenger Hellcat from the factory with the performance it gives me. Just ask 1971Demon or a few of the others on this forum. You know. All the old guys.

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

When street racers started getting their hands on fiberglass parts (front clip, doors, deck lids) the lines started to blur because of the advantage of weight reduction. Now if you want to run 7s, doing so at 4500lbs is much more difficult and expensive than doing it at 3500lbs… so how far do you let someone go? Especially if you need to add safety equipment… they must be able to counter the increased weight with some removal of factory components. There was discussion on here that once you remove the blower it isn’t a Hellcat anymore (certainly not one I agree with)… So long as it started as a Hellcat and the powertrain is Hellcat-ish… let them have their record and you guys can chase whatever record you want.
Few if any guys running lower than a 9.5 are doing so at full weight, and nobody talks about them. Hell, Ron sold his Demon because he had a line he wouldn’t cross in reducing weight and he was no longer competitive… and that line was completely fabricated by him with what he was comfortable with. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[recurveman]

Amen. Different eras have different standards. There is no right or wrong when it comes to this. I truly admire the people who go balls to the wall with mods and those who are basically stock. Variety makes the world go round. I am so enthralled with this Hellcat that I could drive it eight hours a day every day and still want more. It's simply astounding the pleasure I get driving it. Realizing the tech from 50 years ago and now makes me appreciate this car.
Period!

 

[Marc W]

Problem with drawing a line is… everybody has a different line. If a car starts out as a Hellcat and still has the basic foundation of that original car, then it’s still a Hellcat. You can’t arbitrarily draw a line on mods and say it’s not a Hellcat anymore if you have this or that. Otherwise any modification, no matter how small could make that case. Showroom stock vs modified is a definite line but beyond that…. Lines are just opinions.

 

[recurveman]

Absolutely true.

 

[stonewall]

Back in the day, if you were stock, and the other guy was on the bottle, it was an unfair race. I understand the idea is bragging rights. I'm just not in on the title of most of these threads. A seven second drag car is just that a drag car. The grill badge doesn't have anything to do with it anymore.

 

[jroyk]

Back in the day, if you were stock, and the other guy was on the bottle, it was an unfair race. I understand the idea is bragging rights. I'm just not in on the title of most of these threads. A seven second drag car is just that a drag car. The grill badge doesn't have anything to do with it anymore.

Agree, but it’s nice to have a reason to cheer for one car over another. Having a favorite makes any contest more interesting, imo.

 

[Linda's Hell Cat]

This was questioned long ago. The end result was if it had a Hellcat Vin# it is a Hellcat.
Me when they are so built and many parts are exchanged it falls into the competition of It's a Challenger or Charger. Because there are so many parts available now from the Hellcat for any year Challenger or Charger to be highly modified.

Without these guys pushing the limits, new parts are not developed. I just know how much it sucked prior to our Hellcats with the 6.1 SRT's parts were forever to come to the market!

John/Top Cat really enjoyed pushing and challenging others who enjoyed the race to be the fastest. Because it pushed the parts guys to be first to the market with parts and Tuning.

So think about it like this, no matter what level of racing you want to do those that pushed the stock limits made it a lot more Fassst Fun for others!

Enjoy,
Linda

 

[Phast Hemi]

When street racers started getting their hands on fiberglass parts (front clip, doors, deck lids) the lines started to blur because of the advantage of weight reduction. Now if you want to run 7s, doing so at 4500lbs is much more difficult and expensive than doing it at 3500lbs… so how far do you let someone go? Especially if you need to add safety equipment… they must be able to counter the increased weight with some removal of factory components. There was discussion on here that once you remove the blower it isn’t a Hellcat anymore (certainly not one I agree with)… So long as it started as a Hellcat and the powertrain is Hellcat-ish… let them have their record and you guys can chase whatever record you want.
Few if any guys running lower than a 9.5 are doing so at full weight, and nobody talks about them. Hell, Ron sold his Demon because he had a line he wouldn’t cross in reducing weight and he was no longer competitive… and that line was completely fabricated by him with what he was comfortable with. Different strokes for different folks.

You bring up some interesting points and weight is not our friend for sure. For us, going low 9s and 8s at weight is not enough...the car has to do it and stay together week after week. The durability aspect becomes more difficult the heavier and faster you get. To me, a Hellcat is a streetcar. Once you remove the streetcar safety and amenities, like interior ,seating, factory crash bars and airbags...its not a street car anymore...its a race car.
I suppose the VIN argument is sort of a last stand for identifying as a hellcat when its really a race car. My guess is that if the day comes when a hellcat VIN'd racecar is as fast as any other comparable lightweight , big tire, tube chassis race car, they wont care if they have a hellcat VIN. Keep in mind that there are steel bodied race cars out there going 3s in the 1/8th and have been doing it for years.