Smoke Show At Triple-Digit Speeds
Remember Hennessey Performance’s Dodge Challenger Demon 1700 project, which, as the name suggests, is claimed to produce a staggering 1,700 horsepower? Well, the car recently underwent its final validation test drive, and according to driver and company president Alex Roys, it laid down a rolling burnout at 100 mph.
Doing a burnout from a standstill already puts a lot of stress on components like the engine and transmission, so pulling one off at 100 mph takes enormous power to spin the wheels faster than the car itself is moving. That power comes from a 7.2-liter HEMI V8 with a twin-turbocharger setup instead of the factory supercharger. Roys claimed the engine itself costs $100,000.
A Different Kind Of Demon
The turbo spool and blow-off sounds were aggressive, a far cry from the factory Demon 170’s signature supercharger whine. That car was already billed by Dodge as the world’s most powerful muscle car, with 1,025 horsepower, beating the Ford Mustang GTD’s 815 horsepower and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1’s 650-hp figure. As such, this Demon 1700 takes things to another level.
The Demon 1700 is a project from Hennessey Special Operations, the division responsible for building wild bespoke creations. In fact, after turning off the electronic driver aids, Roys described the drive by saying, “It wants to kill me bad.” He added, “Honestly, don’t turn everything off. That’s the wrong idea for 99%.”
Specs-wise, the vehicle features two Precision PT6870 turbochargers, billet turbo wastegates and blow-off valves, a Stage 3 transmission, a 3.09-ratio rear differential, a billet torque converter, and an upgraded fuel system, among other modifications.
Peak Muscle-Car Insanity
Hennessey Performance previously said production of the Demon 1700 would be limited to just 12 units worldwide, each starting at $200,000, excluding the donor Demon 170. It would have been interesting if the team had included a quarter-mile run during the final validation test drive, especially since they were already at the Pennzoil Proving Ground, but it looks like they are saving that for another day. For reference, the original target was a 7.9-second quarter-mile run at more than 175 mph.
In the meantime, the Texas-based tuner has unveiled several wild builds this year, including the 35th Anniversary Super Venom based on the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which delivers a 70% horsepower increase to 850 hp. There’s also the VelociRaptor 1200 F-250, which packs 1,200 lb-ft of torque and was created to mark America’s 250th anniversary of independence.
