Hennessey’s Dodge Demon 1700 is a 1700bhp answer to the BMW M4
The Hemi-engined Dodge Challenger is being put to rest, but not before Hennessey builds the ultimate 1700bhp version…
It turns out that Hennessey’s Dodge Challenger ‘Last Stand’ isn’t the ultimate swansong to the Hemi engine, which was discontinued at the end of last year. Meet the Dodge Demon 1700 – built by Hennessey’s Special Operations (HSO) division, the new model is limited to just 12 units and generates (you guessed it) a colossal 1700bhp.
The Texan tuning specialist and hypercar creator has launched the HSO department to deliver more bespoke, exclusive products, the first of which is the Demon 1700. Taking the Dodge Demon 170 as a base, Hennessey instals a box-fresh, modified V8 to give the drag-strip specialist hypercar levels of power – not that the 1025bhp Demon was wanting for more grunt to begin with…
The 1700 uses a blueprinted Hemi V8 and ditches the standard supercharger for a pair of turbos, with the headline power figure achieved using E85 fuel. The transmission is new too, with more robust internals to safely transfer that power to the rear tyres.
According to Hennessey, the Demon 1700 is predicted to achieve a quarter-mile time of 7.9sec, crossing the line at 175mph. That’s just over a second quicker than the standard Demon, which is already one of the world’s fastest accelerating production cars with a 1.66sec 0-60mph time (allowing for a one-foot rollout).
Production of the Demon 1700 will be limited to just 12 cars, each costing from around $200,000 (c£157,000) including a Dodge Demon donor car. HSO will launch more bespoke models in due course, but the department will be restricted to producing 15 to 20 vehicles per year.
While Hennessey works to keep the Hemi V8 alive, Dodge is gearing up to launch its new generation of electric muscle cars, the first of which will be the Charger Daytona SRT. Due this year, the EV coupe will replace the Challenger with an 800bhp+ dual motor powertrain, a manually-controlled electromechanical gearbox and an artificial noise generator.
