---
title: "The 2018 Dodge SRT Challenger Hellcat Widebody Assaults Lime Rock Park"
description: "Ooooh, feel those 707-horsepower muscles, as only Detroit can build them."
date: "2017-12-06"
modified: "2017-12-06"
authors:
  - name: "Lawrence Ulrich"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/lawrence-ulrich"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/video/16707/the-2018-dodge-srt-challenger-hellcat-widebody-assaults-lime-rock-park"
categories:
  - "Dodge News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Watch This"
tags:
  - "Challenger"
  - "Challenger SRT Hellcat"
  - "Coupe"
  - "dodge"
  - "Hellcat"
  - "lime rock park"
  - "sports car"
  - "Widebody"
---

# The 2018 Dodge SRT Challenger Hellcat Widebody Assaults Lime Rock Park

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/12/challwidebody-tout.png>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Dodge boys tend to prefer stoplights and straight lines to road courses and curves. But the [Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/11892/the-2018-dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-widebody-is-a-cheaper-dodge-demon>) lets you have your two-ton cake and eat it, and we at *The Drive* feasted accordingly during our test at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

This is the grippier, sharper-steering offshoot of [the vaunted Challenger Hellcat](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/14256/two-dead-after-crashing-a-dodge-challenger-hellcat-on-a-runway-test-drive>), that 707-horsepower marvel and throwback to the glory days of Sixties street racing in Detroit, SoCal and elsewhere. True to its name, the Widebody is 3.5-inches broader than a standard Hellcat. Its wicked flared fenders accommodate 20x11 inch rear wheels and Pirelli P Zero tires. Those aluminum alloys are 1.5-inches wider than on the standard Hellcat, with a slim-spoked “Devil’s Rim” design, begging the question of which supplier was tasked with the Devil’s Rim job.

![4bc.gif](<https://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/043/316/4bc.gif>)
**Know Your Meme**

So equipped, the Widebody beat [the standard Hellcat](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/15149/watch-this-allegedly-stolen-dodge-challenger-hellcat-rip-down-texas-highways>) by nearly two seconds per lap around Fiat Chrysler’s 1.7-mile road course. And it clearly felt more tractable at Lime Rock than its straight-up Hellcat cousin, including pulling 0.97 g of lateral force on the pavement. It’s faster, too, scorching said pavement from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and running a quarter-mile in 10.9 seconds, versus 3.5 seconds and 11.2 for the skinnier Hellcat. No, this Dodge won’t be beating [a Chevy Camaro ZL1](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/14090/chevy-camaro-zl1-1le-wont-be-sold-in-europe-because-the-aerodynamics-are-too-dangerous>) or Ford Shelby GT350 around a racetrack, despite its big horsepower advantage. But the Widebody’s improved grip and more-responsive steering—not to mention its more menacing looks—make it a more versatile take on the traditional Mopar destroyer.

With its mental-ward 840-horsepower, [the ultimate Dodge Demon version of the Chally](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/12618/2018-dodge-challenger-srt-demon-sends-its-rivals-straight-to-hell>) has stolen the Hemi V8 thunder. But for people who don’t have a standing invitation to a drag strip, the Challenger Widebody is actually the better and far-more- affordable choice, especially at a $72,590 base price versus $86,000 for the Demon...if you can even find a limited-production Demon for anywhere near list price.

Of course, it takes a special breed to drop even 72 grand on a Dodge, especially when half the fun for drag-racing fanatics is to build a car with their own grease-stained hands. But the Hellcat Widebody shows, again, that the American Muscle Car remains ready to kill—and refuses to die.

## Author
Born and forged in the Motor City, now a Brooklynite, Lawrence is the former chief auto critic at the *New York Times* and *Detroit Free Press*. His award-winning work has appeared in *Automobile*, *Road & Track*, *Fortune*, *Conde Nast Portfolio*, *Men's Journal*, *Popular Science* and others.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/lawrenceulrich>)