This week’s Dodge Demon teaser video entitled “Third Law” refers to Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion which states, “For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action”. We’re not sure if Newton had the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon drag mode in mind when he stated this law, but we’ll take whatever gives us the edge over the competition in racing!
According to FCA, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat’s supercharged HEMI provides more than adequate horsepower to run quicker quarter miles than its balanced suspension is able to handle. While the Hellcat’s main focus was to strike a balance between track performance and street comfort, the Dodge Demon is on another mission. Even though it’s going to be highly competent in all drive modes and configurations, the all-new track dominating and tire wrinkling Drag Mode is where we’ll really see this drag strip terror shine through.
The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon drag mode amazingly facilitates the marriage of mechanical and electronic tuning to produce an optimal combination of launch force and lateral stability. The SRT Demon will now be able to label itself the first factory production car to implement a medley of mechanical and electronic drag-race-specific suspension tuning. This implementation overcomes the problem of having a drag racer that can’t turn or make directional changes when compared to the “old school” way of tuning. As noted by Dodge, it was to “get the quickest reacting springs upfront, the softest rebound front shocks that wouldn’t restrict the springs’ reaction, remove any restrictions (sway bar) and increase the compression of the rear shocks.” Well, those days are apparently over!
Check out the official Dodge Challenger SRT Demon drag mode specs below.
Hardware:
- 35 percent lower rate front springs/28 percent lower rate rear springs
- 75 percent lower rate hollow front sway bar/44 percent lower rate rear sway bar
- Drag-tuned Bilstein Adaptive Damping Shocks
Software:
- Rear = F/F and Front = F/S
- F/F – F/S maintained @ wide open throttle (WOT)
- F/F – F/F < WOT
- Traction control disabled/ESC maintained
Result:
- 13.5=575@500
Stay tuned as Dodge is promising to delve more into the specific attributes of Drag Mode and how it maximizes weight transfer, traction and control in the weeks to follow.
