Speed, Size, and Hellcats

With Dodge thinking real hard about bringing the Hellcat, we take a look at two of our favorites.

A three-row family hauler with 710 horsepower sounds like a punchline, but the 2023 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat Premium makes a strong case for everyday insanity. We dive into the details that matter: the captain’s chairs that make carpool easy, the Laguna leather and heated second row that keep everyone happy, and the SRT Performance Pages that tempt you to explore every drive mode. From red Brembo brakes and 20 by 10 wheels to the 10.1-inch Uconnect system and a thundering Harman Kardon setup, the Durango blends comfort, tech, and raw force in a way few SUVs can touch.

Then we talk numbers and nuance. A 6.2-liter supercharged V8 with 710 hp and 645 lb-ft moving 5,500 pounds to 60 in under five seconds feels unhinged, yet the competition suspension and AWD deliver a firm, stable ride on the highway. Towing up to 8,700 pounds, seeing real-world fuel economy in the teens, and confronting a six-figure sticker spark the bigger conversation: what are you really buying when you choose a Hellcat badge? We stack the Durango’s capability against the short list of rivals and find that very few full-size SUVs play in this power league.

To round out the picture, we jump into the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody and explore why a shape born in 2008 still sells out. Wide fenders, a flat-nose grille, and hood nostrils serve retro muscle with modern grip, while a thick SRT wheel, high-bolstered seats, and bulletproof Uconnect keep the cockpit focused. With 717 hp and 656 lb-ft on tap, the Challenger raises the eternal question: should you use all of it? We unpack the burnout myth, traction realities, daily drivability, and how the Hellcat compares with Mustang Mach 1, Camaro ZL1, and Charger Hellcat.

If you’re weighing a supercharged SUV that can tow the toys or a coupe that time-travels to the glory days, this conversation maps the trade-offs in power, price, and practicality. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves big horsepower, and leave a review to tell us whether you’d pick the Durango or the Challenger.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
All right, um, time now for the car review.
Now, Mr.
Mars had the chance to drive.
Don't be smiling at me on when Igive this introduction.
Had the chance to drive theDodge Durango SRT Hellcat.
And that's all I'm gonna saybecause I know that you'll rub
it in even more now that you'vehad a chance to drive it.

SPEAKER_00 (00:34):
So we're we're talking about the 2023 Durango
SRT Hellcat Premium All-WheelDrive.
Now I'm gonna explain that toyou.

SPEAKER_02 (00:43):
Okay, please do.

SPEAKER_00 (00:44):
Now the Dodge Durango, uh, you can actually,
if you count the differenteditions that they have listed
on their website, you canactually get 18 different trim
levels or whatever you want tocall it of the Durango.
However, we're gonna just talkabout the three Hellcat
editions.
You can get the uh SRT Hellcat,the SRT Hellcat Plus, the SRT

(01:06):
Hellcat Premium, which is theone that we had.
This is a full-size SUVthree-row.
We had the six-passenger versionbecause we had the captain's
chairs in the second row.
One of my granddaughters, I wastaking her someplace in it.
She said, This is a family car?
Yes, this is a family car whenyou get everything in it that
you really want.
And uh it has a distinctive SRTbadging.

(01:27):
Uh ours had the dual racingstripes on it, the uh SRT
performance hood, had projectorheadlamps, LED daytime running
lamps, all that good stuffyou're gonna find out there.
SRT red brimbo brakes had powersunroof, power lift gate, 20 by
10 inch wheels.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Now you go to the inside of it,and this is where you're really

(01:49):
gonna see that it's uh is couldbe a family vehicle.
Laguna leather seating.
Got the high performance bucketseats up front.
Uh they're heated, ventilated.
The second row has also bucketseats that are heated, and it
has a console in that secondrow, so it's very comfortable
for the rear passengers.
Uh up front, you're also gonnafind out you've got a 200 mile
per hour speedometer.

(02:10):
And you're also got a 10.1 inchtouchscreen where the nav with
the UConnect system is, nav.
You're gonna find your SRTperformance pages there.
It's got wireless charging onit, it's got the Harman Cardin
audio with 19 speakers withsubwoofer and 825 watt amp.
So there's power in this vehicleon everything.
Now, the uh the Hellcat wasfirst introduced in 2021.

(02:34):
It was really only supposed tobe a one-model year production,
but it keeps going becausepeople love this vehicle.
It does weigh 5,500 pounds, soit is a large vehicle.
And it's heavy in the all-wheeldrive configuration.
Now, under the hood, you'regonna find the 6.2 liter V8, 710
horsepower SRT Hellcat engine,645-pound piece of torque,

(02:56):
eight-speed automatic.
Now, you can properly equip thisvehicle, and I don't know that I
would do it with the Hellcatmotor, but 8,700 pounds of
Durango is capable of towing.
Now, the EPA says you should beable to look for 12 miles per
gallon in the city, 17 on thehighway, and combined 13.
Now, for the two tanks of fuelthat I drove this vehicle during
the week, I had it across 238.3miles.

(03:18):
It got what?
I did not drive it over herethis week.
Why is that?

SPEAKER_02 (03:24):
Because it sucked down too much gas?

SPEAKER_00 (03:26):
No, because we were at the Autorama, it came in with
the Autorama and it had thetruck full of all our stuff in
it.
Okay, I see.
It hurt my feelings to leave itsitting in the driveway for a
couple of days.

SPEAKER_02 (03:35):
I'll bet it did.
Well, you could have transferredit from the truck to the back of
the uh Hellcat.

SPEAKER_00 (03:40):
I was afraid it wouldn't hold it all, but uh we
have a lot of stuff.
But anyway, zero to sixty inless than five seconds,
according to Dodge.
It does have a competitionsuspension on it.
And so you're gonna have a firmhighway ride.
It comes with that.
Yeah.
When you get that engine commoncombination package with
all-wheel drive, that's whatyou're gonna get.
But it's not that rough.

(04:02):
You know, you're going down thehighway at a rough.
No, it weighs almost three tons.
Exactly.
And when you've got the enginethat you can hear, mommy, my
wife went to sleep.
We were cruising, and she justYes, exactly.
She thought it was great forthat, and I said, Great, then
I'm gonna get one.
But she didn't like that ideatoo good.
Anyway, so if you're looking ata Dodge Durango, you can get

(04:22):
into this vehicle for$40,645.
But we're talking about theHellcat.
So a base trim hell price on aHellcat is$91,740.
Wow.
Now, uh you can get the Hellcatfor$93,335 and the Hellcat Plus
for$99.339.35.

(04:43):
Or you can get, as tested, theMSRP on the Durango SRT Hellcat
Premium All-Wheel Drive for$106,420.
Now, I went out and I looked tosee what you could compare this
to.
Now, there's a lot of full-sizeSUVs out there.
Yeah.
The V.
There's some of them that haveall-wheel drive.
Yeah.
But none of them have 700 plushorsepower.

(05:05):
So I just didn't even bother.

SPEAKER_02 (05:07):
Well, if you get one of these weird, it would be the
Escalade V.

SPEAKER_00 (05:12):
I I'd have enough trouble staying and keeping gas
in this one.
Yeah, yeah.
Exactly.
So uh, but anyway, uh it's it'sa very impressive vehicle.
It'll do a lot of and that's myreview of the 2023 Dodge Drangle
SRT Hellcat Face.

SPEAKER_02 (05:25):
It's not a smile, it's a smirk.
Oh, I love it.
All right.
Hey, the In-Wheel Time Car TalkShow is available 24-7 through
the iHeartRadio app.
Just look for In Wheel Time CarTalk.

SPEAKER_01 (05:34):
We also did 2022 Dodge Challenger.

SPEAKER_02 (05:46):
Available trim levels, the SXT, the GT, the RT,
the RT Scat Pack, and the SRTHellcat.
Not only did I have the Hellcat,but I had the Hellcat wide body.
How many passengers?
Four or five.
If you want to stick a thirdperson in the back seat back
there, I don't is there even aseat belt back there for that?

(06:08):
I don't think so.
Someone in the middle?
It's four people.
Anyway, exterior changes fromlast model year?
None.
This car was originallyintroduced in 2008, which was 15
years ago, if you're counting.
And if you stop and think aboutit, what car is still around
that's 15 years old that theysell everyone that they make?
It's truly amazing.
Uh I it it's a yeah.

(06:30):
Um exterior features.
Wheel opening extensions allowfor wider, bigger wheels and
tires, and that's really whatit's all about.
Trying to get the power to theroad.
Flat-nosed grill is a direct uhdescendant of the original back
in the 60s.
Uh She-Jack air nostrils on thehood.

(06:51):
No, no.
Oh well, they could be, yes.

SPEAKER_01 (06:53):
They did say wide body.

SPEAKER_02 (06:54):
Yeah.
You're gonna sneeze?
Oh uh front splitter and rearspoiler.
Said that.
What I liked, the retro stylingthat never gets old in my book.
Uh what could use improvement?
Nothing.
I like the way it is and I likethe way it looks, and uh they're
not gonna change it, and Iwouldn't recommend they change
it.
That's what sells the car.

(07:15):
Interior highlights, thick SRTsteering wheel, uh, well-laid
out dash that is getting alittle dated, but it still
works.
Great infotainment system.
That Chrysler system just reallyworks for me.
Comfortable, high bolsteredseating.
Uh, cargo trunk room isrelatively small for a mid-sized
car like this.

(07:35):
What I liked about it, the racecar styling on the interior.
What could use improvement?
Nothing.
Waiting on the electricreplacement, and I can't wait.
They they do they do such a goodjob at hot rotting.
I can only imagine where theelectric is going to go.
6.2 liters supercharged V8, 717posted horsepower, torque of 656

(08:00):
pound feet.
Transmission, eight-speedautomatic transmission.
It's rated for 13 miles pergallon in the city and 21 on the
highway for a combined total of15.
17.3.
Well, I mean.
I'm sorry.
I know that the car will smokethe rear tires.

(08:22):
I know that.
Why would I want to do that?
I don't want to do that.
Now, yeah, I know.
Well, and it's not my car.
Now, Mars, on the other hand, ifyou just see and hear his
comment, he says, exactly.
So, in other words, that's whatyou do.
Kimberly Schultz, I just wantedto go ahead and call him out on

(08:44):
this.
You've lit those tires up,haven't you?

SPEAKER_00 (08:47):
In the name of research, yes.
I mean, you've got to figure outjust to what extent.
Guys that do it on YouTube andstuff, whenever you're the
Stellantis and the and the Dodgeengineers, they all know exactly
how to do that.
So they can they can do thesefunny cars all day.

SPEAKER_02 (09:03):
We all know how to do it.
You take the traction controloff and you put it in low or
shift it through the gears.
No.
And just keep burning the tiresall the way down the track.

SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
No, no, no, no.
Okay, well then how do you?
We're gonna have to give youlessons on how to do a proper
burnout.
Next time we get a car, yes.

SPEAKER_02 (09:21):
Okay.
I don't want I'll watch from thecurb a long way back.
Because I all I can see is thatcar going down the road.
We're not talking about aMustang.
Ryan and handling.
What I liked about it, the racecar like suspension.
Uh, what could use improvement,adjustability, but then it
wouldn't be a race car uh uh uhsuspension on it.

SPEAKER_01 (09:42):
What it I I have a comment after all this, but
that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 (09:44):
I'll wait.
Okay.
Now then, let us talk aboutpricing.
Now, the base trim price on theHellcat, the base trim price is
sixty-three, five thirty.
The price is tested waseighty-eight thousand dollars.
But if you want to get into achallenger, a six-cylinder like

(10:06):
my daughter's got, thirtythousand dollars.
Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 (10:11):
It's like what, 305,000, 308 horsepower?
There's plenty of juice, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (10:16):
Plenty.
Yep.
Competitors to this vehicle.
Well, duh.
The Mustang Mach 1, it starts at57,665.
The Camaro ZL1 starts at 65,895, which I think would
probably be the closestcompetitor, but not really, as
far as horsepower is concerned.
And then there is the Charger4-door, because I can't find any

(10:39):
more two-doors.
Charger 4-door starts at 79,595,and that's the Hellcat version.

SPEAKER_01 (10:46):
Okay, so you got 780 horsepower, you've got bolstered
seats, you got wide body, yougot big tires, you got all these
accoutrements on the dashboardto fix performance, but oh,
don't you dare light those tiresup.

SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Yeah, Don.

SPEAKER_02 (11:01):
Don't you dare.
I didn't.
I didn't light them up.
It's there to light tires up.
Here, here's my here's myreason.
Because if I did that, I'deither one, get caught by the
police to get a big ticket, orI'd wreck it.
I'd put it into some some lightpole down the street.
Or you get caught by Dodge.

(11:23):
Because that's my luck.
I'm not going to do that.
Why would I do that?
The point is all of that, all ofthat.
Did I floor it a time tough?
Did I floor it a time or two?
Absolutely.
It takes it just a split secondto say, oh, spin spinning the
rear tires.
Need to bring it back a littlebit or shift it up to the next
gear, and then you shift it upto the next gear, and it still
wants to spin the tires.
It's got it's got morehorsepower than most people

(11:45):
could handle.
That's what I'm saying.
That's kind of like can't fix.

SPEAKER_01 (11:50):
And the car is not.

SPEAKER_02 (11:51):
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