The 2024 Dodge Challenger Hellcat: All You Need to Know
By James Diaz
| Updated 3 Days Ago
The 2024 Dodge Challenger is a car for everyone. Whatever your budget, there’s a Challenger for you. Dodge makes sure to satisfy a wide range of driver demands for speed and strength.
But if it’s extreme power you’re after, the Challenger Hellcat lineup is where the performance is to be found. The three Hellcat editions of this muscle car have some staggering engines, and what we think is the excellent red-blooded Hellcat name!
Read on to check out info on price, power, comfort, features and safety. This is a car with a lot of options, so you need to know what’s what. We’ll also have a quick look at some of the competition too.
Price and Trims
The 2024 Dodge Challenger has a superb range of choices and options for the buyer. There are nine trims available, which is surely class leading variety. We talk mainly here about the fastest in the range, the Challenger SRT Hellcat and SRT Redeye models, but other trim options are also good. Both of these trims are race day-specced and ready, but there’s also a Super Stock model available. It’s based on the Redeye and is intended for purely track racing fun.
The Hellcat and Redeye models are available in Dodge’s excellent Widebody style, which is 3.5 inches wider than the standard Challenger. It actually looks notably wider in the flesh. The Redeye also comes with an updated 2024 Jailbreak edition that allows you to mix and match colors. We love this. Paint, upholstery and interior colors can all be selected personally.
- Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat $68,320
- Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody $75,020
- Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye $76,925
- Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody $83,230
- Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock $86,230
Starting prices are as follows:
The $20,000 difference between top and bottom is notable in the kit and performance. It’s definitely not money for nothing.
Powertrain
There’s no such thing as a Challenger SRT Hellcat with low power. It starts high and ends in the stars. All Hellcats come with a 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8, but each engine is fine-tuned for a different power output.
The SRT Hellcat offers 717 horsepower with 656 pound-feet of torque, and the SRT Hellcat Redeye offers even more, with 797 horsepower and 707 pound-feet of torque. These are massive numbers. The SRT Super Stock and the SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, however, both eke out even more bhp, with 807 horsepower and 707 pound-feet of torque under your foot. All Hellcat engines require 91 octane fuel.
Transmissions vary. The Hellcat has a Tremec six-speed manual transmission, which will satisfy old-school types, but the Redeye and Super Stock come with a TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission.
To handle all this power – and its hot Hellcat heat – all Hellcats have an intercooler and Race Cooldown mode, and the Super Stock has a clever Power Chiller to redirect A/C refrigerant to the intercooler as is necessary.
Acceleration
These are staggeringly fast cars. All SRT Hellcats therefore have launch assist and launch control to help manage that power at the starting line. No matter how brilliant a driver you are, you’ll need tech to help you maximize that power.
For the 2024 models, Dodge has released data for the SRT Hellcat Super Stock. It will take you from zero to 60 mph in 3.25 seconds. This is best in class. The Quarter Mile will come in just over 10 seconds, at 10.5 to be exact, and you will be there at 131 mph. The overall top speed is 168 mph, limited by the tires, more than the engine.
The 2024 Hellcat Redeye ekes out even faster times and higher speeds. It has a zero to 60 mph of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 203 mph, one of the very few road production cars to top 200 mph. The SRT Hellcat with the 717-horsepower engine has a top speed of 199 mph.
Ride and Handling
Handling is not where these cars plant their soul. Their soul is made for straight-line speed. These are vast machines with a lot of weight, especially if you choose a Widebody model. If it’s comfort you prefer, choose a lower power Challenger trim; these are tuned more for comfort and everyday driving. The Hellcats have stiffer suspension to handle the forces being thrown their way, and this of course limits the handling.
All Hellcat models have vented Brembo brakes and Bilstein shocks. You’ll also find auto, sport and track driving modes. In the Super Sport, track mode shifts more weight to the rear, over the drive wheels. Excellent all-weather Pirelli performance tires are standard, though you can also opt for grippier summer tires as an option – also a terrific tyre.
Wheels are impressive. 20-inch wheels come as standard, but be aware that the width of the tires depends on the car’s width. The standard-body Hellcats have 9.5 inch wide wheels, but the Widebody and Jailbreak models have very girthy wheels, 11 inches wide.
Fuel Economy
You’re not expecting great numbers here, let’s face it. And you’re right not to. But nobody buys a Challenger Hellcat for economy!
Such exceptionally powerful cars require fuel to slake their thirst, and so don’t expect more than 13 mpg in the city and around 21 mpg on the open road. Even the 2024 Dodge Challenger base trim, with its V6 engine, will only manage around 19 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. But these are ultimately sports cars, so let’s cut them some slack.
Interior Design and Quality
The interior of the 2024 Challenger is primed for Race Day just as much as is the engine. The seats are upholstered in houndstooth performance cloth and have the Hellcat logo suavely embroidered on them. You can also select from five available colors, including the fantastically titled Dodge Demonic Red. Also available are Alcantara suede, which we think looks great, as do Dodge’s two leather options. Their Nappa leather and Laguna leather are also gorgeous. Carbon fiber accents are also on offer, and we would suggest opting for them.
The flat-bottom steering wheel is heated and leather-wrapped, to offer a touch of luxury. If you prefer, Dodge will offer it in Alcantara instead. Generally, the Jailbreak SRT Hellcat Redeye allows you to mix and match colors however you like, both inside and out, from brake calipers and stripes to seat belts and floor mats, so you are unlikely to see any other car quite like yours.
Interior Features
The 2024 Challenger SRT Hellcat comes with Dodge’s perfectly good Uconnect infotainment system, which has a nicely framed 8.4-inch touch screen, with two USB ports and functionality for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Alpine speakers are standard, and a 16 speaker Harman Kardon stereo is available as an option. The Challenger SRT Hellcat also has dual-zone climate control and illuminated front cup holders, while the driver gets a digital instrument cluster as well. This is not luxurious, given this is an expensive car, but you’re probably not buying this car to feel like you’re in a luxury sedan. Ultimately, we think this level of trim will satisfy most drivers.
Seats
The 2024 Dodge Challenger’s size may make pure cornering agility less fleet of foot than in some other cars this price, but the flipside is that you get a lot of space. The front seats are cushioned and very supportive. They supply both long-distance comfort and also support at speed. Though there are only two doors, adults can ride comfortably in the rear seats once inside.
However, absolute enthusiasts should note that if your Challenger SRT Hellcat is a track-day plaything rather than a daily driver, you can excise the rear seat altogether and replace it with a cargo net. Be aware that that package also deletes the passenger’s seat belt, so you’re effectively making it a car for one. We don’t expect many will opt for this.
Cargo Space
You get 16.2 cubic feet of cargo space in the 2024 Dodge Challenger Hellcat, which makes it the most spacious in its class by a long way. All credit to Dodge for enabling this practicality. It means you can fit in a mass of luggage without cramping passenger space.
Safety
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2024 Dodge Challenger five out of five stars overall. Excellent stuff. It earned five out of five in the side crash test and four out of five in both the front crash and rollover tests. This is therefore a safe car by anyone’s estimation.
The Challenger Hellcat comes with adaptive cruise control, but the more track-oriented Hellcat Redeye and Super Sport do without. Forward collision warning, which uses the same sensors as adaptive cruise control, is also available for the Hellcat but, again, not for the Redeye or Super Sport. This may impact your choice of model. All trims are, however, available with blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert. A high-tech security system comes standard for 2024, which is reassuring. Cleverly, it limits engine speed to 675 rpm and power to 3 horsepower, foiling thieves. Why all car manufacturers don’t do this, we never understand. It would cut car crime overnight. In short, your Hellcat is a secure vehicle.
Reliability
The 2024 Dodge Challenger Hellcat has a predicted reliability score of 88 out of 100. This is very strong. Many other manufacturers and models would kill for a score like that. It’s covered by a three-year/36,000-mile basic warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. As warranties go, this is standard, rather than generous, but it’s not mean either.
Competition
The Ford Mustang is a close competitor for the Challenger and one of the best sports cars available. The upper-end Mustang Shelby GT500 is yours for around $78,000. Its 760-horsepower supercharged V8 could definitely challenge the Challenger! Not much would outpace a Hellcat Redeye, but a Mustang might.
The 2024 Chevrolet Camaro is also an excellent competitor. That said, even in its highest trim, the ZL1, you get just 650 horsepower, which is a lot less than the Dodge. It is, however, available as a convertible, which for some buyers may make the critical difference. The Camaro ZL1’s starting price is comparable to the Challenger Hellcat’s, at around $65,000, while the convertible starts at $69,000..
Availability
The 2024 Dodge Challenger is assembled at the Brampton plant in Ontario, Canada, with the engine being assembled in Saltillo, Mexico. It is widely available at dealerships now.
