2019 Hellcat Challenger

My wife and I have an agreement when we travel. She chooses where we stay; I choose what we drive. The last time we went to California, I chose a Porsche Boxster S. This time, I decided to go in another direction.

Our plan was to fly into LAX and immediately drive the two hours north to Bakersfield to stay with my sister and her family for a couple of days. We then would drive back to LA to visit my wife's son for another couple of days, who just moved out there from Minnesota this year. I wanted a car that was comfortable for long trips and, of course, one that was interesting to me. I also decided that it wouldn't be a convertible this time, since the temps in Bakersfield were hovering close to 100 degrees during the day. What to choose....

After sorting through dozens of choices on Turo, I saw this Hellcat Challenger and knew my search was at an end. The closest I had ever gotten to driving one was sitting in the drivers seat of one at a dealership and pressing the start button, grinning like a fool with the salesman at the sound it made. I have read countless articles published, watched many reviews, and listened to endless pontifications of journalists about the Hellcat. I'm a car-guy, after all. For instance, I know that the current Challenger platform was unveiled in 2006 as Dodge's answer to the pony car segment - think Mustang and Camaro. It was a shortened version of the Charger and Chrysler 300 platforms, which was sourced from an old Mercedes-Benz parts bin. The Hellcat's debut was in 2015, dethroning and replacing the SRT8 package as the king of the hill in the Dodge lineup. It boasted a then and still insane 707 horsepower, and was an atom bomb dropped in the raging Big Three horsepower war. In 2019, they upped the ante by bumping the Hellcat to 717 horsepower. There have been special editions of the Hellcat since 2015 with more power (think Demon or Redeye), but the original has remained basically unchanged for the last five years. I've been aware of the car since before it was available to the public and was curious to find out for myself if it was as good in truth as legend told.

At first glance, the Hellcat differs very little from the myriad of Challengers you see roaming the streets every day. It's easy to get inured to seeing the same car in varied guises cruising around for the past 14 years. However, when you take a step back and really look, it's a car that has aged quite well. Still, unless you know what to look for, take away the badges and the Hellcat can fade into the background pretty quickly. I like that about it. It's dual domed hood and large rear spoiler might not qualify as understated, but overall the package is less Speed Racer and more Dwayne Johnson in a suit. 

As we headed into the desert from the airport, the red key in my pocket, I had mixed feelings right away. This car only had 8,000 miles on the odometer, yet the silence was disturbed by an annoying squeak and subdued rattles I thought shouldn't be present in a car that costs upward of $60,000 new. There was a weird feel through the steering wheel I didn't like, either. Not exactly a vibration, but not smooth. It could be this car has had a hard life as a rental, but, in my mind, it should have been designed to have a hard life. The dashboard was soft-touch plastic, and all the switchgear was the same you would get in the base model car. Not what you might call luxury, but also not terrible. The seats, on the other hand.....well, whoever designed these needs a raise. I've driven cars more expensive that didn't get it this right. We drove a lot of miles over five days, and not once did I find it necessary to get out and stretch. No part of me fell asleep while driving. That's really good! The touchscreen was fairly intuitive, but... Before going down the technology rabbit hole, I remembered this car wasn't rented for the quality, comfort, or technology. I got it for the engine, and the engine makes you look back on all those petty criticisms and scoff in derision at your own foolish nitpicking.

Some say pressing the go-pedal on a Hellcat is like petting a feral housecat. As you reach down to pet the cat, the hair all down it's back stands up and it emits that low, warning yowl from deep down that is pure feline menace. Almost a growl, but mostly a warning to be careful. The yowling increases pitch as your hand descends, reaching near peak as your fingers make contact, then ebbing like a wave as you lift your hand for another pass. As you stroke the cat's back, the fur lays down, but stands right back up after your hand passes by. At all times you are at peril of being mauled on a whim. Thus it is with this car. The noise it makes is a constant warning of possible doom. As your right foot dips closer to the floor, the yowling of it's supercharged 6.2 liter Hemi V-8 increases exponentially. The difference is that instead of making you want to back off, the Hellcat seems to invite you to push just a little more. The blower whine intensifies as you dip into the throttle to an intoxicating degree. It's like a drug. After a while, you have to do it again, and again, and again. It can drown out even the sound of your own better judgement, and definitely the exhaust noise of the Honda next to you who wants to race.

Oh, yeah. The second thing I noticed about driving in this car is that others constantly want a piece of you. Once they notice the emblem on the front fender, its like catnip to cats. BMW, Honda, Mustang, Camaro, diesel pickup truck, little red flyer wagon- it is uncanny the reaction that this car elicits. They all want to race. Naturally, when behind the wheel of a Hellcat, stoned out of your mind on 717 shrieking horsepower, you happily oblige. From a rolling start, not many factory tuned vehicles have a prayer, and the odds are you won't meet one often. From 10mph, 25mph, 50mph, 60mph - you choose, when you pin the pedal the result is the same. First the yowling of that supercharged 6.2 Hemi climbs to a howling crescendo. Almost simultaneously, the transmission chooses an appropriate gear (like it matters), and immediately gobs and gobs of hellish torque shove you back into your very comfortable seat, keeping you there until you need to make a phone call for bailout money and impound fees. I mean, really. 

Something I observed to my wife after a couple days is that on the interstate and around town, the Hellcat doesn't just cruise. It prowls. (I may have lost her at this revelation)  Looking over the long, dual domed hood, you can't help but feel a little of the hunter being drawn deep from within your nature. It acts so tame, soaking up bumps and pavement irregularities as it stalks through traffic. But like a Bengal tiger roaming the grasslands, its yellow eyes missing nothing, the Hellcat never really lets you forget what it is, and how incredible that such wildness would be allowed in our over-regulated, safety-obsessed world. The realization is refreshing, to say the least, in that maybe there is hope for us after all.

All this talk about the obvious reason to buy a Hellcat forgets a thing or two. In short, for an every day car it is quite passive. You can drive around, running errands, sitting in traffic, doing regular A to B car things like driving something very normal. No drama, no craziness. Also, if you stay out of the throttle like a boring person, fuel mileage isn't bad. I've gotten worse in worse cars. You could drive this car year round, day in and day out and not even have to think about it - other than the 91 octane prices. That's pretty cool for a car that can do 199MPH in a straight line.

Speaking of straight lines. The interstate is the Hellcat's friend, but are small, winding mountain roads? Is the Hellcat a mountain lion, or a desert cheetah? To find out, we took the scenic route back south from Bakersfield down the Maricopa Highway. I recommend this route if you have extra time. The views are breathtaking, and the road is so much fun to drive. Traffic was very light on a Friday afternoon as we made our way from Bakersfield, through the desert farmland, and up into the hills.

It's ridiculousness to compare a 14 year old platformed muscle car to a light, nimble sports car, but the last time I drove California's delightful coastal twisties, I was piloting a 2014 Porsche Boxter S. So that is the benchmark I have for mountain driving. A super crazy high benchmark that the Hellcat can never in a million parsecs reach. That being said, the big Dodge is not a mountain lion, even if compared to itself. Firstly, it's a big car which feels oversized on narrow switchback roads. Secondly, there is no way to use any of the prodigious power at the command of your right foot. And finally, it's just not fun. Most of these roads max out at 35mph average, barely tipping into the throttle uphill to keep going. Downhill, the brakes are excellent, but you may as well have the V-6, as much good as that 717 horsepower is doing you. The car corners pretty good for its size - no major complaints - but nothing very special in these conditions. What you need is a car you can wind out and rev, then throw into the corners and feel the grip. What you need on winding roads is less power, less weight, gears to row, and no top to get in the way of the view. Think Porsche Boxster, Mazda MX-5, Honda S2000, and BMW Z4. I know, it's strange to say "less power", but in many cases less is not less. It's more.

Looking back over the history of American performance cars, I realize how close this Challenger is related to it's forebears. It's not a luxury sedan, or a sports car. The Hellcat is very true to itself and its origins. The old tried and tested marketing strategy still holds true today. Take an everyday base model sedan with good styling lines and drop a huge engine in it. Upgrade brakes and suspension, but leave everything else pretty much as it was. Badge it with a cool name, offer it in special colors, and sell the crap out of it for as long as folks will buy it. Sounds good to me! Even the names of the colors are cool - GoMango, PlumCrazy, SinamonStick, Hellraisin - make mine Sublime, that high-impact green. Oh, yeah!

In summation, the 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat is a wonderful road tripping, grocery getting, every-day car that is also a wonderful tire-smoking, hell-raising, eyeball sucking dragstrip terror. Kind of like that friend you want to introduce to your parents, but have to advise him/her to behave and let you do all the talking.