Ready to go stupid fast? Great, because the two cars in today’s poll are happy to help you lose your driver’s license!
Both the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Dodge Challenger Hellcat are modern takes on the classic American muscle car. They feature stylish two-door bodies, are rear-wheel drive and have powerful V8s. In fact, both of their engines are supercharged pushrod units displacing a husky 6.2-liters. The similarities are striking…
But only one of these performance machines can reign supreme. Which one would YOU rather own?
Starting with the sixth-generation Camaro, in ZL1 trim its force-fed LT4 small block delivers some heady numbers: 650 horsepower and an equal amount of torque. All of that juicy goodness is sent to the pavement through either a tried-and-true six-speed manual transmission or a brand-new 10-ratio automatic.
Bury this magnum-caliber Chevy’s right-most pedal and 60 can be yours in as little as 3.5 seconds. Hold it down a bit longer and she’ll do the quarter mile in 11.4 seconds, crossing the line at 127 miles an hour. Yeah, it’s fast, but it also moves like a proper sports car thanks to Magnetic Ride Control suspension and massive Brembo brakes.
Shifting gears so to speak, Dodge’s Hellcat trumps the Camaro in overall horsepower, delivering a legendary stable of 707 ponies. However, torque matches it rival pound-foot for pound-foot.
Similarly, you can get a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission or an automatic with a whole bunch of gears (eight to be precise). Maximum acceleration should be very comparable, with the Hellcat blitzing through the quarter mile in a claimed 11.2 seconds on street tires.
Bringing everything to a safe, secure stop are Brembo brakes, just like its cross-town rival.
As for pricing, the Camaro has a slight edge before any incentives are factored in. The cheapest ZL1 can be had for $64,000 and change. Dodge’s Hellcat Challenger is about a grand more expensive.
So, which of these red, white and blue performance cars would YOU rather own? Well, if you need even more information please compare them here. Lastly, make sure to vote in our poll so we can crown a favorite!
