Head-To-Head Hellcat Challenge: Challenger vs Charger
Comparing any two cars, even two that should be fairly evenly matched is not always as simple as lining them up and making a hit at the drag strip. While each pass will net you a definitive winner and loser and will give you their performance incrementals, there are factors that can keep any given can from running it’s best on any given pass. From traction to atmospheric conditions to driver skill, any single thing being just a bit off on a run can tilt the advantage from one car to the other, so we aren’t going to just slam the door on the Hellcat Challenger after this clip and say for sure that the Charger is faster. However, in this video and the data in presents, the Charger certainly seems to have the upper hand.
To illustrate the point made earlier though, the first pair up, the first head-to-head matchup between the two cars – the Challenger in the near lane spins the tires noticeably upon dropping the hammer, giving the Charger a clear advantage off the line that he parlays in to quicker elapsed time and the win light. The two cars face off again and the outcome swings the other way, with the Challenger taking the win in the second head to head matchup.
What we have to do here instead of looking at win lights is analyze the data presented. Looking at ET’s, the Hellcat Charger does in fact come out on top with a low elapsed time of 10.65 while the Challenger is a tenth behind with a best pass of 10.75 seconds. Looking at quarter mile speeds, the challenger takes the win there too with a best trap speed of 130.62 MPH, while the Challenger manages a best speed of “only” 129.55, only one mile per hour slower than the Charger. What does all of this mean? In all reality, a tenth of a second and one MPH isn’t a huge difference. If they both ran their best passes side-by-side with the same reaction time, a tenth of a second through the quarter mile works out to a few feet at the finish line, meaning these cars are very much within the term “equals”, though we do have to give the nod to the Charger, at least based on the data presented by this video.
