BBC_Top_Gear_South_Africa_June_2017

After the Hellcat, there
was never going to be a
Heavenfluffybunny...
wantthepassengerseatyoucanhaveitadded
forjustR15.Andifyouinsistontherearseat,
that’llcostyou,yes,anotherR15.Butifyou
don’ttickthoseboxes,youwillbedriving on
your own. How brilliant is that?
Also on the Demon’s list of world firsts is a
transbrake.Thisdragracerstaple–mounted
asapaddleonthesteeringwheelhere–
effectively locks the ’box so you can preload the
drivetrainwithoutthecarpushingforward,as
canhappenwhenyouhaveroad-roller-sized
rearsandthoseskinnyfrontsfitted.Withthis
engagedandthethrottlemashed,youstageup,
waitforthegreenthenpingoffthetransbrake
andawayyougo,wheelieingoffintothe
distance.Downstreamofthegearboxisa
stronger driveshaft and lower 3.09 final drive
ratio instead of the Hellcat’s 2.62.
But don’t think the Demon is a
straightline-onlycar.Usingadjustable
dampers–whichloosenthefrontandfirmthe
rearwheninlaunchmode–theDemoncan
handle spirited road driving just as well. Top
speedislimitedto270km/hduetothedrag
radials,soitlosesalittletopend.Butit
registered the highest lateral g-loads of any
Challenger ever tested during the cornering
tests. And it brakes faster from 100km/h –
when running all four 315s – to zero than a
Viper ACR.
There are thousands more Demon details
and stories we can dig into later. But the
burningquestionrightnowis:whenarewe
goingtogettodriveit?Dodgeissaying
sometimearoundJuly.Wehavethewhole
month blocked out already… PAT DEVEREUX
In the Demon’s
trophy cabinet
The world’s fastest production vehicle
0–100km/h. Despite being rear-wheel drive, it
postsa0–100km/htimeof2.3seconds–with
the one-foot roll-out that drops to 2.1 seconds
– faster than a Chiron (2.4secs). The world’s
fastest-ever production car over the quartermile.Ittripsthelightsat9.65and225km/h.The
latest ultracars from McLaren, Porsche and
Ferrari can manage “only” 9.8 seconds.
The highest production car acceleration
g-force.IntheDemon,physicsdoesn’tjusttap
youonyourshoulder,itsmashesyouintheface.
That’s what the 1.8g of acceleration feels like.
The world’s first production car to fully lift its
front wheels while accelerating. Yep, the
Demonpullswheeliesanditbroughtalong
Guinness World Records to verify it. It only
lasted0.89m,butwasofficially“Thelongest
wheelie from a standing start in a production
car”.It’sbeenbannedbytheNationalHot
Rod Association from any of its member
tracks. For being, quite simply, too fast.
JUNE 2017
17