{"id":22636,"date":"2018-08-01T17:41:12","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T21:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=22636"},"modified":"2018-08-01T17:41:12","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T21:41:12","slug":"charger-hellcat-births-10000-hp-funny-car-dragster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/charger-hellcat-births-10000-hp-funny-car-dragster","title":{"rendered":"Charger Hellcat births 10,000-hp Funny Car dragster"},"content":{"rendered":"

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All Hellcat is about to break loose at the drag strip.<\/p>\n

The first family sedan to boast 707 horsepower and a demonic 204 mph top speed, it only seemed a matter of time before the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat would inspire an NHRA Funny Car dragster. Emphasis on \u201cinspire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2019 Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car that will make its debut at the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals outside Denver this weekend shares nothing with its production parent except wicked looks and raw speed.<\/p>\n

True to the\u00a0production Hellcat\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0outrageous horsepower specs, the Funny Car \u2014\u00a0the drag-racing world’s second-fastest class after Top Fuel<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 will pump out more than 10,000 horses (that\u2019s not a misprint). Where the showroom four-door Charger Hellcat\u00a0will hit 60 mph in a sports car-like 3.4 seconds, its Funny Car offspring will cross the finish line of a 1,000-foot drag race (less than two-tenths\u00a0of a mile) in under 4 seconds at about 330 mph.<\/p>\n

The production Hellcat’s gas-guzzling\u00a016-mpg\u00a0V-8 is a fuel sipper next to the nitromethane-sucking dragster. In a single, rib cage-rattling, drag-strip run down Colorado’s Bandimere Speedway, the Hellcat Funny Car will consume some 15 gallons of fuel.<\/p>\n

The Funny Car is the product of race development between Dodge, Fiat-Chrysler parts shop\u00a0Mopar, and Don Schumacher Racing. Indianapolis-based Schumacher, the premier Funny Car race team along with John Force Racing, has previously managed Dodge\u2019s Charger R\/T dragster. Two-time Funny Car champion Matt\u00a0Hagan will be the first to pilot the Hellcat at\u00a0the Mile-High NHRA Nationals. He’ll be gunning for the Funny Car record of 3.8 seconds at\u00a0\u00a0339 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dodge\/SRT brand is all about performance, and the introduction of the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat NHRA Funny Car body showcases our commitment to performance and excellence at the dragstrip,\u201d said Fiat Chrysler passenger car brands chief Steve Beahm.<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t find any doors on the dragster \u2014\u00a0drivers get in and out after the whole body is raised from\u00a0the skeletal chassis. Unlike the rear-engine, Top Fuel\u00a0\u201cslingshot dragsters,\u201d front-engine Funny Cars must have full body work to resemble a current production car.<\/p>\n

But Charger design cues abound.<\/p>\n

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