by Anthony Fongaro - 07/30/2021
700 is quite a large number, especially when it’s measured in horsepower. There aren’t a lot of mainstream cars with more than 700-horsepower, and it’s really no surprise why. Who needs 700-horsepower!? In a world of hybrids and electric cars, Dodge didn't get the memo.
The car in question is the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody. If you’re wondering what all these words mean, let me clear them up for you. When you see or read Hellcat, you know the Charger has 717-horsepower. As we all know, 717-horsepower is too tame. Why only make 717-horsepower when you get an additional 80? That’s where the Redeye comes in. The little gem inside the Hellcat logo means you get 797-horsepower which is, by analysis, basically 800-horsepower. Finally, Widebody means that the fenders are flared more and makes it a little difficult to drive. For now, can you use it as a regular car?
Wow, that horsepower rating is nuts! Let’s look at the regular car. This is a Dodge Charger, so the exterior minus the Hellcat Redeye trim is starting to look dated. Don’t worry, this thing looks menacing. Let’s go to the front of the car and just stare at that massive hood scoop, which sends air to the engine. There are additional changes such as the SRT Hellcat logo, more body styling, and of course, it’s wide. The Smoke Show Exterior Paint looks great with the optional 20-inch Brassy Money Wheels. These are awesome names for pain and wheels!
The side has two important styling updates. First off, the Widebody. I know I keep saying it’s wide but I’ll tell you why it is so wide made driving difficult. Second, there’s the Hellcat logo with something additional. The eye is red! Other than the actual red-eye, it just looks like a regular Hellcat widebody. The rear has a trunk lip along with more badging, but it says SRT with the regular Hellcat logo. Since this is the most powerful sedan Dodge makes, I’d like more differences to show this is extremely powerful.
If you’ve ever driven a Dodge Charger, you’ll see that the basic ingredients are the same. You still get the 8-inch infotainment system along with the same steering wheels, shifter, and basic layout. This isn’t bad, although there’s a foot-operated parking brake and how the 1990s is there? Looking in front, there’s an SRT logo on the steering wheel along with basic functions such as regular cruise control, controls for media, and for a small display. The Charger Redeye still works with basic dials, but they've changed to show a 220-mph speedometer. The small screen shows a lot of information, mostly performance information that’s quite extensive.
Dig into the 8.4-inch Uconnect 4C infotainment system, and you’ll see so many performance pages you’d think this is only for the track. Let’s see how much is in this system. First, you have launch control, and you can measure the RPMs to launch. There’s also a line-lock that will help you with a smokey burnout and so much information on the performance pages that I can’t listen to them all out. This may be powerful, but the seats are good ol’ American chairs. When I drove the car, I just used Apple CarPlay for navigation. The optional Harman Kardon sound system was nice, but you really must jack up the volume to hear anything. The front and rear seats were heated, and the trunk is massive. The building quality felt like it came from a $30,000 car and just felt cheap.
I know, I know, most people buying a Redeye are here for one thing: the engine. This rear-wheel-drive brute has a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 making an incredible 797-horsepower and 707 lb-ft. Combine this with an eight-speed automatic, and you’ll get from 0-60 MPH in 3.5 seconds. That is if you do everything perfectly. I’ll say right now I never used any of the racing features because I had nowhere to use it. What I can say is that the Hellcat is docile. No really, it is. Keep the drive-select to Auto, and this beast goes from 797-horsepower to a paltry 500-horsepower. Speaking of the horsepower difference, you get two keys. The first is a red key for full power, while the black key reduces performance to 500-horsepower.
Owners of the red key can put the Charger into Sport and Race mode, along with an individual setting. If you think you’ll drive the Redeye on the road in Race mode, you’re crazy. As an experiment, I used Race mode exactly once between a few lights. Don’t do it. You instantly break traction, and it wiggles around. Driving around without the traction control fully on almost sounds stupid. What I did was slacken off the transmission and a few other custom features while giving me full control of the 797-horsepower. This is a straight-line muscle car with one of the best sounding engines. Don’t ever mash the throttle because the wheels light up and the car will want to go into a tree.
This being a super-muscle car, the ride wasn’t the most fun and 12-mpg is considered good. My one complaint is that Illinois has a lot of construction on and that widebody made things a little dicey. It was the same thing in my neighborhood. If there are cars on both sides of the street, either you or the other car going the other way will have to wait. When I was at home, using the remote start was helpful but the engine was quite loud. Not surprising, this gains speed so fast you need to be on-point. It also doesn’t blend in at all. I did get some waves from some people while others just looked. Sorry, I didn't mean to rev the engine.
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