ZL1 1LE Punishes Hellcat Redeye on Road Course
Mopar’s ‘detuned Demon’ has the advantage on the drag strip, but the ZL1 absolutely annihilates it when the going gets twisty.
The most classic automotive rivalry is the decades-long battle between the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro. Luckily for all automotive enthusiasts of any allegiance, it continues. But Dodge is a force to be reckoned with, too. It found a way to top the outrageously powerful Challenger SRT Hellcat by creating the Hellcat Redeye, a 797-horsepower monster with Demon go-fast tech that includes a 2.7-liter supercharger and strategic cooling technology. In this video from Throttle House, it takes on the ultimate Camaro, the ZL1 1LE.
Co-hosts Thomas Holland and James Engelsman don’t waste time taking the two beasts out on public roads. As soon as they get behind their respective wheels – Holland in the Redeye and Engelsman in the 1LE – they start off with a good old-fashioned drag race.
Even though the Camaro has 147 fewer horsepower and 57 less lb-ft of torque (650 and 650, respectively), it gets off to an early lead. The further Holland and Engelsman go, the more the Redeye closes the gap. Its additional power enables it to eventually pass the 1LE, but only by what seems to be a fraction of a second. Both co-hosts are left feeling a mixture of excitement and terror from the acceleration and speed their cars are capable of delivering.
Then it’s time to see how both supercharged domestics do on a road course. In the words of Engelsman and Holland, it’s a battle between a “modern-day saber-tooth tiger” (the Camaro) and “a supervillain” (the Challenger) full of blower whine and power slides. Although the Dodge seems to be just a straight-line car, it does pack some beefed-up suspension hardware.
According to Holland, “It has upgraded dampers, upgraded springs, stiffer sway bars, and stiffer bushings. So you know what? It can actually turn.” Oddly enough, its front end plows on sweeping turns, not tight ones. Holland blames the lack of front-end traction and credits the Redeye’s ability to rotate with a little throttle for that surprise.
Although the Camaro lacks the outright punch that the Challenger packs, it’s aggressive in other ways. Its numerous aero add-ons, including that massive rear wing, give it gobs of downforce. Its Multimatic DSSV dampers are super stiff. Engelsman says, “The front end turns in so hard that it hurts.”
The ultimate test comes when Holland, a track instructor, takes each car for three hot laps. The 1LE’s uber-stiff dampers hurt his top speed, but once he gets the suspension under control, the Camaro pulls so hard that it’s painful. As you might expect, the Challenger is brutally fast in the straights and a little slower than the Camaro in the corners. Holland finds the Challenger to be surprisingly easy to drive at the limits of its traction.
But the thing that matters most is lap times. Does the Challenger use its massive power to bludgeon the laws of physics and bash its way through the air to finish the course ahead of the Camaro? Nope. Not even close. It completes the route in 1:16.08. The Camaro ZL1 hunkers down and cuts and thrusts its way to a 1:11.12 victory.
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