Krypton Green ZL1 Makes Short Work of Sublime Hellcat in 9 Seconds
Hellcats breathe straight fire when it comes to horsepower, but that means nothing to a savage ZL1.
When it comes to drag racing, you’ve got very few contenders that look as gorgeous on a lineup than a viridescent Camaro ZL1 and a verdant SRT Challenger Hellcat. But visuals are where the buck stops, honestly.
The Camaro ZL1 is a well-known pavement bruiser for its incredible precision and big, but manageable 650 crank horsepower, Gen V LT4. With the 1LE package, it then turns into a deadly track assassin with beefier sway bars, bigger wheels, and DSSV suspension, which is what we have here in a video by YouTuber Hulkat_Racing.
Now we’re well aware of the increase in the drag coefficient the ZL1’s big ‘ol wing would have in this scenario. But we also know that the easiest way to overcome that resistance is, of course, more power.
Here, you can indeed tell that the ZL1 is most certainly not stock motor-wise, as you can hear what definitely sounds like a ProCharger at the five-second mark. That means this Camaro is likely gulping huge amounts of air and making a lot more power compared to the factory 1.7-liter Eaton TVS supercharger.
We aren’t certain what other mods have been done, much less know what the exact numbers are, but we can probably put the wheel horsepower in the high 600, low 700 ballpark at best. That alone would give the ZL1 an advantage over an otherwise stock-sounding Hellcat with 707-horsepower (again, we don’t know whether the Dodge has been modded).
They both sound like they may be automatics, which means they are naturally heavier than their manual counterparts. However, the ZL1 is still lighter than the Hellcat, even with the extra weight of the 10-speed. Given the latter, this ZL1 would have a super-aggressive first gear ratio (4.70) compared to the Challenger’s (first gear at 2.26), so it’ll get out of the hole rather quickly. Also, the Hellcat driver’s reaction time seemed a bit slow, but he was in no way sleeping at the light.
As soon as both cars pass the 60-foot marker, the ZL1 sends the poor Sublime Hellcat to Gapplebee’s for lunch. The Hellcat gets a 10.208-second run at 134 mph while the ZL1 runs a 9.504 at 149 mph.
Don’t get us wrong, a Hellcat that runs in the low-10s is actually impressive. But a ZL1 running in the mid-9s is simply more impressive.
Here’s a different angle of the Hellcat’s demise at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri.
For what it is worth, a simple tune adds quite a bit of power to a stock Hellcat, so if he does that and adds a few more bolt-ons, we’re certain he’d bring the pain to the dragstrip. For now though, the kitty will need to lick its wounds.
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