Clash of quick, boosted heavyweights: Chevy vs. Mopar.
This week’s Kill Story was initially posted to the forum by “FourG63 97GST” from the SoFLaZ06 YouTube channel and it features a Chevrolet Silverado taking on a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in a quarter mile duel. In most cases, the supercharged Dodge would make short work of a Chevy pickup. However, this is not your average Silverado and it must just have enough to make short work of the Mopar.
Challenging the Hellcat
The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is a mean machine, packing 707 horsepower, 650 lb-ft of torque. It also has the ability to run low-11s in factory-stock form. This particular car is even stronger, with a supercharged Hemi delivering enough power to push the car into the 9-second range. That is quick enough to beat most cars and most trucks, but this Silverado isn’t most trucks.
The details on the truck are limited, but we know that it has a turbocharged V8 and there is little question that it also has a trick suspension setup to put the power to the ground and a transmission that can handle all of that grunt. According to comments in the thread, this truck is capable of running mid-8s with a trap speed in the 150 range.
Beating the Cat
The video above begins as the Silverado and the Challenger cleaning off their tires, and the Dodge is a whole lot louder. The two stage and the Chevy brings the engine speeds way up with the anti-lag system creating the erratic exhaust note that only a built, turbocharged engine can.
Before the green lights drop, the Challenger jumps the gun, red lights and takes an early lead, but it doesn’t make any difference. The Silverado catches and passes the Dodge before the 330-foot mark, pulling away as the race goes on. In the end, the truck crushes the muscle car and with two camera angles, we get to watch the beating from two different views.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
