As the IC-powered Dodge Challenger enters its last year of production (along with the Charger and the Chrysler 300), Stellantis is offering a special Last Call version–with mind-boggling power.
Motorweek tested the Black Ghost recently and loved it.
This is a Blaze of Glory… lol
“The Demon 170 clocked a quarter-mile run of 8.91 seconds at 151 mph and hit 60 mph in just 1.66 seconds.” 
Which will get you tossed out of most dragstrips until you install a full NHRA approved rollcage.
Too much power for a too heavy a car with inadequate brakes… I’ll pass.
But they sure do look cool!
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You can get a parachute from Dodge for it… lol Throw a cage in it and go race…
I wonder how that compares acceleration-wise to a Saturn rocket, like NASA used in 60’s to fly to the moon?
Apollo astronauts experienced 1.2 Gs to as much as 3.6 Gs as altitude increases on launch.
Peak for a sub 9 second drag car is a bit over a G at launch, decreasing as the car runs down the strip.
Well you can compare it to a Top Fuel Dragster were the launch acceleration approaches 8 G’s.
TOP FUEL ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE
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One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower (10,000 HP) than the first 5 rows at the Daytona 500.
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Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1.2-1.5 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
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A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster’s supercharger.
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With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.
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At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
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Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
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Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug.
This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder. -
Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
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If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
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Dragsters reach over 300 MPH before you have completed reading this sentence.
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In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G’s. In order to reach 200 MPH well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 G’s.
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Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
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Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
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The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.
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THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000 per second.
0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)
0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)
6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)
6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin ‘chutes at 300 MPH An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle.
The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66’ of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).
Putting this all into perspective:
You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to launch down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH. The ‘tree’ goes green for both of you at that moment.
The dragster launches & starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums & within 3 seconds the dragster catches & passes you.
He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it - from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH & not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race!
That’s acceleration!
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Let’s imagine it’s 30 years earlier, would your answer change? I know mine would 
Heck, part of me still wants to do it. Brakes I can fix and now I can afford the insurance and tires 
:
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Yes , my 20 year old self would probably want this unessasary overpowered vehicle . But with the news stories of people being killed by morons drifting in parking lots , driving way beyond their ability and the fact that there is just very few places to use this vehicle I call it an answer to a question no one asked.
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And folks thought late 60’s muscle cars were fast. Anyone could buy a 440 challenger. Fewer bought a hemi. Even fewer bought a zl-1 Chevy. Too pricey. Now Dodge is selling 800-1000hp cars and thinks it’s safe for road use. With computer controls grandma could drive it. Or a teen driver. It’s ok at 1/2 throttle.
Well, it’s a matter of degree. No one needs to go over 80 mph either so why not restrict that ability for everyone? Everybody is riding in a car capable of going way too fast and causing chaos. Of course many cars are not appropriate for inexperienced drivers or teeenagers but that goes to their enablers. I’m not for disallowing something like this entirely because a tiny minority of idiots can abuse it. The barrier to entry remains the price, as it always has even back in the day, and that limits the potential audience significantly. Since they began re-releasing these modern muscle cars, I have seen hundreds of them. In all that time, I saw one Hellcat and it was an old grey haired dude driving it like a Corolla (a sin in itself). A video or three on the Internet does not mean there’s a scourge of young Hellcat drivers terrorizing the local parking lot…
Regarding 1/2 throttle, I’m probably only hitting that point on the way past it j/k
I recall that, a number of years ago, Corvettes had a feature that sharply reduced the available power when the Valet key was used. That seems like a really smart idea, and with modern electronics, it should be possible for owners of all high-powered cars to reduce the available power for situations where an inexperienced driver is behind the wheel. Obviously, something that would be password-protected. Does that type of power-reduction programming already exist??
For several years, I’ve observed that the Corvette owners in my area all seem to be quite elderly, and that they drive like Grandma. My neighbor got his new Corvette C8 several months ago, and he also drives it like his Grandmother probably would have driven it.
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Noooo, heated seats are unnecessary, more power is not… Well we all have different wants and needs, what you think is unnecessary is a luxury to others and what they deem unnecessary is a luxury to you…
Plus there is only going to be 3000 or less of the 170’s made which means the new owners are probably going to be hand picked like other limited production vehicles… Collectors will be grabbing these cars up as well as bracket racers so I doubt the 20 years olds will be buying many of them unless Daddy gives them one… You might personally know many trust fund kids that can afford a 6 figure car, but I sure don’t… lol
As far as drifting, you can take a pinto and drop a V8 or what ever in it with a few mods and go drifting in it on the cheap… lol
Tesla, Lucid and Hummer have 1000 horsepower. Mountainbike held the same double standard; Hellcats should be outlawed, Tesla is the best.
Nowhere to race in Oklahoma? Thunder Valley Raceway, Tulsa Raceway, Ardmore Dragway… Google is your friend.
Are you kidding me right now, it is the norm to Turbo, Procharge and or Spray your way to 1200-1500 HP+ street legal cars that race on closed roads out in the country all over the USA…
Maybe… maybe not.
I’d certainly SAY I wanted one. Once I had one and experienced 800+ HP on the road and track, I might say “No, too much”
Back in the day, I autocrossed a friend’s 500 hp Chevy Monza with 13 inch tires. It would break the tires loose in 2nd gear when the secondaries on the 4 barrel carb opened. Too much power, not enough tire. A more modern, stickier tire could have solved that.
I drove a buddy’s 695 RWHP Cadillac CTS-V on the road and the track. It was loaded with nannies to help save me. It was as heavy as the big Dodge. It had better brakes than the big Dodge and great tires. But on the street or a 2 mile racetrack, it really wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped. Too much power, too much weight, still not enough brake.
Most vette owners are older because at their age they can afford to buy a corvette. the reason they drive slower is probably because they take their corvettes to the track if they feel the need for speed. just like when I was younger and street raced, it is the younger generation that street race. we were young and dumb. another thing to keep in mind with someone like your neighbor with a new corvette. there is a break-in period procedure for about 1k miles. I cannot remember but I think for the first 500 miles chevy also put in a limiter to reduce the engine power.
The Corvette was the DOHC Lotus-engined ZR-1 from 1990 on. The car had 16 fuel injectors. The Valet key dropped the second set of 8 fuel injectors limiting HP to about 200 to keep the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off from happening. The software is easy.
There are BMW and Mercedes AMG offerings that have a high and low power mode amd something in my head says there was a car with a “red” key for the high HP mode and a black key for the Ferris Bueller mode. But I can’t remember the car.
That would be the Hellcat and the mustang Boss 302
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