CARS.COM — I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intimidated by the opportunity to drive the 840-horsepower 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, a car claimed capable of a 9-second quarter-mile. My drag-racing experience includes fun runs in an 11-second personal car and a few Hellcats, but nothing as radical as the Demon, which can go from zero-to-140 mph in 1,320 feet.
Dodge brought a collection of Demons — set on “kill” — to Lucas Oil Raceway drag strip in Indianapolis for us to drive. Each car ran 100-octane fuel to uncork the full 840 hp, and some had the whole package with pizza-cutter front tires and deleted seats.
Related: 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Preview
I got the full quarter-mile experience in the Demon, and what surprised me (that shouldn’t have) is that even with a stickier tire and big tweaks to improve traction, there’s nothing tame, nice or easy about driving this 840-hp Challenger down a drag strip. There’s an intricate process to get the most from the Demon that isn’t as simple as flooring the accelerator off the line and gleefully popping wheelies — which it does.