2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Review: First Impressions and Photo Gallery

CARS.COM — First Impressions are about telling you what a car actually feels like, what it’s like to sit inside it, how the experience of being in and near it makes you feel. For the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, all of that can be simply summed up in one word: BOOM.

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We could talk about how it looks, but it honestly doesn’t look all that much different from your average hotted-up Challenger — big wheel flares, massive hood scoop and crazy-wide tires can be had anywhere. The fact that they’re functional here, insanely functional, legitimizes the over-the-top styling. It looks like this because it has to look like this in order to do what it does.

It’s largely the same story inside. Yes, there’s no passenger seat. Or backseat. But who needs ’em? You have the choice of adding them back in for a buck each, wrapping them in nice Nappa leather. There’s even the choice of adding back in the audio system and all its wiring, but this will require you to make a big decision when ordering your Demon: Are you looking to own the quickest factory drag-strip car ever made, or are you looking to own the baddest Challenger ever made? Dodge’s decision to let you pick whether you want a luxurious performance flagship or a purpose-built, track-only monster gives buyers some fun choices.

The BOOM comes when you see the Demon in action. Watching it launch down the strip, lifting its front wheels for the first 3 feet of travel and hearing both the bellow from the tailpipes and the scream from the supercharger is a jaw-dropping experience. I can tell you about this in a First Impressions story because Dodge actually did this at the Demon’s launch party in New York earlier this week. The automaker built an indoor drag strip out of a waterfront pier warehouse and launched the car in front of the assembled guests.

The numbers are what this car is about, and I’m going to repeat them here:

• Zero-to-60 mph in 2.3 seconds
• Quarter mile in 9.65 seconds at 140 mph
• 1.8 Gs on full launch

The only word for this car is insane. I can’t help but worry that a significant number of Demons are going to come to a rapid, inglorious end wrapped around light poles while exiting the neighborhood Cars & Coffee on Saturday morning. Hopefully we’ll get some seat time in one before that starts to become a regular thing.