Hellcat Challenger Stomps Tesla in Quarter Mile Rematch

Back in January, the internet exploded with talk of an electric Tesla P95D beating the tar out of a new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. The EV world insisted that the video showing a well driven Tesla beating a very poorly driven Challenger was proof positive that the electric performance car world had finally taken the lead on the combustion engine segment. However, anyone who knows anything about the performance world could watch that video and see that it wasn’t the Tesla beating the Hellcat – it was the Tesla driver beating the Hellcat driver.

Fortunately, the owner and driver of that Sublime Green Hellcat Challenger was determined to defend the muscle car world, so he spent weeks practicing at the drag strip and we bought a better set of tires. As a result, he was able to get his 707 horsepower Dodge Challenger into the expected 10 second range. Upon getting the experience needed to turn in a respectable quarter mile time, the Hellcat owner put out the call for a rematch and that rematch happened, with another video showing the two high horsepower beats going head to head.

The Rematch
The video below shows a quarter mile drag race between the same 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and 2015 Tesla Model S P85D that we saw race back in January. The Hellcat has the supercharged 6.2L Hellcat Hemi with 707 horsepower and 650lb-ft of torque headed to the rear wheels via a quick shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. The Tesla Model S P85D has two electric drive units – one over each axle – giving the lightning quick EV a combined output of 691 horsepower and 687lb-ft of torque with the surefootedness of all-wheel drive. The all-wheel drive Tesla is factory stock, while the 707hp Challenger is stock shy of the stickier drag radial tires.

The Challenger stages first and when the Tesla lights up the top of the Christmas tree, the race is ready to go. When the green lights drop, the all-wheel drive Tesla jumps out to a very small lead, but the Hellcat Challenger stays right with the electric sedan. As the two cars race away from the camera, we can see on the big boards that the Dodge actually pulled a better 60 foot time with rear wheel drive, although it looks as though the P85D may have had a slightly better reaction time.

The race is close enough the whole way down the quarter mile that it is hard to see who has the lead on the big end, but when the time and speed for the left lane pops up first, we know that the Mopar muscle car won the rematch race. In the end, the Challenger was a bit slower than his previous bests, running “only” 11.08 at 125.92 miles per hour, but it was enough to comfortably beat the Tesla. The P85D still made a very respectable quarter mile time of 11.926 at 112 miles per hour, which was about 3 tenths of his previous best time. However, even had the P85D made a record 11.60 run, it wouldn’t have been enough to outrun the Hellcat Challenger with an 11.0 run, but it would have made this race less of a beating.

Now that it is has been clearly proven that driver experience makes all the difference and that with two good drivers, the Hellcat Challenger will beat up the Tesla Model S P85D on the quarter mile, we shouldn’t have to listen to the EV crowd insist that the Tesla is the quicker of the two. At the same time, the Tesla deserves an incredible amount of respect for being the quickest production EV in the world.