Is a 700hp car twice as fast as a 350hp goat?
 

Anyone drive a hellcat? Is it 700 hp fast?

These new HPs are sounding awesome. But, are really a neck snapper?

twice as fast? As in if your GTO runs a 13.8, should a Hellcat run a 6.9?

LOL. NO. Its diminishing returns when it come to that sort of stuff.

C&D got a Hellcat to 11.7 @ ~124 MPH with a 3.6 0-60.

That was traction limited. Hellcats with a few aftermarket parts are running into the 10s.

Having come of age in the '80s when a powerful domestic V8 might have 220 horsepower in a car capable of high 14s at best, the current crop of performance cars is pretty mind blowing. Especially when you consider they're emissions compliant.

Twice as fast would be crazy...10s are insane numbers.

Anyone drive one yet to give an opinion?

There've already been at least two (2) Hellcat & Pontiac owners who've posted here in the lobby...

Had an A8 Hellcat for 8 months before selling it last month. Car was a blast to drive but I'm much to particular to own a car with this type of price tag! LOL

Yep. I think I read somewhere that the 1000 hp Veyron needed the first 300 or so to get to about 170 mph, and the remaining 700 hp to get it up to the 254 mph top end.

700 HP
 

Technology sure is amazing. I'm sure it would be a rush to drive a modern emission compliant car with 700 HP. These cars pull amazingly hard after you get traction on the street. Don't forget, there is a supercharger, computer, and fuel injection involved.

I've had the pleasure of Piloting Jack Ferris' Pontiac powered 10 second 700+ HP 69 GTO racecar. It was a feeling I'll never forget. Leaving the line off the transbrake and hanging the front wheels in the air for a while is something that stays with you! And at half the cost of a Hellcat.

Two completely different scenarios with 700 horses at you foot.

I money were no object, of course I'd have both. To each his own I guess.

I havent been in a hellcat. But Ive been in reasonably fast modern cars, and vintage muscle cars.

A 12 second LS motor car to me anyway doesnt feel as fast as a 14 second late 60s car. Its almost diminishing returns in the opposite direction of what we were talking about before.

Muscle cars are, for lack of a better term...violent.

That being said Im sure 700 hp even in a modern chasis/suspension is plenty raucous.

I guess the same question could be asked if a car weighed half as much would it be twice as fast? The answer would be the same, No.

Would a top-fueler with over 7000 hp be 10 times faster than a Hellcat?
Obviously not.

I have a GT500 that is around 700 horsepower, it traps 130 in the 1/4 mile. It's about 4000 pounds. It's obviously much faster than my Pontiac products, but my '68 with a 461 can hang with it up to a point, and then the GT500 runs away from it. The Shelby can top 185, the GTO is all done around 120 or so...
Hellcats are wicked fast, no question, but some of them need a driver mod. Spinnin' ain't winnin'

I had to look this up I suck at math, it is logarithmic rate of achieving speed versus horsepower or inverse exponential chasing speed or ET, if I got it right. I believe money spent to achieve speed is however exponential and ratchets up on a painful curve.

Speed costs. How fast can you afford to go?

Or something like that...

I agree and the only way to know is to drive it I guess.

Don't drive one,you will want one bad. My 67 is a purpose built show car,traps at 114. The hellcat I was in would have ran away and hid from my Goat.

High 9s now with a slightly modded Hellcat in a Charger! 9.71 @ 136ish as I recall. That is on drag radials.

The way I've always heard it was: the only ting faster than cubic inches is cubic dollars.

That's insane...

BassCat66(?) here on the forums has a new Hellcat. Says it's fast but how much so he didn't say. Tho he did say wear a neck brace, or have the headrest adjusted right. LOL

I've seen it. It's red and a 6 speed manual. That's all I can say I know about it. I like the looks of the SRT8s much better. And they are wicked fast enough fast for me.

Fast is only how much pedal you put to the metal before you back out of it. ;)

I have a 6 speed hellcat. Awesome car. Taking it to Mohave in April, can run up to 180 mph without a roll cage. It's everything I always wanted my goats to be, fast as hell, perfect sound, great stereo. Plus, it has all the benefits of anew car, no vibrations at 80 mph, no wind noise, reliable, etc.

I gotta say it's made me better realize the limitations in the classics.

Do you drive it around? Does it handle nice around town? Then, when it's on the highway you punch it and it break loose?

Love to here some stories of why it's a fun powerhouse...

The new Road & Track magazine has a comparison test. Apparently the Cadillac CTS-V, despite being down 67 hp from the Hellcat, is quicker at every incremental all the way through 130mph ( the top end of their measured acceleration test). The Caddy does how ever top out at a measly 200mph (factory stated) compared to the 204mph of the Hellcat (also factory rated).

Makes me wonder if someone "over rated" theirs hp, or someone "under rated" theirs? Do the cars weigh the same?

doens't matter. The new Caddys are butt ugly.

I'll give you that... But so is the Charger! :gag:

...I have owned quite a few SRT Challengers, some supercharged, fun, fast, nice to drive, Corvettes, Vipers, old muscle cars etc...BUT, I bought a new NicKey Camaro a few years ago, approximately 700 hp...I have owned fast cars for almost 50 years, but I have never had a car put a grin on my face like the NicKey...it is loud, it jumps up and down at stoplights, it will hit 100-130 mph so fast you can't believe it and it will get loose at 70-80 mph if you kick it down...I was never a Camaro fan, never owned one and never even rode in a Camaro until I bought this one...it is a Stage II with a few minor mods..the only car I have driven that impressed me more was a friends 900hp Viper GTS, it was like rolling thunder, loud and would run 9.90s at the strip, it was his daily driver/commuter car on nice days

The Hellcats are Enemies #1 in the Corvette World.

I suggested installing A Pontiac V8,
Did not go so well with Most Chevy Only Guys.

LOL.

Those Nickey stage I cars are cool. Did you order it from them or stop by showroom? They are not far from me.

Yes, it is a GM engine (not Pontiac), but my supercharged '05 GTO is absolutely worthless in first and most of second. Even third gear can be an adventure if it is cold out. That being said, I cannot imagine how a Hellcat could possible hook up with at least 150 HP over my Goat.

I would rather have less power and more balance.

Smart racer there, you can tell by your statement.. :) I have a blast with my twin-turbo Flex, just because MUCH faster cars sometimes have clueless drivers. I've actually beaten several LS-1 powered GTO's (N/A not boosted) at the dragstrip where I only have a 103 MPH trap speed, because I leave them in the dust off the line, and while they might be coming on like a freeking freight-train at the top end, the race is a 1/4 mile, and they run out of track before they can catch you. If you get a guy with a hellcat that knows how to drive (work the pedals and get it rolling without blowing the tires off) he's gonna kill ya, but even if your supercharged LS-powered GTO can trap 120 or so, you can still have some fun a Hellcat. (I'm guessing your trap speeds are 120-125 depending on how much boost you are running?) There's a saying "you can never have too much power" but that's not correct. When your engine's power level overpowers the rest of the driveline or your skill set as a driver, you can absolutely have too much power... With my GT500, on pure street tires with granny-launches I can give 700-800 HP cars a run for their money...

/\ /\ fantastic post!

My brother has a '13 GT-500;
I would love a late model properly equipped six speed challenger, even if it would get smoked by him.

I've always loved the Challenger going back to the originals. When I was a kid, my older brother had a Challenger RT-SE with a 440-4 speed and Hurst pistol-grip shifter, I thought that was the coolest car ever, (until I got my first GTO of course!) If I didn't already have so many cars and so little space, I'd probably get one, but as it is I hardly drive these things. As for the top speed stuff, I've had my Shelby "up there pretty good" ;) but the car has more top end than I have nerve anyway, it can easily get up to 100 in less than an 8th of a mile, so there's more than enough power on tap. It's just crazy that I can put 93-pump gas in it, it idles like it's stock and the feeling is like a jet taking off. But even with that said, my '68 Goat with the 461 makes a TON of low-end torque and it feels very fast, even after driving the GT500, it's just that point where once the Goat's all out of gear and RPM is where you feel the difference. But from zero to 120, it's a damn fun car to drive...! I do have to run race gas in the Goat but it's worth it...

While I know it won't double the speed, I do hope to find out what it feels like soon.... Getting close....
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...psoue4ksjm.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...pstrvx2i96.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...psbupsotgl.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...pshapxgh8o.jpg

^^That looks like fun! What transmission is that?

Tremec Magnum from American Powertrain.

Wowzers!!

Hellcat
 

I own the hellcat but agree it is really more power than practical for the street, or at least as the power is applied.

There is a freeway on ramp on my way home from work, the other night I was first in line so thought I'd give it a little gas. The hellcat screams like a raped ape, and things happen so fast you don't hardly have time to react. Anyway, as I'm going about 70 in second gear (manual trans) on the on-ramp, I hit a little bump - not a big bump, but a little, wouldn't barely notice it bump... and the back end starts to come out!

I'm like "Where the heck is the stability control when I need it!!" I wouldn't consider myself a great driver, especially compared to the likely skills of the members here, although I did a lot of sliding around in the snow in upstate new York growing up and have owned my share of GTO's with half the power.

Anyway, of course I immediately got out of it and recovered - but about crapped myself. I hope this car doesn't kill me.

Does your Hellcat have multiple settings for the traction control? I'm guessing yes, just asking because I've seen a progression or evolution with Ford products over the years. I had a 2008 GT-500 and the T/C was terrible; it would dog the car badly and I didn't like it at all. On my 2010, it's MUCH better and there's a "sport mode" that still allows for moderate wheel spin but it will reel you in if you go too far. Your post made me smile, we have a ramp near me that has a bump about mid-way up, and if I have it in sport mode and hit the gas a little before the rise, when you go over it, the tires start to "haze" and there's no fishtail effect, it stays perfectly straight and I call it the "Mad Max" stretch. The improvement is substantial over older T/C and if you give too much throttle, the effect is more subtle. With it off totally I can break them loose at 80 but what's the point? :eek:

I am very concerned about the same problem in my build. I've been trying to help the situation by looking for an ignition system with traction control. I don't know how much this will help in real life but it would be nice to have traction control and ABS to help keep it going straight.

I have a friend with a 600+ HP Mercedes and he says the Electronic Stability Control is the only think that keeps him out of the ditches.

Not quite in the same ball park, but my 2011 GMC pickup, 5.3, 3.73 posi, standard bed, standard cab (quite lightweight). Has traction control/stabili-track that is very impressive. If I get caught in the snow before I have the studs on, and the extra weight in the back, (2WD) it would almost be undriveable without the traction control.

Feeling it apply brakes to a single wheel to pull the rear back in line is pretty impressive.

It did something real impressive a week or so ago. I have the studs on now, so, no tire pressure sensor in the rear wheels. The TPS warning light is on all the time in this situation, I'm used to that ... so, I get in the truck on a day about -20 below zero and I see a low pressure warning on the right rear ... I ignore it because A: there is no pressure sensor in the rear wheels B: It's very cold so the reduced tire pressure triggers the warning.

At the next opportunity I checked the tires .... the Right Rear was indeed the only tire with low pressure .... evidently the computer figured this out, WITHOUT a TPS sensor, by the traction control system consistently reading different revs on that wheel compared to the others ... only way it could have done it.

Sometimes these new fangled vehicles are pretty impressive :)

The last part of this quote might be the best thing I've read here in a long time!

I would think that anything over 500hp would often be unusable/dangerous if you were not paying attention.

Being that I love solid axle cars, and hate leather interiors, I would love to have something like:
2013-2014 Challenger SRT Core (never offered in Canada)
2015+ Challenger RT-Scatpack
2012 Boss Mustang (styl-wise, I prefer the 2012 over the 2013)

I don't get why all Challenger SRT's (aside from the 2013-2014 Core model) always required leather...
And I really like that the Shelby's never required (to the best that I can recall) a leather interior.

It's pretty amazing how much the power levels of late model cars have jumped in the last decade or so - just yesterday I was talking to the proud owner of a 2010 Mustang GT - after re-looking up the spec's (315hp) I was thinking to my self, "jeeze, my wrong wheel drive car is more powerful than xxx's Mustang!?"

I remember reading of Carrol Shelby giving the 2013 GT-550 a shakedown before it was officially released/debuted, and he turned to the guys at Shelby American who made the car (with his input of course), and asked
- so they made the 'Shelby 1,000' lol...

I'm pretty sure that even fifteen years ago, if someone suggested that we would have a 662hp Mustang (2013-14 GT-500), or a 707hp Challenger (Hellcat) with a warranty, let alone being able to order a 1,000hp Mustang, or a 526hp naturally aspirated Mustang (2016 GT-350) - that the scoffing wouldn't stop.

If I can get my current daily-driver to a dyno proven 400whp, I'll leave it alone, and put away any thought of getting something 'cooler'.
(Too bad I have too many things (Firebird included) fighting for my spending money!)
Regarding the stability control, my Cobalt was the first vehicle to get a version of the stability control developed for the Corvette ZR1 - I love it, and totally know what 'dataway' means by being impressed by the stability control...