2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody revealed

After the reveal of the Dodge Demon, its less agro Challenger Hellcat brother has been given some new 'threads', more grip, and a new steering system to help it keep up.

The Hellcat has had the same flared wheel arches from the Demon bestowed upon it, granting an extra 3.5 inches (8.9cm) of body width than the previous Hellcat.

This is so the new 20 x 11-inch “Devil’s Rims” can fit on the thing, so that the car can utilise 305/35ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero tyres so give it more grip than its Challenger predecessor.

The 2018 Hellcat Widebody also gets a new electric steering system with SRT Drive Modes, allowing driver to select different steering setups.

While it will retain the same core running gear as the standard Hellcat, the supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi’s 527kW/881Nm is plenty to keep it close to the top of the ‘attainable’ muscle car ranks.

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Dodge says all of this has resulted in improved lap times during testing, recording gains of two seconds per lap on a 1.7-mile (2.73km) track.

It also says the Widebody drops three-tenths in a quarter mile run over the standard Hellcat, with a time of 10.9s and a 0-97km/h (measured as 0-60mph) of 3.4s rather than the previous 3.5.

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The Hellcat Widebody will then carry on to 313km/h

The extra grip also helps it reach a max lateral force (on a skidpan) of .97g over the standard Hellcat’s .93g.

Starting at USD $71,495, including the US ‘gas guzzler’ tax, the Widebody will be available in the US from Q3 this year, but sadly the Hellcat won’t be making its way Down Under in any substantial (or official) manner.