2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 Revealed

Before we get into the meat and bones of the Demon 170, let’s back things up a little and explain how such a purpose-built, street-legal dragster came to be. The car is a special project that began during the COVID lockdowns. See, the Challenger should already be dead. The Demon was supposed to be the final hurrah for the model, as the ultimate Challenger.

But when COVID hit, things ground to halt, specifically with the development of the Charger/Challenger’s EV replacement. This lengthened the life span of the current cars. Not a company to sit idly by, Dodge took this as an excuse to create more, even crazier special edition versions of the Challenger.

Top amongst these new models is the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. The goal behind this car is to show the world what Dodge is all about. It’s a rubber, glass, steel, and plastic embodiment of what the brand stands for and encompasses.

Dodge is well aware the manufacturer has a history of playing catch-up with competitors, and the Challenger is no exception. When released in 2009, it was a perennial third place finisher in the American muscle car sales race. But Dodge also has a history of not settling for the status quo.

Over the years, the Challenger has improved, becoming a muscle car icon, and is now the top seller against the Mustang and Camaro. Not bad for a car that’s almost old enough to qualifying for a driver’s license.

When all is said and done at the end of the 2023 model year, the modern Challenger will have sold over two million models, with about 80,000 of those being Hellcats. Dodge views the Demon 170 as a celebration of the Challenger’s ascension from back runner to segment champion.

The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 will have a few identifiers that lets the world know this is the ultimate Challenger. There is a new badge that plays a bit off the regular Demon badge. As well, on the hood at the front of the scoop is an ‘Alcohol Injected’ sticker.

An easier identifier will be the Demon 170’s body panels. Up front, there are no fender flares, as the car wears the same front fenders as the entry-level Challenger SXT. In the rear, there are same fender flares as found on the widebody versions of the cars.

These differing flares all come down to the tires. For the first time on the modern Challenger, it will come from the factory with offset tires. Up front are 245/55R18 tires, while the rear wears wide 315/50R17 tires. That’s right, this car has larger diameter front wheels than rear wheels – a common sight with drag cars.

If one is unclear on the Demon 170’s mission, the tires should end any confusion. From the factory, the car comes equipped with Mickey Thompson ET Street R drag radials. These are basically drag slicks with a few grooves cut in to pass street-legal requirements.

With the new grippy rubber out back, Dodge has reconfigured the trans-brake to get the power down better. Not only that, but drivers can also pull torque out of the engine through the on-board computer in 0.1 second increments to maximize the balance between power and traction at the strip.

The suspension is retuned, so the front is less likely bolt up into the air. The vehicle can still wheelie, as seen in the photos, but the goal is to put that energy into propelling the car forward and not upward.

When the run is over, massive 14.2-inch two-piece front brake rotors and 13.8-inch rear rotors are clamped by four-pistons calipers at all four corners. When hitting sub-nine second runs though, that’s not enough. To ensure the Demon 170 doesn’t end up in the gravel trap at the end of the dragstrip, Dodge will sell an accessory parachute.

Now what most have been waiting for, the engine details. Except for the crankshaft and a few minor parts, this is an all-new 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8. It incorporates a 3.0-liter supercharger, new pistons, rods, crank, and bearings. It can run on E85 or pump gas. The car is clever enough to automatically retune the engine depending on amount of E85 contained in the mixture.

When running on full E85, the HEMI unleashes 1,025 hp, and 945 lb-ft of torque. When powered by 91 octane pump gas, power is still an incredible 900 hp and 810 lb-ft of torque. The fuel injectors on the car flow so much fuel to power this beast, they can drain the gas tank at wide open throttle in less than six minutes. When not doing quarter mile runs, the engine is expected to return 13 mpg city and 21 mpg on the highway.

During the preview event of the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, Dodge started the car for us. Unsurprisingly, it sounds a lot like a Demon/Jailbreak model. But, we could audibly hear the extra airflow being sucked in the engine and launched out the exhaust. Of course, the signature Hellcat supercharger whine is still there.

With all this power, and incredibly sticky rear tires, the rest of the car’s drivetrain must be reinforced. The Demon 170 features a different driveshaft than the regular Demon. There’s also new half-shafts built from scratch, designed not to break under the incredible strain.

Putting the power to the actual ground are a choice of wheels. Standard are a set of aluminum wheels with a five-spoke design. Optional are aluminum and carbon fibre two-piece wheels that bolt together with titanium bolts. These lightweight wheels have most of the weight centered by the hubs, where the aluminum components are. The carbon fibre outer wheel provides less rolling resistance, allowing it to spin faster.

At the preview event, Dodge had both sets of wheels on display. On the two-piece wheel we can really see the difference between the carbon fibre and the aluminum bits of the wheel.

At the start of this article, we mentioned some incredible times the Demon 170 can achieve at a properly prepared drag strip. Dodge knows it will be hard for consumers to replicate these times. But the brand thinks on a prepped strip, drivers should still get under two seconds in the 0 to 60 mph sprint. On the street, that won’t happen though.

Still, with a starting price of $96,666 plus destination and gas guzzler fess, the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 offers customers a whole lot of performance for the money. Of course, options will be available, and they will be pricey, so restraint when filling out the order sheet is required.