Rumored Challenger Hellcat Widebody: it’s real by Patrick Rall on

Today, Dodge revealed that a car long rumored on Allpar’s forums is indeed real: the 2018 Challenger SRT Hellcat will be offered with a widebody package which improves quarter mile and road course times, while giving the 707hp Mopar muscle car a menacing stance.

This is the same basic design as the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, with composite flares bolted onto unique sheet metal which allows for much bigger rubber under all four corners. To be exact, the Widebody Hellcat Challenger is fitted with 20 x 11-inch “Devil’s Rim” split spoke aluminum wheels wrapped in 305/35ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero performance tires and this extra rubber allows the supercharged Challenger to corner better, launch harder and look meaner.

In addition to the flared body bits, the wider wheels and the huge tires, the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody has a new electronic power steering (EPS) system – the first electronic steering system in the Hellcat Challenger – which works with the Drive Mode system. This high tech steering setup has selectable settings for Street, Sport, and Track, with varying levels of feedback for each.

Tim Kuniskis, head of passenger cars for Dodge, reported that the new car leveraged the effort put into the SRT Demon.

Just how much does the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody help? Well, the wider rear tires allow the wider Hellcat to launch significantly harder, leading to a 0-60 time of 3.4 seconds and quarter mile time of 10.9 seconds – 0.1 seconds quicker to 60 and 0.3 seconds quicker in the quarter mile than the original Hellcat Challenger.

Those quarter mile times will be more than enough to entice the average Mopar muscle car buyer who is looking to go drag racing, but Challenger fans who prefer tracks with turns will see improvements as well.

On a lateral skid pad, the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody reaches 0.97g of grip, compared to 0.93g for the standard Hellcat Challenger. On an unspecified 1.7-mile road course, the improved steering capabilities and grip allowed the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody to be a full 2 seconds quicker per lap, beating a non-Widebody Hellcat Challenger by some 13 car lengths after one lap.

The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody has an MSRP of $72,590 with the 6-speed manual transmission, including gas guzzler tax and destination. The rest of the 2018 Challenger prices have not been announced, but the 2018 widebody package lists for $7,300 more than the 2017 Hellcat Challenger.

Patrick Rall was raised a Mopar boy, spending years racing a Dodge Mirada while working his way through college. After spending a few years post-college in the tax accounting field, Patrick made the jump to the world of journalism and his work has been published in magazines and websites around the world.