Stock 2018 Demon Hits 203 on Video by Patrick Rall on

The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon was downplayed by a great many Ford and Chevy fans when it was announced that the factory 9-second car would “only” go 168 miles per hour. That is the electronically limited top speed with the 808-horsepower engine computer. When owners install the race gas computer, unlocking all 840 horsepower, the speed limiter is also removed.

Dodge hasn’t officially said just how fast the new Demon will go in race gas mode, but last weekend, one of the new supercharged Challengers hit 203 miles per hour on video.

The 200mph Demon

The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon in the video below is completely stock. It has been fitted with the race gas PCM, so it is packing 840 horsepower and 770 lb-ft of torque, but it has the full-size front wheels and tires, the passenger seat and a passenger. We cannot tell if it has the back seat, but the point is that this car is more or less full street weight. The video lists the weight as 4,280, but that is the official curb weight from Dodge and curb weight doesn’t include the passengers, so the track weight for this run was likely up over 4,500 pounds.

This high speed run was made at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds on the space shuttle runway on Merritt Island, Florida. The Bohmer Straight Line Aerodynamic Testing Sessions offer drivers of high performance cars to reach for their top speed in the safe confines of the space shuttle landing facility, with 2.3-miles of straight, smooth track at their disposal.

The run was filmed from inside of the Demon, with a performance readout overlap provided by a Tag Heuer timing setup. This allows us to watch the speed of the vehicle climb, along with the G-forces, although that gauge doesn’t offer small enough increments to offer much input for this run.

The Incredible Run

In the video below, the actual run begins about 24 seconds into the clip, with the timer at the top right starting a few seconds before the new Demon begins to build speed. This is not a drag race, so there is no need to go hammering out of the gate, so the driver eases away from the line and rolls into the throttle, ensuring good traction on the low end.

Even with the slow start, the 840-horsepower Demon gets to 100 miles per hour in less than 20 seconds and 150 takes less than 30 seconds. Just 55 seconds after the timer began, the new Challenger hits 200 miles per hour and at the 61-second mark – the Demon tops out at 203 miles per hour.

The World’s Fastest Demon

In addition to proving that the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon will definitely go faster than 168 miles per hour, the owner of this particular Mopar machine has set the world record for the fastest top speed in the supercharged beast. Chatter around the internet suggests that this same car hit 209 at this same event, but with the organizer stating that this 203-mph run is the world record, we are inclined to question those 209 rumors.

The bottom line is that the Demon will go well beyond 200 miles per hour with the 840-horsepower PCM. Crank up your speakers and enjoy.

Thanks to @hellcat_562 for the heads up on the video!

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.