2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Officially Rated at 22mpg, Not That it Matters

When you are driving the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat at wide open throttle, the blown Hemi is making 707 horsepower and 650lb-ft of torque, but it is also burning 1.5 gallons of fuel every 60 seconds. This is not a car that you buy for fuel economy, but the Chrysler Group still has to work for every last mile per gallon due to the constant push for improved fleet fuel economy figures. There is also the aspect that being slightly more efficient gives the Challenger one more bragging right so when the 707 horsepower muscle car was introduced, the company said that they were shooting for an official rating of 20 miles per gallon.

Remarkably, the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is actually more efficient than the initial estimated numbers – offering 22 miles per gallon on the highway.

Complete 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat MPG Figures
The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is powered by a supercharged 6.2L Hemi V8, which is mated to the buyer’s choice of a standard 6-speed manual transmission or an optional 8-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The Hellcat Challenger with the new TorqueFlite automatic transmission is the faster of the two, and it is also the more efficient of the two transmission options with 13 miles per gallon in the city, 22 miles per gallon on the highway and 16 miles per gallon combined. Those buyers who opt for the 6-speed manual transmission have to compromise on fuel economy, but not by much as the Hellcat Challenger with the manual gearbox offers the same 13mpg in the city and 16mpg combined, but highway numbers drop to “only” 21 miles per gallon – which is still very solid for a 707hp car.

“The new 2015 Dodge Challenger is the perfect street / strip muscle car,” said Tim Kuniskis, President and CEO – Dodge and SRT Brands. “As the fastest muscle car ever, the Challenger Hellcat can run 10-second ETs at the track, and then get 22 miles per gallon on the drive home. With a starting price of $59,995, there’s nothing else that even comes close.”

Hellcat MPGs Versus the Competition
Along with announcing the official fuel economy figures for the 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat, the Chrysler Group was kind enough to highlight some other ultra high performance vehicles that offer comparable performance, but not comparable fuel economy numbers. The Lamborghini Aventador Roadster “only” offers 700 horsepower and it only achieves 18 miles per gallon on the highway with a price of $425,845. The Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT costs $221,580, offers just 583 horsepower and it is only capable of hitting 19mpg on the highway so even with less power and far less interior space, both the Aventador and the AMG SLS GT cant get the same fuel economy as the brawny Hellcat Challenger.

More importantly, the Challenger SRT Hellcat offers better fuel economy numbers than the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – which is the closest true competitor to the 707hp Dodge. Like the Challenger, the ZL1 Camaro packs a supercharged 6.2L V8, but the Chevy only offers 580 horsepower, 556lb-ft of torque and 19 miles per gallon on the highway (with the manual transmission). The full numbers for the manually shifted Camaro ZL1 are 14mpg city, 19mpg highway and 16mpg combined while the ZL1 with the automatic transmission offers just 12 in the city, 18 on the highway and 14 combined.

Hellcat Galleries:
The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in TorRed
The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in Sublime

So, the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat offers more horsepower and torque than the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the Challenger Hellcat is quicker in the quarter mile than the ZL1 with reported times of 12.0 for the automatic Camaro and 10.8 for the automatic Challenger.

Now, while having an advantage in fuel economy makes for a nice piece of marketing material for the Chrysler Group, the odds are good that not a single person who buys a 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat will do so because it gets 22 miles per gallon on the highway. Realistically, the Hellcat Challenger could get 15mpg on the highway and I would bet that every person buying one would still buy one. However, even for people who can afford a $63,000 muscle car, getting better fuel economy is a nice bonus feature of the most powerful American production car ever.