Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Runs a 10.43 with Stock Power, Near-Stock Weight

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats around the country keep laying down more impressive numbers on the quarter mile with the latest being the Mopar muscle car piloted by Simon Haddad - which ran a 10.43 at 132mph with stock power and without any weight reduction.

Almost a year ago, we introduced you to Simon Haddad of Clinton Township, Michigan and his 206 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. In November 2016, Haddad set the stock-power quarter mile Hellcat record, running a 10.56 at 130.99 miles per hour. Since then, another Hellcat Challenger with stock power and a hefty amount of weight reduction has gone quicker, but Simon wanted to see how quick he could get his Dodge muscle car without removing any of the interior luxuries.

This past weekend at Lapeer Dragway in Michigan, Simon Haddad blasted down the quarter mile in just 10.43 seconds with stock power, a short mod list and all of the interior features that the Hellcat Challenger included from the factory.

Simon’s Hellcat Challenger
While Simon Haddad’s 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat has stock power, I want to be clear that the car is not stock. When I first talked about his stock-power record last November, we got some complaints that we were calling his car stock. I said that it had stock power, but there have been modifications other than the engine, so it is running these numbers with the factory ratings of 707 horsepower and 650lb-ft of torque.

Haddad’s Hellcat Challenger has skinny front wheels, sticky drag radial tires on wide wheels out back, a stronger driveshaft and a set of 3.09 gears – and those are the only physical changes made from factory form. So Simon has helped his car get better grip and the steeper gears improve acceleration a bit while the driveshaft is just there to prevent the Hellcat Hemi from breaking the stock piece on a hard launch.

Some readers will insist that the wheels should be considered weight reduction, but the key point here is that this Hellcat Challenger has a full interior, the big Brembo brakes (many Hellcat owners swap to smaller, lighter brakes) and all of the premium features which come in every Hellcat car. The front wheels might be a little lighter than the stock units, but the bottom line here is that nothing has been removed from this car to hit these numbers. For those readers who don’t like stripping out the interior, this is the Hellcat record for you.

Since running the 10.56 last year, Simon Haddad hasn’t made any changes to his 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. He has simply gotten tons of seat time, allowing him to get his supercharged muscle car away from the starting line and down the track more quickly than he did last year. This seat time and some cool Michigan air allowed Haddad to cut his best time from 10.56 to 10.43 while his top end speed climbed to 132 miles per hour. Mind you, this run was made at Lapeer Dragway in Michigan, which is not the best prepped surface in the world, so at a better track, this car could get into the 10.30s.

What does this all mean? Well, it means that if you have a Hellcat Challenger with front skinnies, sticky rear tires, a stronger driveshaft, 3.09 gears and a great deal of skill in getting the car away from the starting line – you too could run 10.40s without adding any extra power to your Mopar muscle car.