Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye: A Closer Look at the World's Most Powerful Sedan

Thanks to our friends on the inside, we have known for quite some time now that Dodge was working on a Charger SRT Hellcat with the 797-horsepower “Redeye” Hemi. Yesterday, after roughly a year since the widebody Charger was introduced, the long-awaited Charger Redeye was introduced via a streaming video online. While the ongoing Covid19 pandemic prevented the type of debut that we had expected, the car itself is exactly what everyone had anticipated.

Like the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the Charger Redeye gets the stronger supercharged Hemi along with a new hood design. The key difference between the two – other than the number of doors – is the fact that the Charger is only offered in widebody form. Fortunately, that means that the 305-millimeter wide tires are also standard, allowing Redeye Charger owners to make the most of the available 797 horsepower. This leads to a stock quarter mile time in the 10.60 range along with a stunning top speed of 203 miles per hour.

“The magic of the Dodge Charger is that it delivers all the performance of a true American muscle car while also being able to deliver a family of four or five, day in and day out,” said Tim Kuniskis, Global Head of Alfa Romeo and Head of Passenger Cars – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. “The Charger is a big, comfortable, five-passenger sedan that can run the quarter-mile in the mid-10s, 0-60 in the mid 3s and reach a top speed of 203 mph, and be your daily driver.”

Today, we bring you a look at all of the key features of the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye that make it unique from the supercharged sedan with “only” 707-to-717 horsepower.

The Supercharged Hemi
The heart of the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye is the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8. This is the same basic engine architecture that is found in every Hellcat-powered Dodge and Jeep vehicle, but in the Redeye models, there is a long list of changes made to both offer and support more power.

The key change is that the Redeye’s IHI supercharger measures 2.7 liters while the original Hellcat Hemi supercharger is just 2.4 liters. Not only does the Redeye supercharger move more air, but it also comes with a higher stock boost level of 14.5 psi compared to 11.6 psi. Helping to feed that hungry supercharger is a trio of engine air inlets which include one in the hood, one in the grille and the standard air box mounted over the driver’s side front wheel.

Of course, when you add all of that air flow, you have to add lots more fuel. To do that, the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye features two dual-stage fuel pumps and larger fuel injectors, allowing the Redeye Hemi to drink down 1.43 gallons of gasoline per minute at wide open throttle. At that rate, the Redeye engine will drain the entire fuel tank in about 11 minutes.

More importantly, at wide open throttle, the supercharged Hemi in the Charger Redeye delivers peak performance of 797 horsepower and 707 lb-ft of torque with a redline RPM of 6,500 (compared to 6,200 in the non-Redeye Hellcat Hemi). However, this isn’t just a Hellcat Hemi with a bigger supercharger, a high volume fuel system and a unique tune. This engine also features stronger connecting rods, pistons, valve train components and a higher volume oiling system.

Some other unique performance features of the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye that improve performance and consistency include the Torque Reserve, SRT Power Chiller and Race Cooldown systems. Torque Reserve allows the driver to “brake boost” up to 3.9 psi prior to a launch whereas the original Hellcat Hemi does not build any boost while stationary. The SRT Power Chiller diverts the cold air from the interior air conditioning system to the intercooler, allowing the engine to breathe cold air in even the hottest temperatures and after a hard rip down the quarter mile, the Race Cooldown helps to pull heat from the engine while the car is parked in the staging lanes.

High Performance Components
As mentioned above, the widebody design is standard on the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, meaning that 20x11-inch wheels and 305/35ZR20 Pirelli tires are also standard. The extra rubber helps with traction, but if you applied extra grip and loads more power without making other changes, Charger Redeye owners would be breaking lots of drivetrain parts. To prevent that, the SRT engineers installed a high strength steel two-piece driveshaft that offers a 15% increase in torque load capacity while stronger, 41-spline axles add another 20% of torque handling ability.

Next, the Launch Assist system helps to mitigate wheel hop on a hard launch without severely compromising power, leading to a 20% reduction in wheel hop without the driver having to do anything but keep the gas pedal to the floor.
Like all of the Hellcat-powered cars, the Charger Redeye features Bilstein adaptive dampers at all four corners. This system stiffens or softens depending on the Drive Mode chosen, allowing the driver to select whether he or she wants more comfort or better handling. As someone who owns and daily drives a Hellcat Challenger, the stiffest suspension setting is still comfortable enough for daily driving around Metro Detroit, but for those who want to feel less of the road, the stiffness can be dialed down.

Finally, a large sedan that will go 203 miles per hour isn’t much good if it can’t slow down, so the SRT team fitted the Charger Redeye with a set of gigantic stoppers from Brembo. The front brakes feature 2-piece, 6-piston calipers over 15.7-inch rotors while the rear brakes utilize 4-piston calipers and 13.8-inch rotors.

Stunning Performance
When you put together all of the unique features of the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, you get the most powerful sedan in the world, but it is also the quickest and the fastest in a straight line while also being quite capable on a road course.

For drag racers, the Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye accelerates from a stop to 60 miles per hour in the mid-3-second range en route to a quarter mile time of 10.60 at 129 miles per hour. Those numbers make the Charger the quickest 4-door sedan in the world while the top speed of 203 miles per hour makes this Redeye the fastest sedan in the world. For comparison, the non-Redeye Hellcat Charger Widebody runs a 10.96 quarter mile at 125 while reaching a top speed of 196 miles per hour.

For those who prefer a track with turns, Dodge compared the Charger Redeye to the original Hellcat Charger on a 2.1- mile road course. The Redeye finished a lap 1.2-seconds faster than the 717-horsepower sedan, which is equal to roughly 7 car lengths.

Subtle Appearance
The 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye follows suit of the Challenger Redeye in featuring few exterior cues that this is a more powerful model. The Hellcat head badge on the fenders has a red eye and there is a new hood with a front facing scoop and dual heat extractors, but that hood is shared with the 717-horsepower Hellcat Charger.

On the inside, the Charger Redeye features a speedometer that goes to 220 miles per hour along with the Redeye Hellcat logo on the start up screen, the dashboard and the key fobs. Other than that, the Redeye comes with the same standard and optional interior amenities as the standard Hellcat sedan with 717 horsepower.

Like all 2021 Chargers, the Hellcat Redeye is available in 13 exterior colors including F8 Green, Frostbite, Go Mango, Granite Crystal, Hellraisin, IndiGo Blue, Octane Red, Pitch Black, Sinamon Stick, Smoke Show, TorRed, Triple Nickel and White Knuckle. On the inside, buyers can pick from Black, Black/Caramel, Black/Demonic Red, Black/Houndstooth, Black/Ruby Red and Black/Sepia.

Dodge expects to formally open the order banks for the Charger Redeye later this fall with the first units being delivered to dealerships early in the 2021 calendar year. Pricing has not yet been announced, but we can expect that around the time that the order banks open. Frankly, anyone serious about buying one should expect to pay a bit more than they would for a similarly priced Challenger Redeye, so the numbers should range from roughly $78,000 to the low $90,000s.