Hellcat Challenger Beats Camaro ZL1 in an Autos-Only Roll Race Battle

Back in December, we featured a video from the folks at Hennessey Performance showing a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat beating a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in a series of three roll races on the HPE test track (click here for a look at that video). The “problem” with that video back in December was that the Challenger had the quick-shifting 8-speed automatic while the Camaro had the 6-speed manual transmission, so Chevy fans were quick to claim that it wasn’t a fair fight. The Camaro contingent insisted that if both cars had their respective automatic transmissions, the supercharged Chevy with the 10-speed automatic would make short work of the heavier Challenger with an 8-speed automatic.

Well, the crew from Hennessey got ahold of a new Camaro ZL1 with the 10-speed automatic, so they brought back the Plum Crazy Purple Hellcat Challenger for another trio of roll races between the American monsters.

Surprisingly to some, the results were very similar to the last Hennessey video pitting these two muscle cars head to head.

Auto Battle – Camaro ZL1 Vs Hellcat Challenger
The video below shows a set of roll races between a 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with the 8-speed automatic transmission and the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the 10-speed automatic. These runs were made on the Hennessey Performance test track, and on each race, the two cars roll up to the starting line at roughly 35 miles per hour and when they hit the line – both cars run wide open to 120 miles per hour. Basically, the two blown American muscle cars are making quarter mile runs from a roll.

On the first run, the Camaro ZL1 gets to the line with a slight advantage over the Hellcat and when the Chevy gets a much better jump at the starting line – the Challenger is forced to play catchup. The Dodge does not catch the Chevy before the finish line, so for the first time in these Hennessey videos, the ZL1 clearly beat the Hellcat in a roll race.

On the second run, the Camaro and Challenger are just about even when they hit the line, but this time, the Hellcat gets the stronger jump and immediately hops out ahead of the Chevy. The Hellcat then continues to inch away until they lift at the finish line.

On the third and final race, the two start off very even at the line, but once again, the Hellcat Challenger gets a stronger pull at the start and takes the lead. About halfway through the race, the Camaro closes a little ground, but the Challenger stays out front across the finish line.

So not only did the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the 10-speed automatic beat up the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat when they were both fitted with an automatic transmission – it was only able to squeak out a single win in three races from 35 to 120.
The ZL1 is most certainly the better road racer, but in the world of straight line performance, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat leaves no question as to which muscle car is the King of the Hill.