Modified Dodge Challenger Hellcat vs Modified Cadillac CTS-V on a 1/2-mile Track

The hottest rivalry in the American high performance market isn’t between two cars as much as it is between two engines – the supercharged 6.2L Hellcat Hemi from the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger and the supercharged 6.2L LT4 from the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the Cadillac CTS-V. The Hellcat Hemi packs lots more horsepower and a little more torque, but the LT4-powered cars from GM are all lighter than the comparable Dodge – and the Corvette is leaps and bounds lighter than any other car in this conversation.

This power advantage for Dodge and the weight advantage for Chevrolet/Cadillac has made the battle between the Hellcat Hemi and the LT4 a very tight one when the cars are stock, but what about when a few modifications have been added to each vehicle?
The video below offers a look at just such a race, with a lightly modified Cadillac CTS-V taking on a lightly modified Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in a half mile roll race.

The Competitors
The vehicles in the video below are both modified, and we want to make that crystal clear before getting into the details of this race. GM fans will most certainly insist that it wasn’t a fair race since the two vehicles have different modifications, but the Mopar crowd will surely point out that the lighter Cadillac has more extensive modifications.

The Cadillac CTS-V’s LT4 V8 has been fitted with a smaller upper pulley for extra boost, headers and a full exhaust system, a cold air intake, a flex fuel setup, a low side fuel system and a tune to bring it all together. The Hellcat Hemi in the SRT Autoworks Challenger doesn’t have headers, but it does have a lower pulley – along with an upper pulley, larger fuel injectors, a Magnaflow exhaust system, a Legmaker cold air intake and a PCM tuned by Tim Barth. Really, the main advantage that the Hellcat mod list has over that of the Caddy is the lower pulley, but the Cadillac has free-flowing headers which the Dodge does not.

In any case, even if the Cadillac had the exact same mod list as this Hellcat Challenger – along with the headers – it doesn’t look like the CTS-V would have a real shot at the Dodge in this half mile roll race.(More on Page 2)

The two cars start by approaching the starting line at 40 miles per hour and when they hit the line, they both let it all hang out. The Challenger spins the tires for a second, but it quickly grips and goes – immediately pulling ahead of the Cadillac in what turns into a blowout by the finish line.

In the end, the Challenger accelerated from 40 to 169.42 miles per hour in a half mile while the Cadillac CTS-V went from 40 to 154.55, leading to the big Dodge coupe winning by a very comfortable margin.

Below, you will find two videos of the half mile roll race between the Cadillac CTS-V and the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat from SRT Autoworks, showing the easy win from two different angles.