The Dodge Demon Is Here At Last And It's So Fast It's Been Banned From Racing

The Dodge Demon launch saga is over at last, and it’s good news! The strip-ready supercharged 6.2-litre monster will have a mighty 840bhp; a healthy whack more than people had previously thought.

That huge power figure, matched with 770lb ft of angry, means a showroom-fresh 9.65-second quarter-mile. It’s so damn fast that it’s already been banned from competition by the American National Hot Rod Association, which certified the time on a real drag strip. Hell yes. Banned for being too fast? Well played, Dodge. We love it. We’ll even forgive the 14 mildly irritating weeks of teasers.

It hits the incredible new benchmark drag time with a combination of systems that help it launch with 1.8g of force. That is incredible. Dodge says that’s a harder launch than any production car, ever. Zero to 30 takes one second, 60 is smashed in 2.3 seconds, 100mph is yours in 5.1 seconds, and at the quarter-mile finish line it’s doing 140mph. Take that, Tesla.

We already knew about the semi-slick drag tyres, proper trans brake and strengthened driveline, not to mention its ability to run 100-octane racing fuel, but now we can see the whole thing as the makers intended. The front rubber is super-skinny, as per a proper drag car, and the launch is so fierce that the Demon actually wheelies.

The Demon is also already a step closer than expected to the power figure revealed by Hennessey for its highly-tuned Chevrolet Camaro, dubbed The Exorcist in direct response to the Demon.

Dodge’s final, four-minute video majors on the Demon’s drag speed potential, and we can’t blame them. This, right here and now, is a sub-10-second car straight out of the box. No overnight parts from Japan required.