A heavenly week in a Dodge Challenger Hellcat

2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat: OK, put away the last two weeks’ hybrids and let’s blow off some steam.

Price: $79,020 as tested, including $6,000 for Widebody Performance Package 26Z. (More options noted throughout.) A far less challenging Challenger starts at $27,295.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver says “comfy and crazy, filled with standard features” but dislikes “sloppy handling compared with rivals, replacing roasted rubber adds up, aging appearance.”

Marketer’s pitch: “Welcome to Muscleville.” (Cringes.)

Reality: (Takes off shirt.) Watch me flex, baby. (Family, readers cringe in unison.)

What’s new: The horsepower wars keep the heat on. The SRT Hellcat goes from 707 horsepower in 2018 to 717 in 2019. The new SRT Hellcat Redeye has 797. This is getting dangerous.

Up to speed: Yeah, this is what really matters here. This baby goes fast. A supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 produced a whopping 717 horses, and you’ll get to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds. The Hellcat Redeye takes just 3.7 seconds, all according to Car and Driver, and completes the quarter-mile in 11.9 seconds.

Mr. Driver’s Seat confirms tremendous speeds are quite possible. As is laying rubber (summer tires, $695) and getting such a powerful start that the car just slides left and right. And that was 10 horsepower and one model year ago, as I was stuck with a 2018. (Fortunately the Brembo brakes cost just $495; pay for them.)

On the road: The Challenger is mostly about muscle. It’s longer than the 1971 to which it pays homage by 6 inches, at 197 inches, and wider in Widebody form, 78.3 inches wide versus 76.3 in 1971 (old dimensions from Automobile Catalog). It looks just like the 1970s model, though it’s far more aggressive. So drivers feel the bigness of the vehicle, especially in Wide Body form tested.

But once Mr. Driver’s Seat got the hang of it, handling the Challenger was not a big task, although curves are never going to be taken at great speed. Rolling country roads are a delight, as long as the car doesn’t bottom out. Seeing the four corners when parking is the biggest challenge.

The tires do tend to find their own way through grooves, though, so careful on worn surfaces or in construction zones.

Shifty: The TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic with autostick and paddle shifters ($2,995) operated nicely whether in shift or automatic mode. An abrupt downshift to first gear drew some dirty looks from the Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat, though. Just one. (But there’s been 30 years of buildup.)

I’d love to try the stick.

Driver’s Seat: The Challenger wants drivers to lie back and think of the ’70s. I like to sit near the steering wheel, but this car politely requests drivers move back a bit, straighten out their legs, and turn the seat back up a bit. Ahhh, that’s comfy (and $250 for the black/demonic red coloring).

Friends and stuff: That stretchy drive is all well and good when you’re on your own, or out with the Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat (well, for me, not you — don’t be driving my wife around), but we took Sturgis Kids 1.0 and 4.0 on the initial voyage. So while trying to leave the two youngsters in a minimum of discomfort, we had to sit a little squishier.

But it’s worth the trouble when everyone gets a chance to feel the thrill of the Hellcat. (Fortunately, I know a place. No, I’m not telling you.) Rowr.

Cargo space is 16.2 cubic feet.

Play some tunes: The 18-speaker premium audio system with Harman Kardon amplifier will rattle the windows. And it’s not just loud, but offers high-quality sound as well, although heavy on the thumping bass.

It does have a lot to overcome, though, with the Challenger exhaust making a whole boatload of noise. But that sounds awesome, too.

The dials for volume and tuning are nice, but they’re pretty far from the driver’s field of vision. A bit of practice allows for touch control, after accidentally blasting the AC in one’s face a few times.

Big doors: Watch them in parking lots. They aim to ding the neighbors. And everyone is staring at you, so they’ll all point and laugh (and/or expect you to carry beaucoup insurance).

But long doors make accessing the rear seat possible. Not easy or graceful, just possible.

Looking backward: Those side mirrors leave a lot to be desired. Careful when changing lanes — if the Challenger can be ordered without lane-change warning, just, no.

Fuel consumption: Because let’s not say “economy.” I was delighted when the needle crept northward of 16 mpg on the last tank; that $1,700 gas guzzler tax is there for a reason. Of course, I kept feeding the gas pretty steadily on my trips.

It’s a Hellcat; feed it anything, fortunately.

Where it’s built: Brampton, Ontario.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports gives the Challenger a predicted reliability of 3 out of 5.

In the end: Crazy fast and certainly lots of fun. Me, I go for something a little more earthbound, like a zippy Mini Cooper or Alfa Romeo Giulia.

Next week: But, say you really wanted to get crazy? Let’s up the ante with the BMW M5.