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Comparison Test: 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

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#1 ·
Comparison: 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
Hellcat Dogfight: Mopar and GM Square off for the Musclecar Title
Motor Trend
By: Christian Seabaugh
October 2014


Taking a look at some of America's most iconic manmade machines over the past century or so reveals much about our national psyche. The World War II Iowa class battleship was among the most powerful ever built, with 212,000 shaft horsepower, nine 16-inch guns, and a displacement of 58,000 tons by the time it went out of service. The big Grumman F6F Hellcat was one of the deadliest naval fighters of all time. The Saturn V rocket is the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever made, producing more than 1 million pounds of thrust.

Full Article at Link.
 
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#2 ·
Was this posted already?

Anyway, fair win, 700 hp is reason enough to win! But as far as having more presence, is that just because it's a lot less common? Meaning the camaro's styling has cemented its sales lead by a wide margin, but because of that it's more familiar and therefor less of a head turner?
 
#4 ·
But as far as having more presence, is that just because it's a lot less common? Meaning the camaro's styling has cemented its sales lead by a wide margin, but because of that it's more familiar and therefor less of a head turner?
I'd wager that's the case. There's a lot of novelty with the Hellcat. In addition to being the newer kid on the block, it's the only car with that motor. The ZL1 was always cool but was always sharing thunder with the CTS-V.
 
#14 ·
No more than the Camaro. Butt dyno tends to lie but the numbers show the truth.

From the same article.
The ZL1 lapped the figure eight in 24.0 seconds at a 0.85 g average, and pulled 0.99 g average on the skidpad.
Hellcat lapped the figure eight in 24.7 seconds at a 0.85 g average, and pulled 0.94 g average on the skidpad.

With equal tires it would be even closer.
 
#5 ·
That was an interesting take, but I think they should have matched the transmissions, manual & manual or auto & auto.

But as far as having more presence, is that just because it's a lot less common? Meaning the camaro's styling has cemented its sales lead by a wide margin, but because of that it's more familiar and therefor less of a head turner?
Fair point. Also, as far as street presence, a neon lit Sub Lime color against a stealth silver? Again, not sure that's comparing apples and apples. I could have done without all the extraneous and unrelated military hardware references, those added nothing to the comparison.

Either way, you can't go wrong with either of these mighty and awesome muscle cars.
 
#11 ·
GT500 vs. Hellcat would have been far better comparison, but the GT500 is gone now. From warranty voiding point of view, I would handily take the GT500 over the Hellcat as a competitive, aftermarket supportive street car. I've seen 700+ hp Challengers run plenty of times, and they constantly get killed by cars making less horsepower. Trinity GT500 cars with little support are extremely fast and, most importantly, with proven reliability. Let's see how the Hellcat fares when tuners get ahold of them. Knowing Dodge, I don't see the trend changing from being slow.
 
#12 ·
Then again these cars are bought and salivated over by genuine car enthusiasts, not folks that certainly have not clue what they are looking at. They don't need to be garish and little nuances go a long way - to me anyway - in pointing out at what you are looking at. Also if you parked one next to the base model, not only would things jump out at you, but the look between the two would be drastically different.
 
#13 ·
Motortrend is full of it. The ZL1 won against the GT500 because it was an easier car to lap a track more consistently with even though around LS the GT500 posted a better lap time, and in most tested area's the GT500 beat the ZL1's in performance, and it's straight line performance is very similar to the Hellcats and when tested slightly besting the Hellcat.
Then they take these two to a drag strip, and of course the Hellcat wins. Then they drive it on the road and the Hellcat draws some looks so you act like it's better than the ZL1. Y'all are very inconsistent about how you go about determining a winner.
They should put Randy P behind both the Hellcat and the ZL1 on Laguna Sega, and let him determine the winner like you did with the GT500 and the ZL1.

Bottom line, for the same reasons the ZL1 won over the GT500, it should have won over the hellcat. They are trying to have it both ways. This lack of consistency is what makes me go phmmmm…
 
#16 ·
My only issues with the comparison are that it wasn't manual to manual transmission (or Auto to Auto) and they are giving points based on the fact people are flocking around a brand new car, in lime green paint, they've only seen on the internet because it isn't in dealer showrooms yet.
 
#25 ·
They pulled the same average g's on the figure eight with the Camaro .7 of a second quicker after 30 seconds. Wouldn't even be noticeable on the street.

It's amazing how such a small amount of time makes one car a supreme handler and the other a fat pig that drags it's door handles and will most likely kill you because it handles so poorly. Talk about internet bench racing.
 
#24 ·
Based on looks alone, I'd take the ZL1 over the Hellcat any day of the week. I fail to see what all the fuss is about the the Challenger (even the previous faced car). IMO, adding more cheesy black grille and brighter colors to a brick-like shape hasn't helped any at all.

Not to mention, the ZL1 is a better performer (overall).

And, in case you think I'm biased:

1) You couldn't pay me to buy a base Camaro or Camaro SS.... But, once you start breaching 1LE, the car starts looking/performing right.

2) The Charger WAS in a class by itself when it comes to attractive sedans... But, I'm fairly certain I hate the new Dart face on the base model and pretty certain I hate it on the SRT model.

3) The Mustang seems nice, but the base model and GT certainly aren't aggressive enough for my tastes.

EDIT: Oh, and, as always, Motor Trend is full of ****.
 
#27 ·
About that Skid pad and Figure 8 Results, Heres a Interesting Statement Christian Seabaugh, MT Editor said on MT Forums:


Christian Seabaugh:
Docile? HA. It's not docile. Not in the least bit. It'll do standing burnouts in eco mode, WITH traction control on. The Hellcat is ridiculous and insane, in the best possible way.

That said, I took the Hellcat down to San Diego for a co-worker's wedding. The Hellcat calms down on the freeway. You could drive it all day and still feel refreshed when you arrive at your destination.

It handles like a Challenger. Steering feel is good, in the sense that you always know what the front wheels are doing, but the power assist the hydraulic rack provides is a tad too much for my taste. The ZL1 certainly has better steering feel, as you'd expect.

Interesting fact: the 4449-pound Hellcat did the figure eight in 24.7 sec @ 0.85 g (avg). The 2440-pound Alfa 4C I recently tested did the figure eight in 24.3 seconds at 0.84 g (avg). Make of that what you will.
 
#43 ·
Clearly anyone who grew up with real muscle cars in the 60's know it was all about hp and straight line speed. You want to argue the ZL1 somehow wins this because of handling, it's based on your b.s. Criteria because for a muscle car the point is muscle. Could it be obvious? No.

You might as well argue that the Camaro is better because it comes with OnStar.

Handling is now priority #1 in a car with notoriously bad visibility. But seeing is overrated. I've said that myself.

The way half of you guys cry about this stuff GM better start making tissue and Tampax dispensers standard equipment.
 
#44 · (Edited)
The way you old people cry about the long lost days of yore only shows how feeble and and obsolete you are. You're awfully grumpy, do you need the nursing home orderly to change your diaper? Or are you just mad because you can't get your walker out of the trunk?


I know it's difficult to accept, but standards have changed. Cars are expected to be able to turn. Drag racing is no longer the benchmark for anything. It is an antiquated and obsolete measure. It only means something to a generation that will be dying off soon.
 
#45 ·
I think it’s more about some people realizing what they are going to be able to use in a car and realizing that a .7 differance in handling after 30 seconds doesn’t make one car an F1 car and the other a shopping cart.

Have you ever driven a car at 10/10’s on the street for a 30 second interval (much less one with this much power) so you can actually eek out that .7 of a second difference. I can answer that, never.

Have you ever hammered the throttle on an on ramp or on a side road when there wasn’t much traffic around. I can also answer that, absolutely.
 
#52 ·
How about have you ever Stopped at a Stoplight, Eye the person next to you, Rev your motor to get there attention, and then when the Green hits, Hammer it to see who will make it to the Next light 1st??, ALWAYS

have you ever Stopped at a Stoplight, Eye the person next to you, Rev your motor to get there attention, and then when the Green hits, Hammer it in form of a Sprint Race into the twisties??? only on Need For Speed UnderGround on Playstation 2...
 
#48 ·
I say these muscle cars should have both, handling and straight-line power. In this day & age why just have straight line performance.

For these last years of the current gen Camaro ZL1, GM should've brought the engine power up to at least 650hp just to spice things up and to defecate all over the little fiat ***cats parade. (I know there's reasons why GM won't do this but It would've been nice to see.)

That said, I wouldn't touch a chrysler product with a 10-foot pole either, but I'll admit the only nice little touch that this fiat has is that air intake hole on the grill, next to the headlight, the rest of the car is junk.
 
#53 · (Edited)
LOL at "drag racing" stop light to stop light and playing PS2


how obsolete and out of touch with reality


How about not being the emasculated guy who buys a high hp car to feel more manly, then only drives 20mph through the city and does a cute little blip to the next stop light?

How about being the guy that buys a high hp car and blasts through the winding roads of nearly everywhere that's not in a densely populated urban area. Because everyone knows that 90% of highways, roads, and streets have CURVES, BENDS, and ELEVATION CHANGES. :rolleyes:
 
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