Hennessey Performance really doesn’t believe in leaving well enough alone.
The Texas shop has managed to take Dodge’s ferocious Challenger SRT Demon 170 to new heights. Its souped-up take on the two-door, which is called the Demon 1700, blurs the line between muscle car and supercar and is capable of covering the quarter-mile in under eight seconds.
There’s a case to be made for the Demon 170 being the most absurd muscle car of all time. The ultra-high-performance model, which debuted in 2023 at the very tail end of the third-generation Challenger’s lifecycle, added a 3.0-liter supercharger to the original Demon variant’s 6.2-liter Hellcat V-8. That change, along with a slew of other upgrades, boosted power by 40 percent to 1,025 hp and 945 ft lbs of torque. Thanks to all that oomph, the car could rocket from zero to 60 mph in 1.66 seconds, hit the quarter-mile in 8.91 seconds, and reach a top speed of 155 mph.
Hennessey is nothing if not predictable, and in early 2024, less than a year after the Demon 170 had been announced, it unveiled a ridiculous upgrade package dubbed Demon 1700. The shop has swapped out the Hellcat mill for a new, hand-built 7.2-liter V-8 and added two turbochargers. It’s also been equipped with a new high-flow stainless-steel exhaust system, high-flow fuel injectors, and a performance drive shaft, just to name a few of the laundry list of mechanical upgrades. The result is a vehicle that now produces 1,700 hp and 1,400 ft lbs of torque. Because of the sizable performance boost, the car can now cover the quarter-mile in a production record 7.9 seconds. Talk about demonic.
As good as all that may sound, we’re sure those numbers caused more than a few eyebrows to raise. But last week, some 16 months after we learned of the Demon 1700’s existence, Hennessey released a YouTube video of the engine undergoing dyno testing. In the clip, you can see the diagnostic software’s measurement hit 1,700 hp. You can also see the screaming engine start to glow as it really gets going. We’ll have to wait for more footage of the car in action, but it shows that the upgraded vehicle will be able to hold its own on the street or at the track.
Intrigued? Although Hennessey announced that it would build just 12 examples of the Demon 1700, it’s still taking inquiries for the car now. The upgrade package starts at $200,000, but that doesn’t include a donor Demon 170, which will cost you around $100,000 if you haven’t already secured one. Deliveries of the vehicle are expected to begin shortly.
Click here for more photos of the Hennessey Performance Demon 1700.
