The entire original article was written by and featured on “Muscle Cars & Trucks” and can be found here (click here).
“Somebody Couldn’t Wait For The Durango SRT Hellcat”
As was to be expected, almost all of the automotive related events that were slated to happen this summer have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Included on that list is the 3,454 mile long Brock Yates One Lap Of America, which was scheduled to start on May 2. Despite the competition being put on hold until 2021, a video has surfaced of a local driver testing out what would have been their ride on Gingerman Raceway. That car just so happens to be a 2018 Dodge Durango SRT.
While it may seem preposterous to take a large SUV on the One Lap journey, it honestly just speaks to how capable these trucks have become in recent years. The Durango is the muscle car of the three row segment, and like any good muscle car it responds well to modifications. This particular Durango SRT was built by Vector Motorsports with tackling One Lap in mind, and it is far from stock.
Clearly, somebody couldn’t wait for the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat.
Starting under the hood, modifications to the 6.4L Hemi V8 include a built block, forged VMS rods, pistons and crankshaft, upgraded injectors and fuel pump, and a set of basically wide open headers. There is also a ProCharger system bolted up to the motor, helping the Hemi V8 produce over 700 horsepower at the crank. A quick look at a dyno sheet from 2019 shows the SUV was able to put down 615 horsepower and 565 ft.-lb. of torque at all four wheels. Talk about a family hauler.
The team at Vector Motorsports also fitted the car with a full Motion Control Suspension, upgraded brakes with two-piece rotors, and a set of tires and wheels for the track work that lies ahead. As demonstrated by the video of the laps at Gingerman Raceway, this Dodge Durango SRT is a seriously quick machine down the straights, eating up smaller four-cylinder powered cars. The heft of the family hauler is on full display, but that isn’t to say that driver Ryan Finch isn’t absolutely hustling it out there.
One Lap of America is always chock full of track-prepped sports cars that you’d probably not enjoy driving for more than a few miles at a time between trackdays. It takes a special group of people to decide that they wanted to enter this competition with a ludicrously powerful full-size SUV, but we are sure glad that they did.
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