im thinking of ordering either a hellcat or a redeye. It will be an auto. My srt is a stick and ill keep it too so the auto gets the nod. Question is in longevity. I sure wont beat the snot out of either but was just wondering with the upgrades a redeye has if it will be a more reliable car for the long term? Is there actual weakness in the hellcat that was addressed in the redeye that will make it less likely to break or is the hellcat at its hp level plenty strong already?
advise on purchase
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Since I got my Redeye last week I’ve been looking at what’s the difference between the Hellcat and the Redeye. Looks like the Redeye has a detuned (a bit) demon engine, power chiller, stronger driveshaft, axles etc. lots of things in there to make a Redeye a good choice. I’m new to this car and was used to my scat pack. This thing accelerates so hard it’s unreal. Just get one. That way you never wonder wether you should have or not.
Hellcat engine is plenty strong. Wouldnt worrry a bit. With that being said if youre budget allows get the RE. It’s more than just hp.
Moved from a 2017 HC Challenger M6 to a 2021 HC Challenger REWB. No regrets. I have the 3.09 gears and it acts quite a bit different than my 2017 but there's a bunch of factors that contribute to that. If you have the extra funds, I would go Redeye all day.
wide body for sure
Then the difference is less, Redeye and Hellcat Widebody use the same 41-spline axles.
The Redeye driveshaft is different and stronger.
The rear diffs are the same unless you order the 3.09 gear on the Redeye, then that rear is stronger than the Hellcat 2.62.
Transmission is the same.
So the rest of the differences are under the hood.
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It's more stout but it also has a larger blower, more boost, and more power. It's not like a plain old 717hp Hellcat with stronger components. It's got stronger components because it is also making more power and torque. It -should- be more robust, but they haven't been around long enough to see what any longterm reliability issues are.
thanks i didnt know about the axles and rear ends being the same.
thats what made me ask the question. Seems they felt the hellcat was already taxing the equiptment to the point a 100 more hp would break things. I like the idea of overbuilt for what ill do rather then just adequate. Kind of makes me scratch my head. Seems it would be cheaper to make them all the same and might just save on warrantee claims to boot. Looking at this with open eyes and a guy would think just putting bigger tires on your standard body hell cat or putting 309s in it is a recipe for breakage.
I had your same questions. I am grateful that I have the financial ability to order either the HCWB, REWB, or SS. I chose the HCWB. Why? Several reasons. Engine proven for a long time and across multiple platforms. It is built incredibly strong with forged internals and people have been tuning them to 1000hp for a while now. It’s the original, and an icon every bit as much as the other options. I’m also not tracking it, and 717 hp (and it’s underrated by the way) is waaaay more than you can ever fully use on the street, and PLENTY to have a blast with in any situation. My non-negotiable was the widebody. Had to have that. I ordered a pretty much loaded car, minus sunroof, in exactly the color combo I wanted, and got it, without paying the Jailbreak money. Also, yes, when you’re talking 80k, what’s 10k more? To me, still 10k. I can invest that 10k other places, make money with it, and still have exactly the car I wanted. Make no mistake, with the 717 rated hp, the Hellcat is an absolute ANIMAL. Most of all, do what makes YOU happy, which any of the options will definitely do.
Another $10K.
Let me elaborate: Depreciation is the biggest expense of owning a car. If you pay $10K more for a car while you get more car you also start the depreciation from a higher dollar amount.
Assuming the depreciation curve is the same for both of these cars, generally a new car depreciates 10% from what the dealer paid for the car the minute the car is driven off the lot.
So if say the dealer paid $60K (just a number for the sake of discussion) for the Hellcat and $70K (just a number...) for the RE you lose $6K to depreciation when you drive the Hellcat off the lot, but $7K when you drive the RE off the lot.
Both cars should prove to be reliable. While the RE has some beefier hardware in part to accommodate its higher engine output it is not like the Hellcat engine/drive train is made out of tin.
Not beating the snot out of either car goes along way to ensuring a long and trouble free service life.
Following the Dodge service schedule regarding oil/filter services, and replacing other consumables on schedule also helps contribute to a long and trouble free service life.
Additionally I have found over the years a brake fluid flush/bleed a good service, and with one car which had its clutch hydraulic system share fluid with the brake hydraulic system a necessary service to keep the clutch working properly
Plus every 4 years a coolant drain with a refill with fresh coolant helps to prolong the life of the engine cooling system components.
Also, I arrange for an early transmission/diff fluid change. For the transmission/diff fluids not too early but almost always before 30K miles.
Depends on how long you plan on keeping the car. I got a bucket list and tend to go through a lot of vehicles so resale is VERY high on my list of important things. Nothing worse than a loaded up car when it comes to resale/trade in. Wide body itself has minimal benefit when it comes time to trade it in. the more options you add, the bigger beating you’ll take when it’s time to unload it. This is spoken from a ridiculous amount of first hand experience.
With that said, if you tend to keep your cars fir a long time, who cares what it costs. Get what you like. Resale becomes almost moot. All scenarios are a pretty significant depreciation.
This thinking may go against the grain here, but when you're getting into this much horsepower it generally doesn't translate into long term reliability. I'd think a hellcat with 100 hp less may be a bit more reliable long term than a redeye if you aren't hammering on either of them. The redeye does have stronger components related to the drivetrain but also has more/complicated components that all have the potential to fail at some point.
I haven’t heard of any reliability issues. All the parts that take the abuse have been substantially beefed up. As I heard it the Mopar guys ran the Demon 1000 1/4 mile runs while developing the car and it took it without breaking. I think you’d have you really try to break this car beyond that.
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