Biased I am, oh, boy, yes.
99.9 percent of the time in the car, you are doing fairly low speeds, generally. The M5 is utterly forgettable unless it's in an actual race it's actually winning.
But, the rest of the time, the Hellcat stomps it in presence. There are plenty of roads that have the room to do 200mph. One just needs patience and no traffic. Okay, not a LOT of patience. Also, great brakes.
The probrem with the M5 is that it takes a practiced eye to know it's a very fast car. Single-digit-age kids can tell the Hellcat is fast just by looking at it. Really, how often are you driving so fast that the Hellcat would be noticeably slower? 90 percent of the time, in traffic? How about almost never?
The Hellcat is a winner, to me. The BMW gets lost in the sea of other BMW's down to a 1-series, I think they have now? 0.5-series skateboards coming next? They have somewhat diluted their brand while Dodge has purified its brand.
Corvettes have a lost a lot of their, shall we say, flash, over the years. 1969 was about peak year for Corvettes, to me, in all Corvette history. Others have been faster, handled better, etc. But '69's from what I've read, had the 585-hp (with GM-supplied long-tube headers and sidepipes installed as an option at the dealer) single four-barrel, and for those who were more about image than speed overall, the tri-power setup, which made less power. It was glamorous and cocky and in the league of the AC Cobra.
One very short step down was the wildly-colored Hemi-powered Mopars, most specifically the 'Cuda.
Then another small step down was the Boss 429.
Then, below that, all the actual muscle cars, not pony cars: the 4-4-2's, Skylarks, Malibus, Beaumonts, Coronets, Furies, Roadrunners, Chargers, Torinos, and Lesser stuff from AMC like the Javelin.
This very second is peak time for Dodge muscle cars.
In other classes: I predict that the Viper will out-Corvette the Corvette, but with brute force, hopefully, which is its trademark.
If Dodge goes crazy and makes the Charger Hellcat wagon, they will then have the most muscular wagon they have ever had. It would take very little to churn it out, compared to days of yore.
The M5 appeals to the mind. The Hellcat appeals to the eyes and the heart.