2021 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock: Taking Stock of Changes and Rivals

We took our first look at the 2020 Dodge Challenger Super Stock last July, and then in September we told you this top-dog drag-racing special would carry on largely unchanged for 2021. Indeed, there are few changes this year, but while the Dodge SRT gang was launching the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye and […]

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We took our first look at the 2020 Dodge Challenger Super Stock last July, and then in September we told you this top-dog drag-racing special would carry on largely unchanged for 2021. Indeed, there are few changes this year, but while the Dodge SRT gang was launching the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye and Durango SRT Hellcat models last month, they trotted out a Super Stock for show and tell only, which gave us a chance to learn a couple more details.

Challenger Super Stock: Changes for 2021

Nothing changes in terms of meaningful specifications for the new model year, and the basic pricing also carries over. Dodge charges $58,995 for a 2021 Challenger Hellcat, plus $20,600 for Quick Order Package 27S (SRT Super Stock), plus $1,495 destination, plus $2,100 in gas guzzler taxes. That comes to the same $83,190 as the 2020. Indeed the only pricing change is a $200 rise in the cost of the Uconnect 4C Nav with 8.4-inch display charge increased from $795 to $995. That means the biggest difference in the 2020 and 2021 Super Stock models is their likely resale/future auction value, because there were only a couple hundred 2020s built, while Dodge/SRT is not limiting the number of 2021s that roll out of its Brampton, Ontario assembly line.

Super Stock vs Redeye Widebody: The Difference Is Three Car-Lengths

To illustrate just how important the launch is in a drag race (as indicated by the 0-to-60-foot time), SRT Challenger Vehicle Development Manager Jim Wilder noted that a tenth of a second gained by the 60-foot mark often pays off in a savings of three or four tenths by the quarter mile. “Spinning isn’t winning,” he deadpanned, while noting the many subtle refinements made to this aging track star.

To find that crucial tenth, the Super Stock endeavors to maximize weight-transfer to the business end of the car by programming the adaptive Bilstein shocks for max squat. That means soft compression and firm rebound in back with soft rebound/firm compression in front. This mode is maintained for as long as the throttle stays wide open; When you lift, it reverts to soft compression and firm rebound all around.

Other “Demon” tweaks shared by the Super Stock include 315/40R18 Nitto drag radials with tall and soft sidewalls, a drag-mode stability control setting to limit axle-hop and prevent swerving without knee-capping the power, delayed torque-converter lockup strategy, and performance-enhancing shift quality.

Together, these mods help the Super Stock gain three car-lengths on a 2021 SRT Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody. Of course, the Redeye Widebody will be way more than three car-lengths ahead on any track that includes turns, thanks to the added braking power of its much bigger brakes and greatly enhanced lateral grip of its 305/35ZR20 Pirelli P Zeros.

2021 Challenger Super Stock vs 2018 Challenger SRT Demon

Unlike the 2018 SRT Demon, the 2021 Challenger Super Stock comes standard with rear passenger seats, and it doesn’t come with a crate full of track only stuff, like tiny front wheels. (But you can delete the rear bench for the same $1 charge that adding it cost on the Demon.)

Specifications-wise, the headline change relative to its Demon forebear is the 1-horse/10-pound-foot drop in engine output from the Demon’s 808 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 717 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm (on 91 octane fuel—it was rated 840/770 on 100-plus-octane racing fuel) to 807 hp at 6,400 rpm and 707 lb-ft at 4,500 rpm. This raises the question as to whether dynamometers are precise enough to reliably distinguish this 0.1-percent power and 1.2-percent torque difference, or if instead the new car’s ratings are actually just a courtesy downgrade to ensure future Demon auction pricing.

Scrutinizing the spec sheets further we notice that Dodge/SRT pegs the overall air-flow rate at 1,130 cubic feet per minute, down from the Demon’s 1,150 CFM. (That 1.7-percent drop in air flow is hard to square with output ratings that drop by less than that amount.) And finally, we notice that the coolant capacity increases from 14 to 15 quarts, which has to help the Super Stock keep its cool on those intense quarter-mile sprints.

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