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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced Tuesday that its long-awaited 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye muscle car has entered production at its Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada.
The Redeye is built in the same facility from which the 840-horsepower, 3,300-unit, 2018 model-year-only SRT Demon rolled. Though the Redeye almost snapped the neck of The Drive‘s Chief Auto Critic Lawrence Ulrich with its 797 horsepower and 707 pound-feet of torque, the Redeye comes in 43 hp short of last year’s Demon, despite near-identical engines. Almost all that’s missing from the Redeye’s 6.2-liter Hemi V8 with a 2.7-liter positive displacement supercharger is the engine mapping for use with 100-and-change-octane gas, which we’re certain the aftermarket will figure out…Provided FCA isn’t planning to sell its own upgrade kit, that is.
All of the Redeye’s grunt means 0-to-60 in 3.4 seconds, a standing quarter mile in 10.8 seconds at 131 miles per hour, and if you’re racing on a long enough runway, you can spur the Redeye on to a top speed of 203 mph, the same as a de-limited Demon.
Other features include a hood with fully-functional dual snorkels and altered Hellcat fender badges with a gleaming red eye that reappears on the supercharger housing, key fobs, and instrument panel with a speedometer that goes up to 220 mph. Again, we can imagine the aftermarket making use of that extra room on the speedometer.
FCA promises that deliveries of the Redeye to dealers are promised to start this fall. Pricing starts at $69,650, plus a $1,395 delivery fee and $1,700 gas-guzzler tax. Non-Redeye 2019 Hellcats start more than $5,000 cheaper than 2018 models, at $58,650, and they come with a 10-horsepower boost over last year’s model. If there was ever a time to buy into a Hellcat, it’s now.
