Challenger SRT Hellcat

Make
Dodge
Segment
Coupe

We've seen it before but it never really gets old. Of course, we're talking about the sight of a Tesla luxury sedan quietly demolishing a high-powered sports car off the line. In the latest drag strip battle, the guys from DragTimes wanted to see what happened when a Tesla Model S Performance (Raven) went up against a stock Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody.

The latter's 6.2-liter supercharged V8 is good for 797 horsepower and over 700 lb-ft of torque, while according to the video, the Model S Performance counters that with 588 hp and 920 lb-ft of torque to the wheels, courtesy of its dual-electric-motor powertrain. Officially claimed times show the Model S Performance to be a second quicker to 60 (2.4 versus 3.4 seconds), but what would that mean for the quarter-mile test here as we know that gas tends to rein in electric power as speeds climb?

The race took place at the Texas Motorplex and three separate runs were recorded. The first race gets going at the 07:50 mark and the Tesla, on its standard 19-inch tires, absolutely flies off the mark to clear the quarter-mile in just 10.6 seconds, with the Challenger managing an 11.3-second time. A view from the back as the race started clearly displayed the Hellcat's traction disadvantage as it battled for grip with all that power going to the rear wheels only. The Model S had no such problems and a super smooth getaway by comparison.

In the second race, the Tesla once again gets its nose in front but this time, the Hellcat got off to a much better start and beat the Model S by a whisker (10.6 to 10.7 seconds). The third race was a bust.

Clearly, if the Hellcat gets a good start, its sheer power allows it to claw back the early advantage of the Model S, which consistently gets off to clean, drama-free starts. Still, it's another remarkable display from the EV car, which even diehard gearheads will have to admit has some serious performance cars befuddled with its instantly available power and torque off the line. Considering that each car won one completed race, we're giving a 2-1 victory to the Hellcat because of that epic V8 exhaust note.