On the eve of the 2021 Woodward Dream Cruise, the Modern Street HEMI^® Shootout series came roaring into Milan Dragway for their annual – and incredible – HemiNsanity event. The MSHS is the preferred racing series for pretty much all of the top drag racers with modern HEMI engine power and in the past few years, the HemiNsanity crowd has gotten to see the quickest examples of the SRT^® Hellcat-powered machines. The Epling 007 SRT Hellcat Challenger and Kevin Helmick’s Grmpycat SRT Hellcat Challenger have competed at HemiNsanity in the past, as have the world’s quickest SRT Hellcat Durango, Ram TRX and Jeep_® Grand Cherokees.

It is a great series that is clearly dedicated to the racers and that draws competitors from all over the United States and Canada. For HemiNsanity 2022, Zdung Ho brought his Go Mango Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat all the way from Texas, giving the spectators in Michigan a chance to see the world’s quickest SRT Hellcat sedan in action.

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Due to a handful of variables, including the heat in Michigan and the fact that he had to add weight for the Heavyweight class, he didn’t break any of his own records, he won the class and put on a great show in the process. Ho also pointed out that when trying to run record numbers, the car is put under even greater strain than usual. His goal was to have fun, meet other modern Mopar_® racers and not break the car so far from home, so he was going a bit easier on the car than when he is running well into the 7s. However, he did shoot for a 7-second run at HemiNsanity during the King of the Hill shootout at the end of the event, but the track wouldn’t hold and he spun the tires.

The video below shows one of his time trial runs and at the end, you will notice that there is no elapsed time on the big board at the top end of the track. The MSHS Heavyweight class is a “no time” class, with all of the drivers racing heads-up and all that matters is who gets to the finish line first and that all of the cars meet the minimum weight requirement. The minimum weight for this nitrous-fed Charger with an aftermarket supercharger is 4,500 pounds, with Zdung tipping the scales at 4,540 in Michigan. Ho explained that during time trials, he was running supercharger only – no nitrous oxide – and was in the 8.40 range in the quarter-mile. He tried to add the nitrous later on in the day, but the track wouldn’t hold the extra power and he went slower, but he still won the Heavyweight class at HemiNSanity.

Today, we bring you a look at what goes into transforming an 11-second Dodge Charger into the world’s quickest SRT Hellcat sedan.

A Subtle Appearance

It is hard to call a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat a “sleeper”, as it is one of the most recognizable American high-performance models of all time, but from most angles, it looks more like a stock sedan than a 7-second street beast. If not for the wheels and parachute, Zdung Ho’s Charger wouldn’t really stand out at the average Cars and Coffee. Unlike many of the quickest SRT Hellcat racers, who have swapped to lightweight body panels that present an obvious race-ready look, the body of this Charger looks pretty much the same as it did when it rolled off of the Brampton Assembly line in Canada. The front fascia, hood and rear spoiler – all of which are often modified when building a 7-second drag car – are factory stock.

In fact, if Ho were to remove the parachute bracket that is mounted through the license plate and install a set of stock wheels and tires, the only exterior differences from a fully stock SRT Hellcat Charger would be the stickers and the lack of exhaust tips. This car is as close to stock appearance as possible for a 7-second sedan.

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When you look inside, this Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat has the safety items required of a 7-second car, but Zdung Ho still has the factory dashboard, including the infotainment screen, the factory center console, the factory shifter, the factory steering wheel, the factory door panels and even the factory rear seat – although he pointed out that when there is no minimum weight, he removes the rear seat at the track for a racing weight of around 4,400 pounds. The key changes inside are the Kirkey driver and front passenger seat, the elaborate roll cage, a few gauges on the A-pillar, the pull handle for the parachute and a custom-mounted screen that is used to access the engine management system.

That being said, anyone who looks at this car at the track and expects it to be another 9- or 10-second SRT Hellcat car is sure to quickly be put in their place when they line up.

Self-Tuning Wizard

Before we get into the details on this Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, we should point out that Zdung Ho handles all of his own engine and transmission tuning. For the top tuners in the SRT Hellcat world, that isn’t unusual, and at this point, Z is one of the most respected tuners in the community. However, prior to getting his SRT Hellcat back in 2016, Ho had never tuned a car before. He worked as a software engineer in the field of enterprise data analytics, but being computer savvy, he tried his hand at tuning his then-new Go Mango Dodge Charger.

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It didn’t take Zdung Ho very long to get his Dodge Charger into the spotlight, as he quickly built his car to be one of the quicker SRT Hellcat sedans in the community. As time went on, he learned more about tuning and continued to build the car, eventually becoming the first SRT Hellcat Charger to run in the 8-second range. Since becoming the first SRT Hellcat Charger in the 8s, Ho’s Go Mango rocket has held the record for the quickest SRT Hellcat sedan in the world and back in May 2021, this big Dodge was the first of its kind to run a 7-second quarter-mile. Today, he has run a best quarter-mile time of 7.729 at 178.83 miles per hour with a near-stock appearance inside and out.

Since tuning is such a key aspect of going fast in an SRT Hellcat car, the fact that Zdung Ho was tuning his car himself quickly spread throughout the community. His obvious expertise led him to eventually leave his career in the information technology field to start ZHTunes, which is now responsible for providing high-performance engine tunes for many more lightning-quick SRT Hellcat-powered vehicles.

The Record-Setting Build

In stock form, this Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat had a 6.2-liter/376-cubic-inch Gen III HEMI engine that delivered 707 horsepower, 650 lb-ft of torque and the ability to run in the high-10-second range with drag radials.

Today, Ho’s Charger packs well over a thousand horsepower thanks to a 441-cubic-inch Gen III HEMI engine, built by Demon Performance and TKM. This engine has the best high-performance parts on the market, including a Winberg billet crankshaft, Carrillo Pro-H Rods, custom Diamond pistons, a custom Demon Performance camshaft, a Manton Roller Rocker System, Stainless Works longtube headers, Nitrous Outlet intake spacer plates, ThiTek custom cylinder heads and a ported Gen V Whipple 3.0-liter supercharger.

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Another unique aspect of this Dodge Charger is that Ho is still running the factory ZF 8HP90 automatic transmission whereas many of the record-setting SRT Hellcat racers are running a non-factory style transmission. The 8HP90 in this Charger has been built by Paramount Performance to handle all of the power, with all of that power being sent to the rear wheels by means of Driveshaft Shop 1,400hp half shafts, a Driveshaft Shop aluminum driveshaft and a Per4Mance Development DIRS brace on the factory differential with help from a Menscer coil-over suspension setup. He is also still running the factory independent rear suspension setup with upgrades from Menscer and BMR.

You read that right – Zdung Ho is sending enough power to the ground to move a 4,000+ pound Charger down the quarter-mile in 7.7 seconds with the factory differential and 3.09 gears, serving as an excellent endorsement for the Per4Mance Development differential brace. Many SRT Hellcat racers running much slower times have broken differentials, but the performance of this Charger shows how durable they can be with a simple reinforcement upgrade.

The final key upgrades are a TCE 15-inch rear brake conversion that makes room for the High Horse Performance / Bogart 15″ beadlock wheels wrapped in 315/60 Mickey Thompson pro radials with matching lightweight skinnies up front.

Again, for those who missed it above, this Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat as it sits in the images here has run a best quarter-mile time of 7.72 at 178.83 miles per hour with the nitrous and without it, this is a consistent low-8-second car – all while preserving a relatively factory-like appearance inside and out. This car has been the quickest Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the world in a few years and right now, there doesn’t appear to be any real competitors on the horizon, so Zdung Ho is likely to remain the owner, driver and tuner of the world’s quickest SRT Hellcat sedan well into the future.