Shortly after deliveries of the Dodge Challenger SRT® Demon 170 began, a video surfaced online showing a Tesla Model S Plaid beating the Mopar® muscle car pretty handily. The Tesla was driven by Brooks of the DragTimes YouTube channel, while the SRT Demon 170 was driven by Paul from the Racer X YouTube channel, but many people saw issues with that comparison, one of whom was Herman Young – the Dodge Challenger racer better known as Demonology.
The issue with that first video of the DragTimes Tesla beating the Racer X SRT Demon 170, is that at one point, Brooks points out that his Tesla had pulled three straight 1.49 60-foot times and he speculated that it would be another 9.4 run (the Tesla actually ran 9.38 and 9.39). Although few Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170s had been delivered and gotten to the track at that point, those who had were easily able to run in the low-9s, if not in the high-8s. Also, SRT Demon 170 owners have found that pulling a short time better than 1.49 doesn’t take much practice, so it was widely expected that a better driver in an SRT Demon 170 would put up a much better fight.
Well, as it turns out, that “better driver” is the man behind the Demonology YouTube channel, who may be the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon owner who has made the most track passes since the cars came to market. His YouTube channel is packed with footage of him beating all sorts of competition with his 2018 SRT Demon, but he recently took delivery of his 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. In seeing the issues with that initial 170-vs.-Plaid video, he reached out to another well-known YouTuber with a Tesla Model S Plaid – Chris from the Texas Racing Channel. Chris agreed to come out to the Texas Motorplex for a couple head-to-head runs with the Demonology SRT Demon 170.
The video begins with a look back at the initial race between the DragTimes and Racer X cars, followed by a portion where Demonology puts out a call for influences to come race against him at the YouTubers Vs. The World event scheduled for April 13. He also puts out an offer to teach other SRT Demon 170 owners how to handle their cars, before we go along with him for a trip to Summit for new tires for his Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. After a quick clip of a burnout and a look at the gentleman who installed the new Mickey Thompson drag radials on the Demonology car, it was time for the track action.
For the first race, Demonology used a foot-brake launch method, so he was not using the TransBrake feature of the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. Using that approach, he did a pretty nice wheelie, jumped out to a huge lead and continued to pull away through the end of the 8th mile race. For the second race, Demonology pulled some power using the on-board launch control tuning system and used the TransBrake, so he didn’t do as big of a wheelie, nor did he get out to as big of a lead on the line, but once again, he was still ahead and pulling away at the 8th mile mark.
Finally, on the third run, he put the power levels back up and used the TransBrake once again. On this run, the wheelie wasn’t as big as the first run, but once again, Demonology and his SRT Demon 170 quickly pulled away early in the race. Even as they crossed the 8th mile finish line, the Dodge Challenger was still pulling away from the Tesla Model S Plaid.
“The first past, I footbraked the car to make sure the tires didn’t spin because the track wasn’t that tight. The second and third passes, I used the technology from the Demon 170, TransBrake, and pulling torque at 05. And 1.0,” said Demonology. “This worked perfectly. By removing torque, the car was able to hook and book without spinning.”
After the third run, Demonology shared his time slip info, revealing a 1.296 60-foot time and an 8th mile of 5.937 at 116.79 miles per hour. Using an 8th mile to quarter-mile calculator, that translates to a 9.26 in the quarter-mile. Demonology then compares one of his better time slips against the slip from the DragTimes run against Racer X. Demonology’s slip shows a 1.255 60-foot time, an 8th mile of 5.843 at 118.09 miles per hour and a quarter-mile time of 9.185 at 146.15 miles per hour. On the other hand, when the DragTimes Plaid beat the Racer X SRT Demon 170 in their best race, the Tesla ran a 9.38 at 146.81 miles per hour with a 1.492 60-foot time and an 8th mile of 6.059 at 118.76 miles per hour. On that losing run, the Racer X SRT Demon 170 ran a 9.70 with a 1.568 short time – numbers which have been beaten by many SRT Demon 170 owners who have spent time at the track.
In short, Demonology shows that the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, with a skilled driver, is definitely a Plaid Killer.