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Dodge Demon exorcised by Rhys Millen in new video

When you call your car something like the Demon, it provides plenty of opportunity to play around with the name Í— especially when said car has 840 horsepower directed to the rear wheels. Pennzoil is doing just that in the above video, called "Exorcising the Demon." In it, Rhys Millen tears up the streets of Pittsburgh at night in a black and yellow Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, smoking tires, popping wheelies and breaking the rear end loose in massive drifts around corners. He even pulls a pretty hairy 360. It's certainly a lot different sort of driving from the straight-line drag-strip experience for which the Dodge Demon was purpose-built. At the end of the video, Millen parks the car below a gargoyle, whose eyes briefly glow a menacing red. Millen sends a text message saying "The Demon is back in its place." The response: "Das good. How are you in the Ring?" (Hmm.) Then the clip ends, and we're told the story will be continued. If you don't want to wait for more cinematic Demon action, you can check out Pennzoil's behind-the-scenes video, called, "Unleashing Unprecedented Power." In it, we get to see more angles of the stunt driving, hear about the production, and, of course, get a plug for Pennzoil: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Pennzoil also offers a few other Dodge Demon videos, one about the car's development, one about its performance, and a third focused on Pennzoil Synthetics. Earlier this year, Pennzoil also did a similar video series to bid farewell to the Dodge Viper. Related Video: News Source: Pennzoil Dodge Coupe Performance Videos dodge demon dodge challenger srt demon pennzoil

Watch these Dodge Demons explode on a Texas drag strip

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is extremely quick. It can hit 60 mph from a dead stop in less time than it takes to read this sentence thanks to its supercharged 6.2-liter V8. That engine makes up to 840 horsepower and 770 pound-feet of torque, depending on what octane is running through the fuel lines. That's a ton of power going solely to the rear wheels. So much so that Dodge developed a number of features and a new set of tires specifically for the car. In our time with the Demon, the car took abuse run after run on a drag strip without skipping a beat, but it seems some actual owners aren't quite so lucky. Just take a look at what happened to a few of these cars. You can see the whole car shake and jitter right as the whole rear explodes in front of the tree. It seems the initial shock from the launch — the most taxing bit of any drag run — is what kills the differentials. Catastrophic failure is rarely pretty, but it is neat to see the whole thing occur in slow motion. Three more cars — four stock and one modified in total — suffered similar fates. Not a great look for Dodge or SRT. According to The Drive, a private drag event in Texas drew a number of Demon owners all trying to beat NHRA NHRA Top Fuel racer Leah Pritchett's time in her personal Dodge Demon — 42 stock Demons attended along with five modified cars. While no one managed to match her 9.65-second quarter-mile run, a few owners did dip below 10 seconds. Now, there are a few of caveats we must address. First, with any modified car, you run the risk of breaking something, even with a car that's set up from stock specifically for drag strips. Even a set of tires like the Mickey Thompsons shown in the video above can have an effect on driveline components. Horsepower may be king, but it's torque that's the rear killer. All that torque sends a shock through the car. Adding even more with aftermarket parts increases the risk of something failing. The modified car was apparently pushing out about 1,000 horsepower. That said, four of the five vehicles were stock, so any extra power or torque should theoretically be a non-factor. The drag strip's surface was maintained by a company called Mass Traction. FCA used Mass Traction during the Demon's development, so that too should be a non-factor in the part's failure. It's unclear what exactly caused the failures, though The Drive reports that FCA officials are investigating the matter. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.

MotorWeek revisits the awesome, original Dodge Viper

MotorWeek is bringing the automotive world a wonderful blast from the past with its latest Retro Review. Not only does the video feature the now-famous, original Dodge Viper, but this is also a chance to watch one lapping Pocono International Raceway in a test of track prowess. This segment was MotorWeek's first chance to unleash the Viper around a racecourse, and the show took advantage of the opportunity. In addition to the usual 0-60 mph and quarter-mile tests, the 400-horsepower V10 is let loose to do lap after lap. The clip offers a great dose of nostalgia and is worth a watch to remember the intense enthusiasm surrounding the Viper at the time.