What Does The '170' On A Dodge Demon Mean?

There are all sorts of great names in Dodge's history. Fun vehicle names like the Dart, Hornet, and Viper are just a few of the most recognizable, but then there's the Hellcat family of vehicles (all connected via their supercharged V8), and of course, the Challenger and Charger, two of the most iconic models in automotive history. Dig down a bit further, and there are even more fun naming conventions like Scat Pack, a riff on the famous singing Rat Pack. Where some brands rely heavily on alphanumeric combinations or numbers alone for their model naming conventions, Dodge seems to have a bit of fun while they're coming up with vehicle names. 

On one of the final Hellcat-powered versions of the Dodge Challenger, the car suddenly switched to numbers for the Challenger Demon 170. Demon is a name that dates back to the 1970s, but what about that 170? It certainly isn't representative of horsepower. And with the Challenger SRT Demon rocking a 6.2-liter engine, it's definitely not cubic inches either (170 cubic inches would be about 2.8 liters). 

So what does the 170 in the lengthy "Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170" name stand for? It's actually a reference to alcohol, or at least to the alcohol content in the fuel. The number 170 is a reference to the 85 percent ethanol content required to unlock the vehicle's full horsepower potential: 170-proof corn-based fuel.

The Dodge Demon 170 put out a whopping 1,025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque via a massive 6.2-liter V8 with a 3.0-liter supercharger on top. Even with all that displacement and forced induction, though, the Demon required special E85 ethanol fuel to reach its peak power numbers. On E10 fuel, the Demon 170 would make 900 hp and 810 lb-ft, which are still some pretty serious numbers, but the full four-digit power output makes for better headlines and better acceleration.

According to Dodge, with the full power unlocked, the Demon 170 was capable of rocketing from zero to 60 mph in 1.66 seconds, generating over 2Gs of acceleration force and blasting through the quarter-mile marker in 8.91 seconds at 151.17 mph. That's so fast that the NHRA requires a safety cage and a parachute for Demons that go racing in NHRA drag-strip events. On top of being so fast it's "banned" from NHRA racing without safety modifications, there's a second connection worth noting for the Demon 170's name. The Demon 170's engine used the same basic construction as crate motors from Direct Connection-branded Hellephant C170s, so co-branding them helped make the racing connection.