News
Dodge “Demon” looks to dethrone Tesla’s title for “quickest production car” in the world
Tesla sent shock waves through the automotive world in February when Motor Trend crowned the Model S P100D the quickest production car in the world after a 2.28 second run to 60 miles per hour. Do a few hundredths of a second really matter? In the real world, no. But in terms of image, they matter a great deal. Tesla garnered an enormous amount of valuable publicity from the Motor Trend story, and subsequently many 1/4 mile world records being set in a P100D.
Dodge has now responded to the marker laid down by Tesla. Starting this fall, it will offer a special edition of the Dodge Challenger SRT called the “Demon”. Dodge says it can scamper to the magic 60 mile per hour mark in 2.1 seconds, which will allow it to claim the title of quickest production car in the world.
The Demon features a great honking beast of a V8 engine topped with an enormous supercharger and compound intercooling. The Demon engine has 808 horsepower and 717 lb-ft of torque when running on 91 octane pump gas. Put 100+ octane racing fuel in the tank and it’s capable of 840 hp and 770 lb-ft of torque. There’s a big button on the dash the driver can push to change the engine mapping in order to extract maximum power from the racing gas.
The Demon comes from the factory with a driver’s seat and a two speaker stereo. It has almost no sound insulation and no carpeting. The car has smaller brakes and hollow antiroll bars to save weight. If the customer really needs a passenger seat, one can be added for $1 when the order is placed ($1,160 if purchased later). A back seat is available for another $1. A 19-speaker sound system can also be specified.
The Demon is the result of a two year campaign by a small team of 25 Dodge engineers. Compared to the engine in the Hellcat, the Demon’s power plant has 97 new parts including a new crankshaft, new connecting rods, new pistons, a new steel camshaft, and a new valve train. A larger supercharger is fitted and boost pressure is raised from 11.6 psi to 14.5 psi. The engineers also altered the software that controls the eight speed automatic transmission to add a transbrake function. In Drag mode, it allows the engine to build power while the car remains stationary until a flick of the paddle shifter unleashes the beast.
-
- Credit: Dodge
Photo credit: Motor Trend
“Sometimes you need to ignore the data, disregard the focus groups, and build a car that can define itself,” says Dodge President Tim Kuniskis. “A lot of halos don’t have the greatest business cases.” The halo effect the Hellcat did not go unnoticed in the Dodge board room. While sales of the Hellcat were minimal, orders for the Scat Pack, a special appearance package comprised of stripes, stickers and decals, exploded. 17% of Dodge Challenger buyers now opt for the Scat Pack, an idea that harks back to the muscle car days of the 1960’s.
The Dodge Demon may be a production car, but its numbers will be limited. Only 3,300 will be built — 3,000 for the US market and 300 for Canada. It is definitely intended for serious racers. It can be ordered with The Crate, a box full of go fast goodies that fits in the trunk and includes skinny wheels and tires for the front end on track day. It also contains a special air filter, a tire pressure gauge, and a leather bound manual with tips on how to go drag racing and pages to record data from each run.
There is no doubt the Dodge Demon is an awesome car with brutal acceleration. Its 0-60 run in 2.1 seconds has been verified. But as Motor Trend points out, that feat was achieved at a drag strip, where years of racing have coated the track surface with sticky rubber. The Tesla Model S P100D record was achieved on a public road. The Model S also seats 5 in supreme comfort and is just as happy taking the family to Easter dinner as it is performing banzai runs to 60. The Models S is also a zero emissions vehicle. The Dodge Demon? Not so much.
Still, bragging rights are all about one thing — being quicker than the other guy. Once the Demon hits the streets, we can expect P100D drivers to challenge the new Challenger. Let the Dodge Demon versus Model S drag racing videos begin!
After launching in Austin, Texas, last week, Tesla is looking to expand the Cybercab to new parts of the United States in an effort that will see the driverless, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less vehicle chauffeur people around as part of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service.
However, the expansion will go far beyond the United States, and CEO Elon Musk revealed he hopes Europe will be the next market where Cybercab will be operational.
Musk has publicly expressed hope that Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi will reach Europe in the near future.
On September 8, Tesla’s Chief Executive quoted a German rider who had just completed a trip in Austin, Texas, and wrote that he hoped the vehicle would not take years to arrive in Germany. Musk replied with a short but notable message: “Hopefully soon in Europe too.”
Hopefully soon in Europe too https://t.co/vqQ69bLJuN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2026
The comment arrived only days after Tesla opened Cybercab ride-hailing to the public in Austin. The two-seat vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and relies entirely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. Early passengers have described the rides as quiet, smooth, and more stylish than competing robotaxis such as Waymo.
Austin is currently the only city where members of the public can hail a Cybercab through Tesla’s Robotaxi app. The initial fleet is small; Texas registration records show only a few dozen of the purpose-built vehicles on the road.
Tesla set to open Cybercab rides to the public, with no steering wheel or pedals
Tesla has also been operating a larger number of conventional Model Y robotaxis in the same area, but the Cybercab itself represents the company’s first dedicated, controls-free taxi design.
Europe presents a different regulatory picture. The European Union does not permit manufacturers to self-certify vehicles the way Tesla did in the United States.
Type-approval rules and a small-series limit of 1,500 automated vehicles per type per year apply across the bloc.
Supervised Full Self-Driving has gained provisional approval in several member states through national recognition of Dutch certification, yet unsupervised robotaxi operation remains a separate and more distant step. Tesla has not announced a European launch city, date, or approval pathway for the Cybercab.
Musk himself has previously cautioned that the company does not control European regulators. In an earnings call earlier in 2026, he noted that even supervised FSD took an “immense amount of time” to clear and that unsupervised service would be “somewhat at the mercy of the governments in Europe and the EU.”
The latest social-media remark therefore functions more as an expression of intent than a timetable.
If the Cybercab eventually reaches European streets, it would mark a significant expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions beyond the United States. For now, the vehicle remains an Austin-only experience, and the gap between Musk’s hope and actual deployment will be decided by regulators rather than by engineering alone.
Tesla Cybercab might have just rolled out to the public as it entered the company’s Robotaxi suite in Austin this past week. However, the vehicle might already be on its way to becoming even better, as the company is asking riders to describe what they’d like to see improved with the Cybercab.
Tesla sent a rider experience survey to Cybercab passengers only days after paid rides began in Austin. The questionnaire asks how satisfied riders were with the overall trip. Then it requests star ratings for availability and wait time, door functionality, vehicle touchscreen, mobile app experience, seat comfort, interior space, ride comfort, cleanliness, and cargo space.
A later section asks which features riders would most like to have and allows selection of up to three items from a list that includes heated seats, ventilated seats, fully reclining seats, a tray table, a wireless phone charger, a better sound system, and more storage. Respondents may also choose none of these or write in another idea. The survey closes with a recommendation score from zero to ten.
Tesla just sent out a Cybercab rider experience survey so you can give feedback to the team. pic.twitter.com/YsU5OYdAjW
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 8, 2026
This rapid request for input illustrates Tesla’s habit of treating early users as collaborators rather than mere customers. The company has long refined vehicles through software updates and hardware changes informed by real-world use across its passenger cars.
Collecting structured opinions so soon after commercial service started shows the same mindset applied to a purpose-built autonomous taxi. The questions themselves reveal an openness to cabin changes even after the first vehicles reached public streets, which is no surprise.
Tesla has always hoped to cater a great experience to anyone in its vehicles, which is why so many fan-requested features have made it into its vehicles.
Replies already circulating online favor reclining seats, tray tables, wireless charging, improved audio, and extra room when seats fold back.
Tesla Cybercabs narrowly miss deadly Amazon cargo plane crash
Those preferences point toward comfort upgrades that Tesla can implement in later production batches or through cabin revisions. Because the Cybercab is designed around software first principles, many requested amenities can arrive faster than in traditional automakers.
Tesla’s willingness to survey riders immediately after launch therefore makes near-term cabin and experience improvements likely as the team reviews responses and iterates toward a more refined robotaxi people will choose daily.
Tesla Cybertruck Lead Engineer Wes Morrill revealed the company has made several changes to the all-electric pickup, which he calls a “living thing, constantly evolving and improving.”
Cybertruck is manufactured at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas just outside of Austin, and over the past few years, Tesla has continued to make small changes to the pickup to improve everything from cost, reliability, serviceablility, and manufacturability.
“The finish line isn’t getting to production. A product is a living thing, constantly evolving and improving,” Morrill added.
RELATED:
Tesla Cybertruck AWD is a steal at $60k, is it still at $75k? Full Review
Some of those changes are yet to be revealed, but perhaps the most notable one was the change Tesla made to the aero shield that sits underneath the truck. In the past, it was aluminum, but now the Cybertruck is using a self-reinforcing polypropylene.
Morrill said that the polypropylene is “stretched into fibers and then laminated into the form,” and is much more durable, much lighter, and significantly cheaper than aluminum when it is manufactured this way.
It also enabled some improvements in the geometry of the Cybertruck, improving the manufacturing around the bolts and edges, in addition to minor form changes. These all benefitted the Cybertruck in more ways than one: specifically with durability and improved drag.
I was surprised by how interested people were to find out we made a relatively benign change to the Cybertruck aero shield, a part of the car most people never even see. So I’ll share some more details.
Here are two photos, the left is one of the latest trucks off the… pic.twitter.com/F5cZo2CZKf
— Wes (@wmorrill3) September 7, 2026
Typically, Teslas are not necessarily identified by model year because these changes are fluid and occur when the company sees fit to implement them. It is not like other automotive companies, which usually make sweeping manufacturing changes when building a new model year.
Instead, Teslas are recognized by their “generation” or “era.” For example, those with a newer Model Y might refer to their car as a “Juniper.” This is the same with Model 3, as many refer to the new body style as the “Highland.”
Tesla’s manufacturing changes are proof of the company’s constant need to improve its products and move things forward with its vehicles. There is no need to drag one’s feet and wait until next year if the product can be made better right now, and that’s precisely what Tesla did with the Cybertruck.
Elon Musk hints at Tesla Cybercab’s next market
Tesla Cybercab improvements are already on the minds of company engineers
