The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170's Factory Parachute Is Even Sicker in Person

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 is a world-beater on the drag strip. Its 1,025 horsepower and super sticky Mickey Thompson tires help it get from 0-60 in just 1.66 seconds, and it’ll finish the quarter mile in just 8.91 seconds – making it the first 8-second production car in history.

It’s so fast that the Demon 170 was actually banned by the NHRA since it lacked both a parachute and a roll cage. But, don’t worry. Dodge – through its in-house performance parts division, Direct Connection – will sell you an actual parachute you can rig up to your Demon 170. We knew this when the Demon 170 was first announced, and it’s been available on the regular Demon, but seeing it in person puts in perspective how wild it really is.

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The whole kit is made up primarily of two things: the lever and the chute itself. Inside the car, the very beefy lever with “Direct Connection” cut into the side is mounted on the passenger side of the center console. At first it looks a lot like an e-brake on a drift car, but then you realize there is no way anyone would drift this thing.

I really wanted to give it a nice lil’ tug, but the folks over at Dodge wouldn’t let me. In fact, they wouldn’t even let me sit in the car! Alas, I had to look at it from afar through a window. I’m sure it would have felt manly as hell to pull it.

The back of the Demon 170 is where we find the business end of the parachute. It’s mounted to the car with what can only really be described as a contraption. The chute has to be mounted to the frame of the Demon 170, because if it wasn’t, whatever it was mounted to would rip off as it deploys. That’s not ideal for anyone. So, the parachute is mounted right where the rear license plate is set, but don’t worry. Jeep came up with a solution. The automaker put the rear plate on a hinge like an old B-body GM product, and the chute’s bracket is mounted up inside that hole.

You can’t just drive around with a parachute popping out of the back of your car, so it makes sense that it’s removable.

Almost everything about the Demon 170 is wild, so having a functional parachute sticking right out the back is just icing on the cake.

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