The Highest Torque Ever In A Production Muscle Car

When enthusiasts debate the greatest muscle cars ever built, the conversation almost always circles back to one number: torque. Horsepower grabs headlines, but it’s the low-end twist — that gut-punch of rotational force available before the tachometer even gets interesting — that defines what a muscle car truly feels like. These are the machines that rewrote the record books, and their torque figures still read like fiction.

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The age-old argument about whether horsepower matters more than torque is ultimately a false choice, because a true muscle car demands both. When you study an engine’s power graph, the torque and horsepower curves intersect at exactly 5,252 rpm — torque leads up to that point, and horsepower takes over beyond it.

One production American muscle car stands head and shoulders above all others when it comes to low-end torque. Despite its competitors being some of the coolest and most powerful muscle cars ever made, regardless of whether we look at natural aspiration or forced induction, none of them come close to the sheer twist this car produces.

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 Out-Torques Its Competitors

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When it comes to muscle cars, the brawnier the better — and they don’t come much brawnier than the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, with a supercharged V8 that puts out 1,025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque, courtesy of a 3.0-liter supercharger pushing 21.3 pounds of boost.

There is a catch to that demonic power output, though — those figures are rated on E85 fuel. Switch to 91 octane, and they drop to a still-formidable 900 hp and 810 lb-ft.

The SRT Demon 170 is a noticeable step up from the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye family. For context, the next rung down the ladder — the SRT Super Stock — uses the same 6.2-liter supercharged V8 and makes 807 hp and 707 lb-ft of torque. The Demon 170 carried an MSRP of $96,666.

Performance And Specs

To achieve those numbers, the Demon 170’s high-output Hemi powerplant received comprehensive upgrades to every component except the camshaft. It shares DNA with the Direct Connection C170 Hellephant crate engine — that’s where the “170” in the name originates.

The 3.0-liter supercharger is modified from the Direct Connection Hellephant unit to deliver a 40% boost increase over the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody’s 15.3 psi. The 3.02-inch pulley delivers 14% more overdrive and updates the drive ratio to 2.68.

Meanwhile, high-flow fuel injectors deliver 164 gallons of fuel per hour, aided by an increased throttle body diameter that raises air-flow volume by 33%. Cylinder pressure is also increased by 32% compared to the Redeye Widebody.

2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 Fast Facts

• Most powerful muscle car in the world, producing 1,025 horsepower and 945 lb.-ft. of torque
• World’s quickest production car, reaching 0-60 in 1.66 seconds
• Highest G-force acceleration of any production car at 2.004g
• History-first factory muscle car to run 8-second quarter mile (NHRA-certified 8.91-second elapsed time)
• Capable of delivering more fuel flow per minute than the average showerhead delivers water

The 2023 Demon 170 Is Not The First Challenger SRT Demon

Back in 2018, the Challenger SRT Demon proved a considerable enhancement over the Challenger Hellcat, with its 808-hp 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 generating 717 lb-ft of torque. It was stripped down for weekend racers and didn’t even include a front passenger seat.

Priced from $84,995 (including $1,700 gas-guzzler tax), you could push it further by equipping it with a Demon Crate engine that put out 840 hp and 770 lb-ft of torque. That upgrade cost exactly one dollar.

Yes, $1. For another dollar, you could add a front passenger seat; another dollar got you a rear seat; and $1 more got you trunk carpeting. For less than $85,000, you could get a fully functional everyday driver — one that would also lift the front wheels on launch on its way to a 9.65-second quarter mile.

2014 Super Snake Has Second-Highest Torque Ever In A Muscle Car

If you want your production muscle car a little more sedate than the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, or if you’re more of a Ford loyalist, the Shelby Super Snake offers a compelling alternative. The current Shelby Super Snake takes a 760-hp 5.0-liter Coyote supercharged V8 and swaps in a 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger to wring out 830-plus horsepower. However, that still doesn’t come close to the Super Snake from a decade ago.

The 2014 Shelby GT500 Super Snake used a 5.4-liter V8 with a 3.6-liter Kenne Bell supercharger to produce 850 hp and 800 lb-ft of torque, and was capable of clearing the quarter mile in under 11 seconds. Shelby could also tune it beyond 1,000 hp for drag strip use only.

Regarded by many as the greatest Mustang of all time, the 2014 Super Snake commands strong money on the used market and is a worthy runner-up to the Demon 170. As an added incentive, a convertible version was also available.

Performance And Specs

The 2023 COPO Camaro Is A Track-Bred Contender

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The 2023 COPO Camaro Boasts The Biggest Engine Ever Fitted In A Muscle Car

The 10.4-liter V8 crate engine in the COPO Camaro is far from the largest engine in the world, but it’s certainly the biggest GM drops into a car and the largest displacement V8 in America. That’s a major plus for anyone who believes you can never go too big or too powerful. The significant downside is that the car isn’t street legal, which means it takes a back seat to the Challenger SRT Demon 170 in more ways than just torque.

COPO stands for Central Office Production Order, and it was an ordering strategy first exploited in 1969 by Pennsylvania’s Yenko Chevrolet, bypassing the dealer’s order sheet to source engines larger than GM’s mandated 400 cid — and by extension more power — into the pony car.

The 1,000-plus 1969 Camaros built were theoretically one-off vehicles that are heavily in demand today, selling at an average of $162,000 according to Classic.com. In 2011, Chevrolet introduced a COPO Camaro concept at the SEMA aftermarket show, and the special-order Camaros became an anticipated fixture for subsequent model years.

Performance And Specs

Chevrolet promotes the COPO Camaro through its sites and dealerships but remains reticent to divulge performance specs, primarily to emphasize that the model is not street legal — it is sold without a title and without a VIN. Pricing has landed in the $130,000–$140,000 range, and the 1,004-hp car has been valued at around $141,900, with at least one recent sale reaching $175,800.

By comparison, a Hennessey 1,000-hp Camaro launches from zero to 60 mph in under 3 seconds, and uncertified quarter-mile times hover around the 8-second mark. The NHRA will not certify the car.

In this company, its 876 lb-ft of torque makes it a close competitor to both the Dodge and the Shelby — and of the three, it is undoubtedly the most powerful muscle car you can’t drive every day.

Sources: Dodge, Chevrolet, Classic.com, Shelby.