The Hidden Meaning In All of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Teasers

This was the first out and out hint, though it looked like nonsense to us. We made a call to Dodge with the hope of getting some answers, but the automaker was tight lipped. We ruled out some things - quarter-mile time, horsepower, boost - but it didn't get us any closer to the truth.

The Demon is the first production car capable of doing a wheelie. #2576@35 refers to the 2,576 pounds of weight transfer to the rear wheels and the 35 inches the car travels with the front wheels in the air. If told us you guessed this, we're not sure we'd believe you.

This one is a mix of easy and difficult to decipher. Tom Coddington was one of the original Ramchargers, a group of Chrysler engineers who helped cement the Mopar name in the hearts of enthusiasts. That one we got. It's a nod to the small team that developed the new car.

The numbers 0757 and VIN001121 weren't so easy. This was the first appearance of 757, something that would come back later on. 001121 is supposed to be a date, 11/21, or November 21. That's the date the Demon set its 9.65-second quarter-mile run. Inside baseball kind of stuff and again, not guessable.

This is the teaser that first showed off the Demon's Drag Mode. It also gave us yet another equation that we failed to solve. As Tim Kuniskis said in the press conference last night, adults have done more math than they have since senior year of high school. He's not totally off base.

13.5=575@500 was another cryptic equation. At 13.5 mph, the Demon reaches peak acceleration of 57.5 feet per second squared, all in just .500 seconds. But you knew that.

If we're honest, this one is a bit of a stretch on the part of Dodge. The number 757 appeared back in the crate teaser, and it's the time in the performance pages teaser. We thought since the Hellcat makes 707 horsepower, the Demon might make 757. An extra 50 horsepower is a nice, round number.

That was wrong. It apparently means that the Demon will make more than 757 horsepower. Specifically, 808 or 840, depending on the fuel you use. Yes, it's more than 757, but so are 758, 808, and 840.

More math! Hooray! 

"No Pills" introduced us to the Demon's supercharger pre-fill system, called torque reserve. The engine can build boost, even at a standstill. The equation here, 3.9+221=405, is just as straightforward as the others.

3.9 psi of extra boost at launch gives the demon 221 extra pound-feet of torque for a total of 405 off the line. Simple stuff. Maybe it was that equals sign that was throwing you off.

Here the Demon shows off its TransBrake system that holds the transmission output shaft and triggers a launch with the shift paddle. At this point, we'd given up trying to decipher the codes. And anyway, there was no way of confirming if we were even on the right track.

This one ties into the previous equation. When you combine the TransBrake and torque reserve system, you get 8.3 psi of boost at launch for an additional 317 pound-feet of torque, all for a total of 534. From a standstill. Which is kind of crazy.