Some stupid pussy at Automotive News writes the Dodge Demon should not be street legal and needs to be banned

[Sticky]

Careful, the quote you are about to read is drenched in estrogen. "The 840-hp Dodge Challenger SRT Demon from Fiat Chrysler is so inherently dangerous to the common safety of motorists that its registration as a road-worthy automobile should be banned."

Somehow the hyperbole being spewn seems to be much more dangerous especially to common sense. If we really want to get down to what is safe for our roads more people will be killed or injured by senior drivers than those with a Demon.

Frankly, no Demons are even on the road so how is the author coming to the conclusion that the car needs to be kept off public roads for safety reasons? Well, because the premature and negative conclusion fits the narrative. This is one of those same people that sees a gun and automatically classifies it as an assault rifle based on the appearance and not the application.

You know what the world needs? More Dodge Demons. More manufacturers that take enthusiasts into account. More cars that are fun to drive and less vehicles that are tuning into appliances that remove the driver from the equation.

What does this person think is going to happen? A Demon on the road is just going to suddenly start driving into people? Owners will be drag racing across crowded parking lots? A teenager in a Honda who just got out of seeing a Fast and the Furious movie is more dangerous on the road than an adult behind the wheel of a performance car they paid for and are familiar with.

The Demon is no more dangerous sitting in traffic than any other car. A 5700+ pound sport utility vehicle crammed with luggage and passengers traveling over the speed limit on the highway that physics simply will not allow to stop in the same distance as a lighter car is a much more dangerous proposition than the Demon. Truckers who have not slept for who knows how long hauling tons of goods on the highway across the country are a much more dangerous proposition than the Demon.

If anything, the Demon is safer than the standard Hellcat. It is built for traction off the line which means you can get into trouble a lot easier with tire spin on the standard Hellcat.

From its barely legal slick tires to its monstrous acceleration, the Challenger Demon introduced in New York this month is the result of a sequence of misguided corporate choices that places bragging rights ahead of public safety.

The tires offer more grip, not less. How is the Demon a result of misguided corporate choices? It is built to be the quickest production vehicle in the 1/4 mile and achieves that goal. It does so on an NHRA dragstrip, not the street. Did someone forget those exist? A place where you can take your car and run as fast as you want to without endangering the public?

The Demon is the result of incredible engineering, development, and effort. Dodge did not randomly roll some dice and end up with the Demon. What they accomplished for the money has never been achieved.

This kind of fear mongering is an enemy to the entire automotive world:

Laudably, the entire industry has made great strides toward improved vehicle safety in recent years, even as it dials up performance capabilities. But with the Demon, Dodge spits on that goal and irresponsibly moves in the opposite direction, knowingly placing motorists in danger in the process.

Oddly enough, for a vehicle designed to be a purpose-built drag racer, the Demon -- as delivered from the factory -- has already been banned from regulated drag strips by that sport's sanctioning body, the National Hot Rod Association, allegedly for being "too fast."

It is not banned for being too fast. The NHRA requires a roll cage for cars that are quicker and faster than set limits. If the Demon is 'too fast' so are a host of other street legal cars. All that is necessary to get them into compliance is a roll cage you hack.

It is not the Demon that needs to be removed. It is this garbage from Automotive News. The author did not even have the courage to put their name on it. That tells you what the purpose of it actually is.

Source

[F16HTON]

What if Cipher hacks it like all of the other Mopars in Fate of the Furious? The Demon might be more dangerous sitting in traffic than any other car

[Bowser330]

[csu87]

Hows it going to a danger to the public? If mustangs are allowed on the road, this thing definitely should be.

[gaspam]

ugh now we have fake news in the auto-mags too.. i wonder if the NY times owns Automotive News

[FRD135i]

Russians

[terryd5150]

Looks like the title of this article definitely got it right....

[Eleventeen]

Just more garbage journalism.