Mickey Thompson helping Dodge break V-8 muscle records one last time

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 is the brand’s last V-8 muscle car and the final home for the 6.2 litre Hellcat engine, which is being retired to make way for eMuscle. As the concluding chapter in Dodge’s V-8 muscle story, the SRT Demon 170 will reportedly be the world’s quickest 0-60 mph production car. Mickey Thompson Tires has taken on the important car-to-road remit.

Dodge revealed its ultimate Dodge V-8 muscle car in Las Vegas yesterday, but the Goodyear-owned tyre brand played a key role from the ground up. Before undertaking the project, Mickey Thompson worked closely with Dodge engineers in developing a tyre that could unleash record-setting power.

“Nobody puts power to the ground like Mickey, and nobody creates power like Dodge,” says Dominick Montouri, president of Mickey Thompson. “Dodge values record-breaking performance as much as we do, and they truly broke every barrier with this vehicle.”

Aggressive tuning

A relationship born at the dragstrip, the two companies began development on a modified version on Mickey Thompson’s ET Street R in size P315/50R17 months prior to the Challenger SRT Demon 170 project kicked off. The Dodge wears this dimension on the rear axle.

Mickey Thompson’s ET Street tyres turn the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170’s 945 ft.lbs (1281 Nm) of torque into traction. Achieving 0-60 mph in 1.66 seconds, the 1025-horsepower Demon 170 completes a quarter mile in a record breaking 8.91 seconds at the track. The rear tyre has extra tread grooves to improve on-street performance, allowing the Demon 170 to switch from the strip to the street without the need for tyre modifications.

“60-foot times in the mid-120’s in a production car doesn’t happen without a balanced and optimised suspension,” says Tim Kuniskis, Dodge brand chief executive officer, Stellantis. “The Mickey ET Street R’s hook so hard it allowed us to get much more aggressive with our suspension and trans-brake tuning.”

Mickey Thompson also developed an ET Street Front 245/55R18 to create a staggered fitment designed to transfer power to the rear tyres; allowing for reduced weight, lower rolling resistance and improved dynamic and handling balance to put the Challenger SRT Demon 170’s power to the ground when it creates more than 2Gs of force at launch. The tyre maker designed these specifically for the Challenger SRT Demon 170, and Goodyear points out that the ET Street Front 245/55R18 and the modified version of the ET Street R P315/50R17 are not currently available for purchase.