First off, if you were one of the lucky ones to acquire a $450,000+ Ford GT, you’re entitled to assume that you’ve acquired one of the most capable performance cars in the world. That it should be able to dominate in any kind of race – from a standing quarter-mile, to a rolling half-mile, to any road course available. At the same time, if you were one of the lucky ones to acquire an $85,000 Dodge Demon, you’re entitled into thinking that its 840 horsepower supercharged engine should help you pull away from virtually anything in a straight line.
So if the two of these American icons faced off in a rolling half-mile race, which of them would prevail? Thankfully, a video from DragTimes helps us find some truth.
The race was held at an airfield in Immokalee, Florida. To get to the nitty gritty, just skip to the 5:00 mark.
The reality is that these vehicles couldn’t be characteristically farther apart. The Dodge Demon is an absolute bruiser, and is an exercise in demonstrating the power of power that comes with the edgy reputation of being banned from NHRA competition. The 647 horsepower, 3,354-pound Ford GT is an overproof cocktail of the engineering relationship from track to street, and exists largely because Ford had to build these machines as homologation specials if they ever wanted to race and win at Le Mans again.
The rolling start is really where the Ford GT got the best of the Demon, as the vehicles finished with nearly the same trap speed. The Ford supercar just seemed to grip the tarmac more effectively. And its superior power:weight ratio and arrowhead shape helped carry it through the extreme wind resistance of triple digit speeds more smoothly than the Demon, as well.
Despite the video results, the Dodge Demon’s official 9.8-second run still lays claim to being the fastest production car in a quarter mile time, from a standing start. Sadly for the 4,280-pound Dodge Demon, this wasn’t that kind of race.