The C8 Corvette is knocking on the door of supercar territory in terms of acceleration figures, and it does so with less than 500 horsepower thanks to some clever engineering. If, however, you want to enjoy that kind of performance in a three-row family SUV, the only way is to stuff as much power as possible into it – and that’s exactly what Hennessey did with their Dodge Durango HPE1000.
As the name suggests, the HPE1000 is based on a Durango Hellcat, but instead of the stock engine’s 710 hp (720 PS / 529 kW) and 645 lb-ft (875 Nm) of torque, Hennessey’s upgrades bump it up to 1,012 hp (1,026 PS / 755 kW) and 969 lb-ft (1,314 Nm). Compare that to the Corvette, which makes 495 hp (502 PS / 369 kW) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of torque, and that doesn’t really sound like a fair fight in a drag race. That is, until you consider that the Corvette weighs 2,344 lb (1,063 kg) less than the Durango.
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The first race was with no launch control, and it saw the Durango pull away from the Corvette and just keep going until the finish line. In the second race, the Corvette had its launch control enabled while the Durango did not. In the end, the Durango still got the best of the Corvette, staying ahead but not increasing the roughly one car-length gap it had over it. In the end, it seems the Corvette’s lower weight was no match for the sheer power of the Durango, which also had the benefit of AWD.