Speed of a '66 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi
How Fast Can A '66 Dodge Charger 426 go from 0-60 and do the 1/4 Mile?
2 Answers
Traction off the line is the primary limiting factor with these babys . If you drop the hammer from a dead stop (even with an automatic ) It's a hemi remember ? Yea . Tire roasting will begin( Both tires , all hemi's had a suregrip axle ) first gear will shift to 2nd at about fifty mph . By then tires will be greasy and continue to roast all the way up to about ninety mph . (this is with stock wheels and tires of course ) zero to sixty with good traction will be around 5 to 5,5 sec. zero to sixty with slicks ,3 to 3.5 sec. get the idea ? it's not the lack of power , it's the lack of traction with the hemi . Quarter mile will be 12's to low thirteens with decent traction and gears , high ten's with optimized conditions . PS- all hemis are fast but have to run on aviation fuel ! PBN
Traction was the limiting factor on every car back then. There's something else to keep in mind as well. Nobody but nobody drove a stock rig in those days. You could do a good job of hopping an engine up for under two grand, so why not? Of course since you were driving on the street, you also kept your power band fairly low. A better question would be what was the 20 to 100 time. 1/4 mile times would be in the high tens or low elevens for the same reason.