It’s hard not to think of ways this could have been avoided.
A car lit up in flames is a frightening sight. This is doubly true for those who love cars and especially if the car you are referring to is your beloved vehicle. FamilyCruisin captured the entire event on video at the Dodge Challenger RT Hellcat accident. The vehicle went nuclear and was thrown to the side.
He described a lot of surging and stumbling as he tried to get the new mill running properly. After some exploratory driving, he decided to go to a rural road. The condition worsened and finally the pedal was inoperable. In this instance nothing was not a reference to acceleration. He describes sounds coming from the mill that would have made most people pull over and ask for help. He instead of doing so, he hit “pretty hard” which is quite a difficult move for a healthy Hellcat and even more daunting for one in crisis. He eventually pulled over and smelled gas. We believe that was what he meant.
This video is a sad one for car lovers. But we cannot help but wonder why he didn’t stop the car immediately. A new engine should have some warranty protection, unless the engine was modified to the extent that it voids the coverage. We would have been aware of the FCA recall for Hellcats because of fuel leaks at the first sign that trouble.
We’re sorry for the performance monster’s fiery end.