The vast majority of track times that we discuss here at Stellpower occur on the East Coast of the United States in the late fall or winter months, because the air density is pretty much unbeatable. When the Dodge team ran their 8.91 record, they did so at South Georgia Motorsports Park in December, when the density altitude was well below 0.
As is the case with almost all vehicles, the quickest times will come later this year or early next year, when racers are making the most of cooler temperatures in the southern states. As some new 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 owners are getting their cars, though, they are heading to their nearest track without any regard for air quality.
One of those drivers is Ron Silva, who is an experienced 2018 Demon racer, so it comes as little surprise that he hit the track as soon as he got his hands on his 2023 Demon 170. Silva lives in California and races at Irwindale Speedway, so he doesn’t have the crazy-low DA numbers that folks on the east coast enjoy, but that didn’t stop him from turning on solid numbers on the eighth mile track. On a day where the DA was over 1,800 at the time of his best runs, Silva laid down a pair of back-to-back 5.93 eighth mile times with speeds of 118.97 and 118.83.
For those who aren’t familiar with eighth mile racing, there are conversion tables available online that provide a rough idea of what an eighth mile time would be in the quarter mile. Those tables suggest that a 5.90 in the eighth would be a 9.20 in the quarter mile while a 5.95 in the eighth would be a 9.28 in the quarter. Based on those numbers, a 5.93 would translate to a 9.24 in the quarter mile.
For those of you who like more of a real-world approach of comparing Silva’s Demon 170 numbers in the 8th mile to quarter mile numbers, Hellcat racer Reuben Garcia shared one of his timeslips on Silva’s racing Facebook page wall where he ran a 5.99 at 118.08 in the 8th mile on a run the led to a 9.304 at 148.33 in the quarter mile. Also, in looking at the two quarter mile runs we featured earlier this week, Silva’s 8th mile time was better than that of either Ripa or Mikoliczyk, even with the heavier California air.
In short, Silva’s 5.93 8th mile runs would have likely been in the lower 9-second range had he been racing on a quarter mile track. Mind you, that is with density altitude numbers north of 1,800 feet while the official Dodge 8.91 run happened at negative 308 feet, so Silva ran in considerably worse air and still turned in what would have been low-9-second runs in the quarter mile.
“Irwindale would not hold any power whatsoever. Even on these runs you can hear it spinning. So I was pulling substantial power down low using the B Torque Curve modified. It took a while of scratching my head but I finally had something that would work on that day. My last 2 runs were 3 minutes apart and 5.930 and 5.939 and nearly 119 MPH. DA was +1800 and both used that modified B ramp off the trans brake.”
In looking at Silva’s timeslips, we can see that there is plenty of room for improvement on the short end, which will come with better track prep, more seat time and more experience with the Demon 170’s on-board adjustable torque management system. Silva had to use that system pull power on the low end in order to get down to the 1.35-1.36 60-foot time, while the Dodge test car hit 1.244 to 60-feet on the 8.91 run. Once he can get out of the hole a little more aggressively and apply more power sooner in the run, Ron Silva will be getting very near the kinds of 8th mile times needed to run 8-second quarter miles.
As for Ron Silva’s 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, it is a one-seat car with aftermarket wheels, but he is still running Mickey Thompson tires, with ET Street Rs measuring 315/50/17 on the back. He also removed the passenger’s side exterior mirror and front sway bar along with installing a Kirkey race seat and a lightweight battery. The car was filled completely with pump ethanol that the system detected to be E80, allowing him to make the full 1,025 horsepower.
The video below shows one of Ron Silva’s 5.93 passes along with giving us a great chance to see a TorRed 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 roar down the track, so crank up your speakers and enjoy!
