Affordable is a relative term, and while the 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat has a MSRP almost twice what most people actually pay for a new car, it’s pretty much the best bang for your buck in the pure horsepower department. For $58,245, nothing else really even comes close, but that doesn’t mean we can look forward to the day when Hellcats approach something normal people might actually consider affordable.
There is, however, another option, especially the dedicated gamers in our fanbase. The new Forza Motorsport 6 racing simulation has set a release date for September 15th, and it will include a huge variety of vehicles from all across the automotive spectrum, including the Challenger Hellcat. But only those people who pre-order Forza 6 will have access to a specially-prepared “Team Forza” edition of the Hellcat, adding unique tuning and exterior features to make it stand out (and pull away from) the competition.
Basically, those willing to blindly plunk down $60 on the Xbox One new Forza Motorsport 6 are rewarded with a slightly faster version of the Hellcat unavailable to people who’d rather read some reviews before commiting to a new video game. There’s been plenty of debate among gamers about the ethics of forcing customers to pre-order a game to have access to all of the content, as the Team Forza Challenger is also joined by four other high-end, higher-specced vehicles, including a Team Forza Subari STI and Mustang GT.
But it’s not like people who don’t pre-order will be totally cut off from these cars. The Challenger Hellcat will still be available to drive for anyone who buys Forza Motorsport 6, they just don’t get the higher-specced Team Forza edition. On one hand, it kinda stinks to pay full price for a game and not get access to all the features. Conversely, this is a way to reward longtime, devoted fans, and people seem plenty willing to pre-order a product they don’t know everything about.
Then again, how many people plunked down nearly $60,000 on a Challenger Hellcat before they knew anything other than the horsepower number and price?