2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Unlocked: First Tuning Brings 706 HP at the Wheels

Texan tuner SeriousHP reflashed the ECU of the 6.2-liter supercharged unit, without touching anything else. The result was a delicious 706 hp and 830 lb-ft (1,125 Nm) at the wheels.

As shown by the dyno graph, which you can find at the end of the video below, these figures represent a gain of 37 hp and 30 lb-ft (41 Nm) of torque.

Of course, since this was just some ECU play, the crew promised to keep their Hellcat in the gym and build more muscle. After all, the engine is said to be capable of delivering much more in stock form.

We'll remind you a previous report stated SRT engineers were able to reliably push the vee eight to 825 horsepower at the crank, but emissions issues determined them to dial things... down to 707 ponies. By the way, as many stock Hellcat dyno runs have shown, that magic number is rather conservative.

The pros and cons of tuning a Hellcat

As for the idea itself, tuning a Hellcat has a Yin-Yang aura to it. Given how competent the standard car is, it's very easy to understand one's temptation to go berserk when working on such a vehicle.

And if we look at how effervescent the aftermarket development for the supercharged V8 in the 2015 Corvette Z06 has become, we can only expect transmission-frightening levels of power.

On the other hand, modifying the engine somehow defeats the purpose of the car - enthusiasts had been strapping blowers to Challengers for years, but the idea of an OEM package delivering this is to also include reliability and drivability in your deck of muscle cards.