The Hellcat has the car world on its toes these days, but what if we peer through the shining aura of the supercharged Mopar heart? What we see there is a factory setup that comes to cater to the needs of those who have been strapping blowers to Hemis for quite some years now.
So can you take a modern Hemi V8, in its most basic 5.7-liter form, and massage it up to the point where it delivers Hellcat levels of power without investing a fortune under the hood?
The answer comes from the clip below, which shows one of these Hemis being gifted with a few reasonable bolt-ons and then strapped to a dyno, in both naturally aspirated and forced-fed form.
The video, which comes from Motor Trend, makes us think of playing with LEGO, but instead of the bedroom, it all has to do with the dyno room.
The hostilities kick off with a third-generation Hemi, the kind that also powered RAM workhorses, not just Dodge muscle cars. We're talking about a bone stock block, with the same being true about the internals.
In this trim, the engine goes a bit beyond the one-hp-per-cubic-inch rule of the Hemi thumb, churning out 385 hp and 375 lb-ft (508 Nm) of twist.
The list of bolt-ons mentioned above includes SRT-ported stock heads, a custom cam setup, TTI engine swap headers, a Mopar 4-barrel single-plane intake manifold and Holly EFI.
With the throttle fully open, the Hemi climbs to a respectable 458 hp at 5,400 rpm and 400 lb-ft (542 Nm) of torque at 6,900 rpm.
Fret not, you big number lovers, things get seriously crazier with the help of a Paxton Novi 1,500 centrifugal supercharger (basically, a belt-driven turbo). Delivering 10.6 psi of boost, the blower pushes the motor to 658.6 hp at 6,600 rpm and 537 lb-ft (728 Nm) of twist at 6,200 rpm. Do note that, due to the stock condition of the internals, race gas was used to ensure every piece of hardware remains inside the engine block.
While a child could tell you the output values above are below the Hellcat standard, with a stroker kit, things would probably be even.
There's one thing you need to remember though - SRT's Hellcat can deliver that kind of power on gas pump, all day long and within the cozy setup of a warranty.
The answer comes from the clip below, which shows one of these Hemis being gifted with a few reasonable bolt-ons and then strapped to a dyno, in both naturally aspirated and forced-fed form.
The video, which comes from Motor Trend, makes us think of playing with LEGO, but instead of the bedroom, it all has to do with the dyno room.
The hostilities kick off with a third-generation Hemi, the kind that also powered RAM workhorses, not just Dodge muscle cars. We're talking about a bone stock block, with the same being true about the internals.
In this trim, the engine goes a bit beyond the one-hp-per-cubic-inch rule of the Hemi thumb, churning out 385 hp and 375 lb-ft (508 Nm) of twist.
The list of bolt-ons mentioned above includes SRT-ported stock heads, a custom cam setup, TTI engine swap headers, a Mopar 4-barrel single-plane intake manifold and Holly EFI.
With the throttle fully open, the Hemi climbs to a respectable 458 hp at 5,400 rpm and 400 lb-ft (542 Nm) of torque at 6,900 rpm.
Fret not, you big number lovers, things get seriously crazier with the help of a Paxton Novi 1,500 centrifugal supercharger (basically, a belt-driven turbo). Delivering 10.6 psi of boost, the blower pushes the motor to 658.6 hp at 6,600 rpm and 537 lb-ft (728 Nm) of twist at 6,200 rpm. Do note that, due to the stock condition of the internals, race gas was used to ensure every piece of hardware remains inside the engine block.
While a child could tell you the output values above are below the Hellcat standard, with a stroker kit, things would probably be even.
There's one thing you need to remember though - SRT's Hellcat can deliver that kind of power on gas pump, all day long and within the cozy setup of a warranty.