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Hellcat-Engined Toyota Prius Hits the Drag Strip, Beats the Dodge Demon

The Internet tells you that's it's cool to hate the Toyota Prius (hey, don't kill the messenger, okay?). Of course, that's doesn't apply to Prius communities, but, as it turns out, it might not apply at all. No, Toyota hasn't come up with a V8 incarnation of the eco machine... somebody else has.
Hellcat-Engined Toyota Prius Hits the Drag Strip 4 photos
Photo: American Racing Headers/YouTube
Hellcat-Engined Toyota Prius Hits the Drag StripHellcat-Engined Toyota Prius Hits the Drag StripHellcat-Engined Toyota Prius Hits the Drag Strip
Ladies and gentlemen drag racers, meet the Hellcat-engined Prius. This thing is animated by the infamous 6.2-liter blown HEMI. And since the 707 ponies of the V8 weren't enough, the unit has been further massaged and it now delivers 800 horses at the rear wheels.

This means its crank horsepower actually sits closer to 900 hp, but it can be difficult to figure out the exact muscle number. For one thing, we can't turn to the usual 15 percent drivetrain loss estimation, simply because that coefficient involves and automatic tranny, while this contraption comes in six-speed manual form. You didn't expect the Prius' CVT tranny to still be around, did you?

In fact, the chassis of the Prius is also gone. And we're not talking about a few touches to reinforce the structure. Instead, the body of the Toyota now sits on a custom double frame-rail chassis.

As you can expect, the project involved quite a bit of fabrication work. Speaking of which, the build comes from Long Island-based American Racing Headers.

And it seems like the thing can make proper use of its newfound powaaah. For one thing, its first drag strip session resulted in a quarter-mile run of 9.38 seconds.

Of course, this means that the possessed Prius can leave the Dodge Demon trailing in its wake, with the latter packing an official 1,320 feet time of 9.65 seconds. Sure, this is an apple-to-orange comparo, but we just couldn't help it - the boosted creature did race a Dodge Challenger, but this wasn't a Demon.

Oh, and Demon owners who believe they could escape the wrath of this Toyota by modding their machines are wrong, since the Prius is now on an 8s quest.

P.S.: Yes, this is a bit like a Prius-based aftermarket version of the Camry racecar Toyota unveiled a few years ago.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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