So I guess it's time to talk about this engine. Although simply calling it an engine is like calling Goldberg a wrestler. I'd be doing both a massive disservice, because Goldberg is a renaissance man and the Hellcat's V8 is the fifth most powerful production engine in the world.
Let me put that into perspective. The Hellcat makes 7 more horsepower than the Lamborghini Aventador, and the only cars with more juice are the LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, and Ferrari F12.
To begin the transformation, SRT took the 6.4-liter Apache V8, ripped it apart and replaced 91 percent of the parts. That includes a steel forged crankshaft, new connecting rods, pistons, oil pan, oil pump, and a reworked set of heads and exhaust valves to handle the prodigious amount of heat that would make Satan go out for ice.
Oh, and then there's the supercharger. That twin-screw unit displaces 2.4-liters – more than most compact cars – and blows through 11 gallons of coolant every minute. Keeping the 6.2-liter cool was a massive challenge, hence the two ducts and Viper-esque inlet in the hood, that air intake where the driver's side headlight would be, and an oil cooler and a transmission cooler mounted on either side of the bumper where the fog lights would normally be. No, you can't have fog lamps on the Hellcat.
SRT was so intent on keeping the Hellcats cool on track today that they popped out the lower grille to feed it more air. And they actually tout this as a feature. Dodge engineers designed it so that all it takes is seven bolts to pop it out when you get to the track, and a few minutes to put it back in before you leave.
With all that displacement sucking in sacrificial oxygen, the engine devours 30,000 liters of air every minute. Need more perspective? Go into your bedroom, sit down, and imagine all the air being sucked out in under 60 seconds.
And a remember how I said it was quiet? I was in the wrong setting. This is Chrysler's first application of electronically controlled exhaust valves, so when I was driving it on the road in the stock setting, it was bordering on refined. In Track mode, it sounds like Tom Waits climaxing through a megaphone. It. Is. Glorious. And it's even better from the outside.
Oh yeah, and it makes 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. But you already knew that.