What would you stuff Dodge’s demonic 1,025-hp, 170-crate engine with?
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 may be the greatest American achievement since putting Neil Armstrong on the moon. Four figures of horsepower, eight quarter miles per second, and a factory warranty, all in an exotic Dodge. This insanely powerful Challenger may only be available to a select few customers, but you can now buy the awesome 1,025-horsepower Demon 170 and build your own Demon breed.
Technically called the Hellephant C170 Crate HEMI, it’s the same 6.2-liter corn-fueled V8 found in the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. As such, it gets a three-liter IHI supercharger and beefy pistons and connecting rods. The fuel is formulated for a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline to produce an impressive 1,025 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 945 lb.-ft. of torque at 4200 rpm.
It goes without saying that this is one badass engine. Oh, and that’s not all – at $27,695, it’s actually a reasonable price for a 1,000-horsepower crate engine. Later. The market for passenger car crate engines that have a comma in their production is actually quite small, and given the short history of OEM entries, the Hellephant C170 Crate HEMI engine is the cheapest of the bunch.
For comparison, a 1,000-hp Hellephant 426 crate engine carries a price tag of $29,995, while a 1,004-hp 10.3-liter Chevrolet ZZ632 crate engine sells at Summit Racing for $30,383.97. Sure, limited E85 fuel availability may be a downside to the Hellephant C170 Crate HEMI engine, but saving a few bucks and still getting 1,000 horsepower is a big plus. However, it’s still up to buyers to find the right chassis, so we ask you, what would you put this 1,025-horsepower beast in?
It should come as no surprise that we love dajibans, modified Dodge Ram cars that transport motorcycles to the track in Japan and then tow them around the track themselves. The typical recipe is to take a 1994 or newer Ram van, put it on a set of RS Watanabe wheels, beef up the power and brakes, and then simply chop it up. It’s endless fun watching these things spin, and the 1,025 horsepower should make one the right kind of terror. Your knees are definitely the breakdown areas, but don’t crash and you’ll be fine.
Of course, you probably have your own idea of what to put this ultimate unit in. Maybe you want to build your own modern version of the AC Cobra, realize your monster truck dreams, or even build the fastest street-legal Chrysler in the world. Cordoba. Whatever it is, we won’t judge it, we just want to hear it.
(Image credits: Stellantis)
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