Fill a Dodge Challenger Demon 170 with E85, and its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 can make an entirely unnecessary 1,025 hp. That’s enough power to send the rear-wheel-drive coupe through the quarter mile in less than nine seconds. Does anybody actually need a street car that can run the quarter mile in less time than it takes a Honda HR-V to hit 60 mph? Not at all. Don’t pretend you’re not at least a little impressed, though. And now, Dodge has decided to sell that engine as a crate motor so you can shove it into anything your heart desires.
It’s called the Hellephant C170 Crate Hemi Engine, and it can be yours for a mere $27,695. That’s almost as much as Toyota charges for a base GR86, but then again, the GR86 doesn’t make 1,025 hp. Let’s also not pretend like anyone who’s seriously interested in putting the Challenger Demon 170’s engine in their project car is working on a particularly tight budget. At the very least, they’ll be spending several thousand dollars per year on tires alone.
For your nearly $28,000, you’ll also get an upgraded supercharger with a better intercooler, pulley and throttle body. If you don’t need those things, you can always go for the Hellephant C170 6.2L Supercharged Crate Hemi Long Block, which only costs $18,995. It’ll still make 1,025 hp and 945 lb-ft of torque on E85, but you’ll save nearly $10,000, which you can always put into tires. Have we mentioned that a 1,000-hp rear-wheel-drive car is probably going to eat up a lot of tires?
The real question is, what exactly do you put this thing in? A Dodge Durango? Maybe a MK4 Toyota Supra? Maybe go crazy and build a mid-engine minivan out of a Chrysler Pacifica? If you’ve got the kind of money to buy a 1,025-hp engine, something tells us the sky really is the limit.