A Look At Dodge Hellephant C170 Engine That Powers The Challenger SRT Demon 170
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 culminates the muscle car era with unrivaled speed, noise, and engine power. It's the seventh and last member of the "Last Call" series of Challengers and Chargers that bid farewell after the 2023 model year, and it happens to be the most powerful, quickest, and most savage muscle car to wear the Dodge emblem, thanks in large part to its magnificent Hellephant C170 crate engine.
Stellantis
First seen at the Las Vegas SEMA show as part of Dodge's Direct Connection family of crate engines, the Hellephant C170 6.2-liter supercharged V8 will live on beyond 2023. Boasting an astonishing 1,025 horsepower (at 6,500 rpm) and a healthy 945 lb-ft of torque (at 4,200 rpm) on a steady diet of E85 fuel, the Challenger SRT Demon 170 could rush from zero to 60 mph in 1.66 seconds while producing the highest G-force acceleration (2.004 gs) of any production car.
Banned by the NHRA
With over a thousand horses under the hood and a propensity for hardcore acceleration like a hungry cheetah, the Challenger SRT Demon 170 demolishes the quarter-mile in an NHRA-certified 8.91 seconds at 151.17 mph. And since the National Hot Rod Association requires a safety cage or parachute for all vehicles running a sub-nine-second quarter-mile, a factory-spec Demon 170 is banned from professional drag racing like its Challenger SRT Demon predecessor. Savagery runs in the genes.
Helping the cause is a modified Hellephant C170 crate engine with an enormous 3.0-liter supercharger, a 105 mm throttle body, and a 3.02-inch pulley to produce 40% more boost pressure than in a Challenger Hellcat Redeye Widebody. Moreover, it has high-flow fuel injectors that pump 164 gallons of E85 fuel per hour, which Dodge hilariously claims is "more than the average U.S. shower head."
Stellantis
The engine mods include nitride-coated intake valves, a fortified connecting rod, upgraded main & rod bearings, and a bespoke powertrain control module that optimizes the spark and fuel delivery by automatically detecting the fuel's ethanol percentage. Filling the tank with 20% ethanol fuel triggers a white gas pump icon in the driver's display, while a blue icon lights up when it detects 65% or more ethanol. The blue light is a good sign and means the Hellephant C170 could unleash its full 1,025-horsepower potential.
Fortified driveline
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 features strengthened driveline components to transfer all the Hellephant C170's grunt to the tarmac. It has an updated Torqueflite 8HP90 automatic gearbox, a 53% stronger rear axle housing, a 240 mm rear axle, a stiffer rear propeller shaft, and 43-spline rear half shafts.
Meanwhile, it has 17x11-inch rear wheels garbed in custom Mickey Thompson P315/50R17 ET Street R drag radials to harness all the twist. At the front, the SRT Demon 170 has 18x8-inch wheels and 245/55R18 Mickey Thompson ET Street tires that aid in weight transfer as the muscle car barrels down the dragstrip.
Like the original SRT Demon, the Demon 170 features launch control, line lock, and launch assist to make amateurs feel like professional drag racers. Only 3,300 SRT Demon 170s exist, but the Hellephant C170 crate engine will soldier into the future as the weapon of choice for any project car.