There’s an adage that there is no replacement for displacement, and Chrysler seems to be following it: the company’s Mopar parts and accessory division is launching two massive crate engines at its SEMA show display.
First thing’s first: the stand’s crown jewel is a new V-10 crate engine that clocks in at 512 cubic inches (8.4 liters) of displacement, 800 horsepower, and 695 lb-ft of torque. The engine, which should be familiar to Dodge Viper fans, is based on the late Viper’s 8.4-liter mill, but receives a forged steel crankshaft, forged connecting rods, and forged pistons. It has a redline of 7,000 rpm, although the thought of ten pistons of that size moving at that speed makes us a bit dizzy.
The engine is designed specifically for drag racing, but for those people who already have Vipers and want a slice of this power, Chrysler also announced a new Performance Upgrade Kit for owners of third-generation Vipers. The kit includes a set of aluminum cylinder heads, a new intake manifold with a larger throttle body, and different fuel injectors and rails. Once the kit is installed and the Viper’s ECU is reflashed, the 8.4-liter engine could make as much as 650 horsepower.
If ten cylinders is two too many, Mopar is also launching a new Gen III High Output 426 Hemi V-8 crate engine. The engine displaces 426 cubic inches (or about 7.0 liters), which is enough for 590 horsepower while running on 93-octane premium pump gas. The engine uses an aluminum block, which saves more than 100 pounds off of the weight figure of its cast iron predecessor. It also gets a forged steel crankshaft and aluminum pistons, as well as aluminum valve covers and billet fuel rails. It is also available with a Ready-to-Run base calibration kit, which includes a throttle body, engine harness, and engine controller, which makes the initial calibrations much easier.
Dodge also announced that it will offer a limited number of Dodge Challenger body shells for sale, which come without vehicle identification numbers. While the finished product would most certainly not be street legal, we could imagine that mating a Challenger body to the 512 Hemi running gear – much like the last run of the Mopar Drag Pak cars — would make for a very interesting project…
