Dodge brought to the world two of the most modern muscle cars the world has seen today, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and the Charger SRT Hellcat, both were pretty mind-blowing and stayed true to the muscle car DNA – it featured legendary supercharged HEMI Hellcat V8 monsters beneath the hood – those engines however might be history.
Chrysler Group’s most powerful HEMI V8 engines could now be making way for a four-cylinder twin-turbo or a six cylinder twin-turbo mill instead, according to unconfirmed reports. If this is to take place, the whole “muscle car” term could be redefined or even go extinct for that matter.
The engines; a 6.2 litre HEMI Hellcat V8 engine that makes 707 hp and 880 Nm of torque that can be found in the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat while a 6.4 litre naturally-aspirated V8 that makes 485 hp and 644 Nm is planted under the bonnet of the Dodge Challenger SRT.
It is said that the engines could be gone by the year 2019, of which the new Dodge lineups will feature the new engines. The decision to go the with smaller cc, turbocharged engines is actually in compliance with the recently newly-reenacted Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in the US.
Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
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the challenger Hellcat is probably going to be last true American Muscle Car.
Many have sung about the death of the V8 muscle car.
Not going to happen.
Perhaps not from official factory cars, but there will be official tuners that would still offer limited big engined tuned up cars. Nothing feels and sounds like a proper big CC V8. No, it wont be cheap as the factory ones but if you wanna play, you gotta pay.
Chysler may be the weakest of the big 3, but I don’t see GM ever giving up on its small block V8. Each of them still have a triving truck division that survives on the fact that V8s are still being offered on thier full sized pickups, so there will be continual development of thier respective V8 powerplants. You should see how many V8 crate motors GM sells to tuners…..
Hasn’t stopped the germans from getting rid of thier V8s….so whats different?
Even Ferrari has said they will keep its big V12s for its flagships.
Turbo muscle car? Really???
The number of decent cars are getting lesser and lesser…….haiz
Even Ferrari started using turbos & that says a lot…
well…Lamborghini sticks with their natural aspirated engines & that says a lot too
Actually Dodge could still make a 4 cylinder engine which almost sounds like a rumbling V8 , that is a V4 engine with uneven firing order. Ever heard how an Aprilia RSV4/Tuono motorbike sounds like?
This is indeed a very sad day :(
whatever it is, this car looks superb!
John Dol, the aprillia RSV4 sounds manly… Oozing with machismo