No one should be able to buy this much horsepower with one swipe of your debit card but here we are.
Gobsmacked, jaw-dropping, and unbelievable are just some of the words I would describe just how surprised I was to hear that American Performance tuners MOPAR unveiled this beast of an engine at the 2018 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. As per Mopar in an official press release they put out earlier today (Oct. 30,2018) The 426 Cubic Inch Hemi Elephant will be available to buy straight off the Mopar website as soon as the first quarter in 2019. Check out a little informational video FCA dropped for us below.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the Chrysler, known now as Dodge, Elephant engine is a legendary big-block Hemi engine that put out a monstrous at the time 425 HP and 490 lb-ft back in the late 60’s and into the early 70’s. First released as a race engine, it wasn’t available to the general public like this engine is.
There is a precedent to releasing this engine to the public today rather than two years ago when this engine first cut its teeth as part of the Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak race vehicles that dominated the 2018 NHRA Factory stock showdown class.
It’s like Mopar is encouraging Average Joe’s like you and me to swap this into their muscle cars because they’ve literally pulled out the red carpet in more ways than one to turn this crate engine into an almost plug-and-play ordeal, presumably a lot easier than what tuners had to do decades ago.
The complete engine assembly includes a water pump, flywheel, front sump oil pan, supercharger with throttle body, fuel injectors and coil packs.
Optional is the turnkey engine kit which includes
a powertrain control module (PCM), power distribution center, engine wiring harness, chassis harness, accelerator pedal, ground jumper, oxygen sensors, charge air temperature sensors, fuel pump control module and cam bus interface device. The PCM is unlocked and tuned to pump out 1,000 horsepower and 950 lb.-ft. torque.
And, to make all your creature comforts of your modern car transferable to this 426 Hellephant, Mopar is throwing in a Front End Accessory Drive to help you connect such modern day amenities we take for granted like power steering and air conditioning, bundling in all the necessary belts, pulleys, and other essential hardware.
Although pricing hasn’t been announced for the Hellephant, we only need to look to the Hellcat Crate engine for an idea of what to expect. When that engine came out it was priced at $19,500 until it was most recently slashed down to $14,998 as of this March. I’m going to guess this 426 S/C crate engine will cost around $29,999 when it first hits the market later next year.
Consider that hypercars like the Koenigsegg One:1 make a whopping 1,341 HP and 1,011 lb-ft. The McLaren P1 and its 903 HP and 723 lb-ft exotic British engine don’t even make this much power.
We are truly living in a renaissance era of monster engines.
Let’s enjoy it while we can.
Source: FCA
