2019-02-01_Popular_Science

38 SPRING 2019 • POPSCI.COM by Jordan Golson

YOU CAN STEADILY UP THE

performance of an old muscle car with tun-

ing tricks and bolt-on parts. Or you could

jump straight to 1,000 horsepower by drop-

ping a crate engine like the supercharged

Hellephant 426 Hemi from Dodge under

the hood. It comes as a kit with what you

need to plug into a car with the right stuff

to handle its size and massive power. Get-

ting a block like this to generate roughly fi ve

Toyota Camrys-worth of ponies wasn’t easy

though. Here’s how they did it.

HOW IT WORKS

BEAST

MODE

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UP

1. Cylinders
   Combustion needs room to boom. This V-8
   has 426 cubic inches of cylinder space (a
   metric known as displacement). It’s not
   the biggest engine in the world—or even in
   Dodge’s lineup—but it’s strong, which is
   crucial when supercharging.


2. Supercharger
   More oxygen in the engine equals more
   explosive power. A massive 3-liter super-
   charger forces more air into the belly of the
   monstrous beast. It generates 15 pounds
   per square inch of boost, providing extra
   giddyup the second you tap the gas.


3. Fuel
   Many performance motors require ultra-
   high- octane racing fuel to generate all those
   ponies. But because Dodge also aimed the
   Hellephant at pre-1976 road cars, it tweaked
   the engine so it will still hit its peak on
   93- octane fuel from the corner gas station.


4. Torque
   Stand on the gas, and this powerplant can
   generate up to 950 foot-pounds of torque.
   That’s enough rotational force on the trans-
   mission to obliterate a regular gearbox or
   even twist a car’s frame—so don’t try and
   squeeze it into your old Ford Focus, OK?