The first thing that came after the crate engine announcement seemed to be a long wait. Dodge has announced a series of Hurricrate inline-six and four Hellephants in November 2022. The Hurricates are finally here. They start with Cat 1 (as in, the storm, the ba-dum bump) makes 420 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque with 22 psi of boost from two turbochargers and a compression ratio of 10.4:1. It has an aluminum block and twin cam heads, forged aluminum pistons, and liquid cooling running on the exhaust and intercooler. Cat 3 High-Certificate upgraded forged aluminum pistons and rings, along with a low-friction coating on the knuckle pins. There’s more flow through the fuel injection system and additional cooling for the intercooler. Compression is reduced to 9.5:1, and crankshaft output is increased by 26 psi to 550 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque.
The Cat 1 long block is $7,995, the full crate engine is $10,495. The Cat 3 long block is $11,715, the crate engine, $13,745. If you order before November 8, the Cat 1 comes with a $200 Visa gift card, the Cat 3 comes with a $125 Visa gift card.
avoid Dodge says it will offer two transmissions with these engines, a DC1 and a DC2, which appear to still be in production. We couldn’t find either the DC1 or DC2 on the Direct Connection website. We’re also expecting a Hurricate, a track-only Cat X that Dodge estimates will make more than 1,000 horsepower.
News of three more Hellephant engines comes alongside the announcement of the Hurricrate, which transforms a 426 cubic-inch (7.0L) supercharged V8 into a quartet of superchargers. The main difference is the block material, either aluminum like the Hellephant we already know or cast iron. The cast iron version has a smaller displacement at 376 cubic inches (6.2L), which is offset by smaller supercharger pulleys on the 3.0-liter supercharger and a larger 105mm (versus 92mm) throttle body. And while the iron block shares its displacement with the Hellcat, the iron Hellephant gets a host of improvements to the valvetrain, connecting rods, bearings, and main bearing caps.
In terms of naming, aluminum engines start with an “A”, cast iron engines start with a “C”. Then there’s a number that denotes the appropriate fuel based on the alcohol content; the limit for pump gasoline is E15, which is 30 degrees, and E85 is 170 degrees. So you have A30, A170, C30and C170. The C30 has a maximum capacity of 900 horsepower, the remaining types can reach 1,000 horsepower or more.
Just one C170 prices and sales prices so far, the long block alone is $18,995, the crate engine is $27,675. All of these need a DC2 or other suitable transmission.
