Hellephant Dyno Run Puts Mopar’s 1000-horsepower Claim to the Test
It’s common for American manufacturers to underrate their engines. But is Dodge doing it with the Hellephant?
If you had a time machine and were able to go back to the late ’60s, you’d laugh at Mopar’s tricks. In muscle car lore, V8 engines were rated far below their actual capabilities for insurance purposes. After all, who’d insure a 426 “Hellephant” Hemi pumping out huge power numbers on bias ply tires and primitive brakes?
Well, if you were to come back to the future, you’d see those power wars are still in play. Mopar’s crate engine dubbed the Hellephant is said to be good for a nice round number. One thousand horsepower. It is obtuse, and wonderful all at once. But, is it real? Well, YouTube channel Demonology has one of the first dyno runs of this 426 Hellephant engine, appropriately placed in a Challenger.
Their findings? A solid 944.82 horsepower. But wait a minute, that’s not 1000 horsepower. Well, FCA doesn’t actually have this motor in any productions car. It is a special order crate engine that you can throw in your vehicle of choice. That means power numbers are measured at the crank. And Demonology measured power at the wheels. Transmissions and driveline components rob power. A Motor1 report points out, “assuming 15 percent driveline loss going through the Demon’s automatic transmission, that means the Hellephant here is making not 1,000 hp, but 1,110.”
Now, we did also notice that Demonology stated the car was running on an E40 mix of fuel, but they didn’t say why. This could be from a custom tune, although we typically see boost-friendly E85 in those applications. We also don’t know if this particular engine had been modified or upgraded in any way.
All that aside, we like the fact that you have an honest-to-goodness 1000 horsepower engine that you can buy off the shelf and throw in any ride you want. But what would you put this motor in? A newer Mopar? It would be sweet to think of what a Trackhawk Hellephant could do with that engine. Or what about a RAM Rebel (Hell Rebel?). You could even put it in a vintage Mopar and not upset the purists.
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