When Dodge placed the 707-hp Hellcat V-8 in the Challenger SRT and the Charger SRT, it threw a little cold water on its Viper supercar. As a model whose sales were already disappointing, the last thing the Viper needed was to have the authority of its mighty 640-hp V-10 contested by supercharged eight-cylinder upstarts from its own family. But a report from the Mopar fanatics at Allpar suggests that the Viper may have a plan to regain its title as the brawniest production Chrysler product.
The folks at Allpar have a proven track record of gleaning accurate behind-the-scenes info from Auburn Hills, and the site says two separate sources have confirmed the delivery of supercharged V-10 engines to Chrysler, ostensibly for installation in the Viper. Fitting the 640-hp ten-holer with a supercharger should easily yield more than 707 horsepower, although the final figure would likely be limited by the durability of the engine block and internals. (For an idea of what engine upgrades and forced induction can do to the Viper's 8.4-liter V-10, look no further than Hennessey's 1120-hp Venom 1000 twin-turbo upgrade.)
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- Dodge Viper Research: Photos, Info, Specs, Reviews, Tests, and More
Making major powertrain changes costs bucks, though, and the last thing the $100,000-plus, slow-selling Viper needs is a price hike. So why not just toss the Hellcat V-8 engine in the Viper and turn up the wick just enough to reclaim its perch atop Mopar's Horsepower Hill? There are the small matters of the Viper having always been a V-10—fans might go apoplectic if it loses two cylinders—and the reality that the Hellcat V-8 and its impressive intake plenum are too tall to fit under the Viper's hood. Where the current round of horsepower one-upsmanship will end is anyone's guess, but we're certainly enjoying the show.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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