Hellcat Redeye-Swapped Viper Is a World First, Build Backed by Dodge

Ever since the now dormant Viper was a concept car in the late 1980s, its formula involved a V10. And while the Internet spoke of a Hellcat-powered version around the halfway point of the past decade, when the supercharged V8 was a fresh arrival, this didn’t happen. Heck, not even the aftermarket world decided to Hellcat-swap a Viper (at least we couldn’t find any machine of the sort), but this build comes to change that.

We’re looking at a 2001 Dodge Viper RT/10 (roadster), which is geting more than the “regular” Hellcat. As stated in the title, the supercar is currently receiving the Redeye high-output version of the factory-supercharged 6.2L V8, which makes 797 hp and 707 lb-ft (958 Nm) of twist out of the box.

The project comes from the YouTubers over at throtl (Mickey Andrade, Evan Beckerman, Quinn Clark, and Ricky Fernandez), who are used to wacky swaps—here’s their Tesla-powered Nissan 350Z “Zesla” drag racing a mostly stock 2002 Viper.

What’s Dodge’s role in the project?

The guys only have 30 days to complete the transformation, as dictated by the rules of the competition that saw Dodge supplying them with the Hellcrate Redeye 6.2-liter Supercharged Crate HEMI and ECU, Tremec T56 six-speed manual and a $10,000 budget to spend on parts. For the record, the Viper already comes with such a gearbox from the factory, but we’re looking at different versions of the six-speed manual here, as dictated by output requirement and packaging.

Once completed, the Hellcat-ized Viper will duke it out with outher social media-famous projects at the 2022 Roadkill Nights Dodge Direct Connection Grudge Match. If you’re new to the format, think of this as a legal street racing (the non-prepped surface is the key here).

We’re essentially dealing with the latest version of a Dodge-sponsored event that has seen visible members of social media’s car community drag racing stock and modded Mopars on the famous Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, Michigan since 2015. Hey, names like Collete Davis, Westen Champlin ( have you seen his 1,300 HP Twin-Turbo Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye?), and Tavarish will also be there on August 13, 2022.

How does this swap make you feel?

Back in 2015 when the Dodge Charger followed the Challenger down the Hellcat route—the latter had received the supercharged HEMI in 2014—everybody knew the Mopar people would use this amazing V8 in multiple cars. And, before people would think of the looney Durango Hellcat and Ram 1500 TRX the company actually built, they asked Dodge if the Viper would be taken down the blower route.

Executives quashed the rumors from day one, citing reasons such as the tall cylinder heads of the Hellcat preventing proper packaging. The more precise explanations ran from the engine, with its top-mounted blower, not clearing the hood and the wider motor not clearing the chassis rails, to its greater scale footprint (vs the native V10) [the Hellcat V8 is lighter than the Viper V10] affecting the weight distribution of the supercar. Two years later, the Gen V Viper was discontinued, and that was that.

As for what people wanted, opinions were split. Some would’ve welcomed the forced induction fury of the Hellcat (as opposed to just accepting it as an alternative to the said 2017 retirement). However, others argued that a Viper without its V10 wouldn’t be a Viper anymore.

And if you head over to the comments section of the YouTube video below, which shows throtl removing the functional V10 heart and its six-speed, you’ll notice both camps expressing their feelings. Speaking of which, it seems this build has seen certain enthusiasts getting caught up in a flood of feelings: while they mourn the loss of the V10, they’re curious to see the supercharged result.

And while the fate of the now-removed Viper motor seems to be an important factor here, we couldn’t find any mention of how throtl aims to handle the motor in the clip. Still, we couldn’t be the only ones who wondered how ridiculous it would be to attempt a Miata V10 swap using this engine, which makes 450 hp and 490 lb-ft in factory form…

For the record, taking the V10 down the forced induction route (this 2,000 HP 2014 Viper makes a pretty strong case for such work) would be complicated. You see, unlike the engines in the earlier (or later) Vipers, this version of the (8.0L) V10 doesn’t come with forged internals, so anybody looking to add serious power would have to address this.

Sure, one could always regard this second-gen Viper as a cool machine you can still buy for around $50,000—to this end, playing with the vehicle in whatever way possible only comes natural. But, given the American supercar’s V10 legacy, this Hellcat swap has some big shoes to fill.

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