Some of us like to use this time of the year to reflect on all the changes we’ve gone through over the pasts months, while others enjoy doing the same when it comes to… Internet-famous builds like the 2020 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Widebody we’re revisiting today, which is a twin-turbo, compound boost rising star.
Back in October, we spent some time watching the Mopar machine doing its racing thing against a Shelby F-150 Super Snake that had been taken to monstrous levels of power courtesy of a twin-turbo setup.
And while one might be tempted to believe the mad kitty got its TT inspiration from the said super truck, that’s not true. You see, the itsjusta6 YouTube channel, the current owners of the Dodge shared the twin-turbo plans they had for the Hellcat with us back then.
Besides, the 6.2-liter HEMI doesn’t have to give up on its factory blower for those sweet turbochargers. Instead, the latter, which now sit close to the transmission (more on this topic below), feed compressed air into the supercharger.
So, if you head over to the 3:55 timestamp of the clip below, you’ll see Gavin Trace Simon, the vlogger behind the said label, removing the air filter to reveal the pipes that link those turbos to the blower, blow off valve, and all.
There’s no mention of other serious mods, which might partially explain why the compound boost Hellcat is currently limited to 800 rear-wheel horsepower (north of 850 hp at the crank), but switching to E85 would also allow the muscle to grow—the setup is said to deliver up to 1,500 horsepower, which, even in today’s four-figure-is-the-new-normal environment is more than enough.
A show the twin charging (call it triple, if you must) might put, but the added hardware obviously increases the weight of a coupe that wasn’t exactly light to begin with.
Going up against a McLaren 600LT
As a result, the weight gap between the Hellcat and the McLaren 600LT it races in the video below, which normally sits at around 1,450 lbs (660 kg) has widened.
Note that the British supercar, here in a track-focused Longtail flavor, is a twin-turbo maniac itself, with its 3.8L V8 churning out 592 hp (600 PS).
Don’t worry, though, the two cars engaged in multiple rolling start runs—please don’t use this as an example and keep racing for the track—so you’ll get to see just how the two stack up against each other.
Added spice? That should come from the fact that the Hellcat sports a six-speed manual rather than the eight-speed auto many racers favor (there’s a seven-speed dual-clutch in the Macca).
