The first thing to follow a crate engine announcement seems to be a long wait. Dodge announced a range of Hurricrate inline-six engines and four Hellephants in November 2022. The Hurricates are finally here. They start with the Cat 1 (as in hurricane category, ba-dum bump) making 420 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque with 22 psi of boost from its two turbos and a 10.4:1 compression ratio. There’s an aluminum block and twin-cam head, cast aluminum pistons, and liquid cooling working on the exhaust manifolds and intercooler. The Cat 3 Huuricrate upgrades to forged aluminum pistons and rings, plus low-friction coatings on the wristpins. There’s greater flow through the fuel injection system and additional cooling for the intercooler. A reduced 9.5:1 compression ratio and 26 psi of boost crank output to 550 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque.
The Cat 1 long block goes for $7,995, the full crate engine at $10,495. The Cat 3 long block wants $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.
Dodge said it would be releasing two transmissions to go with these engines, a DC1 and a DC2, those appear to still be in the works. We can’t find the DC1 or DC2 gearbox on the Direct Connection site. We’re also waiting on one more Hurricrate, the track-only Cat X that Dodge estimated to be capable of more than 1,000 hp.
News of three more Hellephant engines came with the Hurricrate announcement, turning one supercharged 426 cubic-inch (7.0L) V8 into a quartet of supercharged engines. The main difference is the block material, either aluminum like the Hellephant we already know or cast-iron. The cast-iron version has smaller displacement at 376 cubic inches (6.2L), making up for that with a smaller supercharger pulley on the 3.0-liter supercharger and a larger 105-mm (versus 92 mm) throttle body. And although the iron block shares displacement with the Hellcat, the iron Hellephant has a variety of improvements to the valvetrain, connecting rods, bearings and main bearing caps.
Naming-wise, the aluminum engines start with “A,” the cast-iron ones with “C.” A number then denotes the appropriate fuel based on alcohol proof number; the limit for pump gas is E15, so 30 proof, and E85 is 170 proof. So you have the A30, A170, C30, and C170. The C30 tops out at 900 horsepower, the rest can get to 1,000 horsepower or more.
Only the C170 is out and priced so far, the long block alone running $18,995, the crate engine asking $27,675. These are all going to need that DC2 transmission or other suitable gearbox as well.
