Back at the 2018 SEMA Show, Mopar introduced the Hellephant as the nastiest crate engine that Ma Mopar has ever offered. Displacing 426 cubic inches and topped by a 3.0-liter IHI supercharger, this monster delivers 1,000 horsepower and 950 lb-ft of torque on 93-octane pump gas.

The only problem was that Mopar only produced and sold 100 of them and they sold out in two business days. Even with the lofty price tag of $29,995, hardcore Mopar fans lined up to buy these thousand horsepower mills, leading to some very cool custom builds. There were also plenty of people who would have liked to buy a Hellephant Hemi crate engine, but they missed out on those initial 100 units.

At the 2022 SEMA Show, Dodge announced that the Direct Connection catalog will soon feature not one Hellephant, but four – as part of the new Hellephant Crate Engine Series. One of those engines is what we know as the original Hellephant from back in 2018, but the other three are new and two offer even bigger power.

Above: Hellephant C170

There are four engines in the Hellephant Crate Engine Series with the biggest difference between the four being the engine block material and the type of fuel required.

The Hellephant A30 is what we previously knew as the Hellephant 426 Supercharged Mopar Crate Hemi. It has an aluminum engine block, a 3.0-liter IHI supercharger, a 3.17-inch pulley and it runs on 93-octane pump gas, delivering 1,000 horsepower. It seems that nothing has really changed about this engine other than the name and Dodge expects for this engine to be available in Q2 of 2023.

Joining the A30 is the A170, which also has an aluminum engine block measuring 426 cubic inches and the same IHI blower, but this Hellephant is tuned to run on E85 ethanol. With this unique engine tune and the same 3.17-inch pulley as the A30 engine, this powerplant is expected to yield more than 1,100 horsepower. This is the most powerful engine in the Hellephant family, but it isn’t expected to arrive until Q2 of 2024.

Above: Hellephant A30

The first of the new Hellephant engines is the C30. This engine features the same cast iron construction and has the same displacement as the current Hellcat and Redeye engines (376CI, 6.2L), but it has a long list of unique features which includes the 3.0-liter IHI supercharger.

Key features of this engine include the 3.02-inch supercharger pulley, a 105mm throttle body, upgraded cylinder heads, upgraded pistons, upgraded connecting rods, all-new bottom-end bearings, billet main caps, improved fasteners (head and main caps) and a new fluid crank damper. When running on 93-octane pump gas, the C30 Hellephant crate engine is expected to deliver around 900 horsepower when it goes on sale in Q4 of 2023.

When you step up to the Hellephant C170, you get all of the same components mentioned above, but this crate engine is tuned for E85 ethanol. As a result, the output climbs to “over 1,000 horsepower” when it arrives during Q3 of 2023.

Above: Hellephant C170

We do not have any pricing for these engines yet, but we know that when the A30 was originally sold as the Hellephant 426 Supercharged Mopar Crate Hemi, it had an MSRP of $29,995. We would expect that the A30 would start in that range while the more powerful A170, with some unique components such as the injectors, would start slightly higher.

As for the C30 and C170 engines, since they are made from cast iron and not aluminum, we would expect them to cost a bit less. We know that the 807-horsepower Hellcrate Redeye with the 2.7-liter supercharger has an MSRP of $21,807, so we would expect that the 900hp C30 would be somewhere north of that while the C170 would be slightly less than the A30.

Finally, if none of the engines above are powerful enough to meet your needs, Direct Connection has two race engine offerings. The first is the 354 cubic inch engine in the current Challenger Drag Pak, offering 630 factory horsepower with help from a 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger and a long list of supportive upgrades that make this engine race-ready.

Above: 354 Supercharged HEMI® Drag Pak

The second is the Direct Connection 1500 Hemi Crate Engine, which measures 426 cubic inches from a cast iron block, topped with unique aluminum cylinder heads and the Whipple 3.0-liter supercharger, leading to an output of 1,500 horsepower and 1,000 lb-ft of torque on E85. The Drag Pak Hemi has an MSRP of $56,995 while the 1500 Hemi is listed at $59,990. Those prices likely seem outrageous to many people, but keep in mind that we are talking about NHRA competition-ready components inside and out.