Supercharged Charger Hellcat by David Zatz on

Yesterday, Glenn Paulina caught the SRT team in mule cars, testing the new supercharged 6.2-liter “Hellcat” V8. At least one Dodge Charger was present, testing the 6.2 V8 engine, which due for a calendar-year 2014 launch in the 2015 Challenger, Charger, and possibly 300C.

Allpar’s Danno wrote that, along with the high-powered engine, the next-generation Challenger will have a special lightweight hood, cutting weight a bit; there may be other weight-saving adjustments as well. This car will have a hefty price tag, but should still check in below equivalent Ford and Chevy cars, boasting similar or better performance with a much more livable cabin.

According to Danno, the Challenger’s lower front bumper has no less than three air intakes; on the outer edges, where the fog lights were, are intakes for the supercharger coolers. The supercharged Hemi makes a huge amount of noise, and as one would expect, gulps in a large amount of air; twin charge air coolers are set up to reduce the temperature of the incoming air. Charger’s larger grille seems more amenable to the setup than Challenger’s, allowing Charger to keep its fog lights.

There is still development and durability work to do on the supercharged engine, but it appears that it’s proceeding well so far.