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2025 Nissan Sentra ReviewCritics’ Choice: Hellephant Engine Swap
Why settle for stock? We ask our writers what vehicle they’d swap the absurdly powerful Dodge Hellephant engine into.
Infernal Pachyderm Power
As the automotive industry slowly but inexorably shifts away from internal combustion and toward electrification, companies like Dodge are giving gas power a proper send-off with insanely overpowered cars like the upcoming 2023 Dodge Challenger Demon SRT with its 6.2L supercharged Hemi V8 and its 1,025 horsepower. If that sounds banana-pants crazy, that’s because it is. And you don’t have to buy a limited edition “Last Call” Dodge to get this kind of power, either. Dodge will sell you a crate engine, the Hellephant, a 426 cu.-in. supercharged monster of a V8, for you to swap into whatever engine bay you can manage to stuff it into. The upcoming next-gen A30 Hellephant will make around 900 horsepower, though official numbers will be released when it goes on sale later this year.
In anticipation, we asked our writers to dream up the most fanciful and fantastic Hellephant swap candidates imaginable. Here’s what they said.
Jesse McGraw
1969 Plymouth Roadrunner
Short List
2016 Dodge Grand Caravan
2006 Dodge Magnum
2000 Plymouth Prowler
I can drop the 426 supercharged Hellephant crate engine into anything I want? I mean, there are a lot of cars that would get a lot more exciting with a 1,000-horsepower engine shoved under the hood, but I think I’ll stay within the Mopar family for this one. I could be “family friendly” and drop this behemoth into a Dodge Grand Caravan. I don’t think my wife would approve, but the kids would get a kick out of riding in a wheel spinning minivan. I could even go out and find one of those discontinued 2000s models like the Plymouth Prowler or the Dodge Magnum to create the ultimate “what if” versions of them.
In the end, I’ve settled on restomodding a classic that I have a great fondness for – the Plymouth Roadrunner. I found a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner in decent condition on Carsforsale.com that would be a great project car already, we’re just taking things in a more radical direction. There are some noticeable exterior blemishes and a little bit of rust to address, but the basic black paint and chrome trim is just what I want. No special decals and nothing too bright, just an unassuming classic waiting to open up the throttle on what’s hidden inside.
The 383 CID big block V8 with a four-barrel carb that’s already in this old Plymouth would work fine for cruising and maybe a couple passes at the local drag strip, but swapping in the Hellephant would shape this Roadrunner into a terrific sleeper. Everyone assumes these old muscle cars are already packing some heat under the hood, but few are expecting a modern Mopar marvel like the Hellephant.
The engine isn’t the only thing that’ll need to be swapped for this build. Mopar luckily provides customers with an available kit that’s made specifically for installation on pre-1976 vehicles. Probably add in an updated fuel system, a new suspension, and make sure we’ve got some modern disc brakes to slow things down. I’d also need to fit something like the T-6060 six-speed manual transmission in too, but I would find a way to keep that vintage pistol grip shifter that’s already installed. It’s too fitting for this classic muscle car.
It’s pretty much a little rust removal and some paint touch up before we’re ready to head out on the street and take names at the quarter mile. The local drag strip might require a full roll cage, fire suppression, and a racing seat setup with a four-point harness after I rip a 9 second time at 150 mph though… I can’t blame them, but I’ll probably lose some of my “sleeperness” once people see that stuff installed on the inside.
Jesse Batson
1991 Jeep Wrangler
Short List
1967 AMC Rambler
1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer
1949 Chrysler Town and Country
Which vehicle would I choose to put a Hellephant in? In other words, which vehicle would I want to have maximum power? There are a few ways to approach this. There are zany choices like a Volkswagen Beetle or a Nissan Cube. I don’t know that a Hellephant would even fit in those, so I’m trying to be at least somewhat realistic here.
I guess it comes down to choosing a vehicle that has good qualities in other areas, but maybe lacks the boost that a 1,000-horsepower Hellephant would certainly provide.
I considered a Chrysler Town & Country, rocking 1940s style and equipped with unassuming power under the hood. That would certainly be fun! Speaking of style, this 1967 AMC Rambler (another contender) certainly has it. I wanted something more suited for mountain adventures, highway cruising, and beach going, though.
Really, what I was looking for was a vehicle that could handle any outdoor situation and still be a lot of fun to drive at fast speeds. A two-door, 4WD 1991 Jeep Wrangler with 141,273 miles on it ended up being my choice.
It’s got a lot of miles, for sure, but it’s an engine swap, so I’m OK with that. Plus, I’ve had cars with more than 141,273 miles on them. The 4.0-liter I6 engine that is currently under the hood of this ’91 Wrangler puts out just 126 horsepower with 148 lb-ft of torque. This was actually the first Wrangler model year for the engine, which was a big hit. Still, there’s no denying that the Hellephant is going to be a heck of an upgrade!
The thing I like about the Wrangler is that it’s ready for an outing with 8.2 inches of ground clearance, 4WD, and all-terrain BFGoodrich tires. The things I like about this particular 1991 Jeep Wrangler is the dark blue paint job, sunset decals, and the cloth seats that make cleaning dirt and sand easier, and.
Obviously, it doesn’t have the modern conveniences like backup cameras, dual-zone automatic climate control, or any of the driver assists. However, this Wrangler does have an updated audio system with rear speakers. Plus, I can always buy some aftermarket accessories. There are even aftermarket safety features available.
It probably wouldn’t be my daily driver, but it could be. According to the description, all the gauges work and this Jeep drives, shifts, and runs as it should. Using the free Vehicle History Reports feature and see that it has a clean junk and salvage history, too. That’s promising. Even though this Wrangler has been driven around South Carolina back roads and highways for the past 20 years, it’s clear of any rust. There isn’t any indication of flood damage, either.
With two bucket seats up front and a bench in the back, there’s room for me, a guest, and the pets. Or maybe a few friends and the dogs stay at home. The Jeep Wrangler gives me some options. While the Hellephant engine is meant for more than driving to the grocery store, there are enough features here that I could get by with this Jeep as my only vehicle if I had to.
Mostly, though, the Jeep Wrangler is my choice because I’m imagining finding a nice stretch of road in Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Florida, or California, putting the top down, finding some good music, and making use of the potent Hellephant engine! Maybe stop somewhere to enjoy a little dip in a pool? Yeah, I can imagine that. When it comes to some summer enjoyment, this Jeep (powered by the Hellephant) is perfect.
Chris Kaiser
2000 Lexus SC 300
Short List
1987 Suzuki Samurai
1947 Packard Clipper
2005 Subaru Baja
Because swapping a Hellephant crate engine into anything other than a muscle car is probably going to result in absurdity, I felt I needed to embrace the fanciful with my pick. With that said, the most obvious choice is to put this giant 7.0L engine into something tiny like a Miata or a Nash Metropolitan. To get that irony out of my system I contemplated swapping the Hellephant into an ‘87 Suzuki Samurai. Would the engine fit without massive structural alterations? Probably not, but if you did manage to get it in the Samurai, you’d have your own miniature Japanese American G-Wagon. Which is pretty sweet on paper, at least.
As is my frequent wont, I also considered swapping the Hellephant into a Subaru Baja. This would be part of a wider plan to create the most Subaru Subaru ever, mixing the goofball tuning spirit of the WRX with the granola crunching, dog loving spirit of the Outback. This means ground effects and roof racks, off-road tires, side skirts, and a Hellephant making unsafe levels of horsepower. But my fellow writers claim I always choose the Baja for these things, which is only kinda true.
A more traditional swap would have been to jettison an old obsolete engine from an American classic, like say a ’47 Packard Clipper Coupe. The Art Deco streamlined design evokes speed, so why not give the car the horsepower its always craved? Because that’s already an expensive car and the next-gen Hellephant is going to cost upwards of $30,000 by itself.
With all that out of my system, I knew there was only one car I wanted to swap a Hellephant into, the Lexus SC 300. You see, the first-gen SC is the Lexus version of the venerated, potentially overhyped but certainly now and future classic Mk IV Toyota Supra.
So why aren’t used SC 300s selling for well over $100,000? Because, though they did carry an ultra-reliable 2JZ straight-six, they didn’t have that 2JZ. While the Supra could be optioned with a twin-turbo 3.0L 2JZ-GTE, the SC 300 had to settle for the naturally aspirated 3.0L 2JZ-GE (the Supra’s default engine). Not a bad engine, indeed an exceptionally good engine, just not the one engineered to take mountains of boost to achieve Hellephant levels of horsepower, were you to so tune it. So, rather than swap a 2JZ for a different 2JZ, I figure, why not just drop a Hellephant into an SC 300?
The specific 2000 Lexus SC 300 I found for the job is about as sleeper as it gets. Its grandpa-approved color scheme of beige outside and beige inside keeps things distinctly low key. Of course, you get all the Lexus goodies like leather upholstery and wood interior trim to roll in comfort and style. Indeed, an SC 300 Hellephant is not just the build the world wants, it’s the build the world needs.
