Hennessey Bumps the Dodge Hellcats to 852 Horsepower

2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat (Credit: © Dodge)

Earlier in August, Hennessey released a video showing its Mustang HPE750 delivering a thrashing to Dodge’s pride and joy, the Challenger Hellcat. Just hours after releasing this video, however, Hennessey pulled it from the open airwaves by marking it “private.” Some of my colleagues were trying to figure out why Hennessey would pull such an awesome video, but the recent reveal of the Hennessey-tuned Hellcats offers us the reason why.

Hennessey, like many tuners, likely starts its research process with conversations with the manufacturer itself and continues open talks with the manufacturer throughout the process. Once Dodge caught wind of Hennessey bragging about stomping a mud hole in the Hellcat, the brand likely threatened to cut of communications. In order to keep communications open, it seems as if Hennessey pulled the video down.

Anywho, let’s get to what really matters, the cars! Both the Challenger and Charger Hellcats have received the special touch of the folks at Hennessy. The results are two kits for each vehicle, the HPE800 and the HPE850.

The HPE800 upgrade includes a new ECU, upgraded software, a high-flow air filter, an upgraded lower pulley to increase boost by 1 to 2 PSI, and a port-matched throttle body. These upgrades push the 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 to 805 horsepower at 6,200 rpm, which is a 98-horse gain over the standard model.

The HPE850 model only has one extra upgrade over the HPE800, and that is a ported supercharger housing. This model delivers 852 horsepower at 6,200 rpm, which is a 145-horsepower gain. While it is likely that the ported housing had a little to do with the extra power over the HPE800, the majority of the increase is likely in the revised software.

On top of the power upgrades, the two Hennessey-tuned Dodges have a few visual upgrades. These include Hennessey-embroidered headrests, Hennessey exterior badges, HPE850 and HPE800 badges, a numbered dash plaque, and a numbered under-hood plaque.

There are no pricing details available yet for these new tuning kits.