Some time has passed since the Dodge Demon was released and that means some of the hype has started to die down, at least as much as possible with a car producing 840hp. Especially one that is arguably the fastest production car in the world, on the drag strip that is. But what if you’re the type of person that doesn’t need all the flash and hype that goes along with the Demon, but wants all the performance and maybe even more. That’s when the world-renowned tuning shop, Petty’s Garage steps in with their Hellcat conversion kit that produces a tire-melting 1,000hp while maintaining the stock appearance.
We already know Petty knows a thing or two about making high-performance cars based on a couple reasons. One being the absolutely gorgeous baby blue restomod Superbird we spoke of a few months back. The second being the more obvious one, and that’s the racing heritage associated with the Petty name.
With 707hp, the Hellcat is by no means a slouch. A bit of a one trick pony maybe, but definitely not a slouch. Under the hood sits the third generation of the legendary Hemi V8, this one being the 6.2L that’s been fitted with a supercharger that brings it up to that 707hp. It’s a brute of an engine that is known for being bulletproof, but the grew at Petty’s Garage felt extremely confident that they could coax more power out of this legendary powerplant.
You might assume they just slapped a bigger supercharger or maybe some nitrous in order to add that additional 300hp, but you’d be wrong. Instead, they went about it in a way that would maintain the stock appearance. As strong as the motor is right from the factory floor, they knew they needed to install stronger internals to handle the additional power. The factory crank was swapped out for a Manley Pro Series stroker 4340 forged steel unit and they did the same with the connecting rods, pistons, cam, intake and exhaust valves as well as valve springs.
While the stock IHI supercharger remains, the Petty’s Garage crew did make a few changes with a Metco 2.65 pulley and ATI Super Damper 10-percent overdrive. What that does is increase the airflow going into the engine and more air means more power. More air coming in means there’s more air coming out and to ensure there was as little restriction as possible, Petty’s installed Kooks high flow cats and mid-pipes then attached them to Magnaflow 3-inch competitions cat back exhaust system to give it that deep throaty sound you would expect to hear coming from a muscle car pushing out 1,000hp.
Aside from not being able to handle the turns very well, the biggest drawback to the Hellcat is the rear wheels have a tendency to hop when under hard acceleration, and that’s in standard Hellcat trim so you can only imagine how an additional 300hp only intensifies the problem. So this was something that had to be addressed in order to achieve the desired performance. Since they needed to upgrade the suspension anyway, they decided to upgrade it to the point that will not only eliminate the wheel hop but also improve the ride quality and handling.
They ended up using a fully adjustable coil-over suspension system on all four corners as well as new sway bar kit and shock tower braces. The idea was to stiffen it up in all the right places and yet keep it soft in others. Petty’s Garage crew member Will Cheek had this to say, “Our suspension setup is a perfect combination for both street and track use. We offer this suspension package with a warranty on our website for any third-generation Hemi car.”
THe nice part about this conversion is if you already own a Hellcat Challenger, Petty’s Garage can turn it into a 1,000hp firebreathing monster for an undisclosed price. However, they do recommend that if at all possible you’ll want to get your hands on a new one so that you know it hasn’t been put through the ringer already.
