And they gain some other goodies…
Thanks to the return of Direct Connection, those who own Dodge Challenger Hellcats and Hellcat Redeyes can unlock more power without voiding the factory warranty. This is made possible through newly revealed Direct Connection Tuner and Stage kits. Two Stage kits are available for the Hellcats and three Stage kits for the Hellcat Redeyes, with the ability to squeeze out 840-horsepower and 770 lb.-ft. of torque.
Check out a Dodge Dakota Hellcat here.
The Pre-Stage Kit for Hellcats comes with a plug-and-play engine tuner. You plug it into the OBD-II port and can load Stage kit calibrations. In this form, the muscle car gets a 5-hp bump, plus downloadable tuning maps pave the way for more power upgrades in the future. If you want to take things further with your Challenger Hellcat, the Stage 1 Kit comes with the 3.17-inch Hellephant engine pulley as well as the Stage 1 key code for 757-hp and 696 lb.-ft. of torque.
There’s a Pre-Stage Kit for the Redeyes, but it comes with a performance air cleaner and low temp thermostat as well as the tuner. Far more interesting is the Stage 1 Kit, which provides a key code to unlock 840-hp and 770 lb.-ft. of torque when in high-octane mode.
Finally, there’s the Stage II Kit for Hellcat Redeyes, adding the 3.17-inch Hellephant engine pulley along with a key code for 885-hp and 787 lb.-ft. of tire-destroying torque.
There’s a long list of Tuner kits for the Dodge Challenger Hellcats and Hellcat Redeyes. They’re as tame as the Redeye High-flow Air Box which comes with a large open element air filter as well as hood or front fascia upgrades to increase airflow in the engine compartment. On the more extreme end are the Redeye Cylinder Heads, Complete which can be installed on 2015 or newer Hellcat engines to push redline from 6,200 to 6,500 rpm. This is a nice way for Stellantis to capture some of the revenue which has been flowing to aftermarket tuners.
What’s more, Stellantis says these kits are 50-state-legal, so everyone who lives in California or anywhere else particularly restrictive doesn’t have to worry about flunking the emissions test.
For reasons we could probably guess, Dodge has cut the Charger Hellcat and Hellcat Redeye models from this program. Since they’re bigger sellers than the Challengers, it’s a dubious move, but perhaps there’s something special in the wings for Chargers?
