What Type Of Supercharger Does A Hellcat Have And Does It Fit On A 5.7 HEMI?

The Dodge Charger and Challenger Hellcat have disrupted the American muscle car market more than any other car in the past decade. They offered some of the best horsepower-per-dollar figures of any American car in 2015, with 707 horsepower on tap for a starting price of only $60,990 for the Challenger and $66,990 for the Charger. That herd of ponies was produced from a supercharged 6.2 HEMI V8, which was Chrysler's most powerful engine when the Hellcat was released. Since then, Chrysler has ramped up the Hellcat's power production with the introduction of the Redeye, Jailbreak, and Super Stock models — all of which utilize the 6.2 HEMI, just with different superchargers and tuning.

While the 6.2 HEMI has made a name for itself under the hood of multiple high-performance Chrysler vehicles, the 5.7 HEMI that came before it is just as celebrated, but not quite as powerful. The 2003-2008 5.7 HEMI was first offered in Ram work trucks before finding its way into performance cars like the Chrysler 300C, Dodge Magnum R/T, and Dodge Charger R/T. In truck form, the 5.7 HEMI made up to 345 horsepower, and in the performance sedans, it made 350 horsepower – a bit of a power deficit compared to the 807 horsepower that the 6.2 HEMI makes in the Hellcat Super Stock.

Thanks to that discrepancy in power, many 5.7 HEMI enthusiasts look for other ways to maximize power from the engine, with supercharging being one route to massive power figures. Luckily, the aftermarket has found a way to make the twin-screw superchargers available on every version of the Hellcat's 6.2 HEMI compatible with the underpowered 5.7 HEMI.

While the 6.2 HEMI has remained largely the same since it was released in 2015, the multiple variants of the engine found in the standard Hellcat, Redeye, Jailbreak, and Super Stock produce different power outputs, mainly due to their superchargers. While all variants of the 6.2 HEMI use the same kind of supercharger across the board, the displacement of those superchargers (and tuning) makes the difference.

All 6.2 HEMIs feature a twin-screw supercharger courtesy of IHI. That is a departure from the roots-style superchargers that are most often found on production American muscle cars like the Shelby GT500 and Corvette ZR1. While roots-style superchargers work by creating pressure in the manifold to compress intake air, twin-screw superchargers like the ones used on the 6.2 HEMI, feature rotors that mesh together to compress the air directly. Twin-screw superchargers tend to be more efficient than roots superchargers and sap less power from the engine to work.

The IHI superchargers used by the 6.2 HEMI came in two different displacements in the Hellcat. The base Hellcat used a 2.4L model of the supercharger capable of 11.6 pounds of boost and was good for between 707 horsepower on earlier models and 717 horsepower on models after 2021.

The year 2021 also saw the introduction of the Hellcat Redeye, which featured a 2.7L variant of the IHI twin-screw, bumping horsepower up to 797 with 14.5 pounds of boost. As an optional addition to the Redeye model, Dodge also offered the Jailbreak package, adding more customizability options and increasing horsepower to 807 while still using the 2.7L twin-screw. The Hellcat Super Stock, which featured track-focused modifications from the factory, also used the 2.7L supercharger and had an output of 807 horsepower.

While there is a wide variety of superchargers on the market made specifically for the 5.7 HEMI — including twin-screw, roots, and centrifugal options — some enthusiasts like the novelty of using OEM parts for their build. For that reason, aftermarket manufacturers have found a way to repurpose the IHI superchargers that came stock on the 6.2 HEMI to convert the naturally aspirated 5.7 HEMI into a high-horsepower supercharged beast. However, the supercharger swap isn't plug-and-play, requiring specialty parts to make the conversion work.

The conversion process isn't easy, as there are multiple different roadblocks that make supercharging a naturally aspirated 5.7 HEMI difficult. While adapter plates that convert the 5.7 HEMI's cylinder head intake mounting holes to accept a 6.2 supercharger are becoming widely available, there are other difficult challenges associated with the swap.

The 5.7 HEMI also needs to be modified to drive the supercharger, control the internal bypass valve, provide appropriate vacuum, supply oil and coolant, and work with a number of other supercharger-specific components. The swap also requires a quality tune to ensure that the 5.7 HEMI can handle the boost safely and with good drivability. 

While there are multiple manufacturers that sell an adapter plate for the conversion, there is only one kit available that comes with all the necessary components for a full 5.7 Hellcat supercharger swap. The kit, made by Modern Muscle Xtreme, is customizable and allows you to select all of the components you need to make the swap work, including an adapter plate, coolant accessories, bypass and boost controllers, and a new MAP sensor — essentially everything except for the supercharger itself. The full kit is available for well over $3,000.