6 Of The Most Powerful Mopar Crate Engines Under $15,000

The Mopar name, Chrysler's clever blend of letters from its motor parts arm, is synonymous with powerful engines from the muscle car era. Today, Mopar continues to set the standard for high performance crate engines with the most powerful Dodge crate engines ever built provided through its retail distributor, Direct Connection. However, not everyone needs 1,500 horsepower or has the budget to support it.

Fortunately for the budget-conscious, some of the best engines ever put in a modern Mopar muscle car can be found in crate engine form for under $15,000. We'll also include some newer sub-$15K six-cylinder Mopar engines that are even more powerful.

Our list will only include complete crate engines, however, you should know that a crate engine can come to you in various levels of completion. The least complete options include short block and long block engines. The term "short block" typically refers to a complete rotating assembly, crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons (sometimes a camshaft), assembled in an engine block. Long blocks include the cylinder head(s), while complete engines include the intake system and often some engine accessories.

There are six Mopar crate engines that fall under the $15,000 cap with enough power worthy of making this list. Four come from Direct Connection, two with the familiar HEMI badge, and the other two are newer inline-six Hurricane designs. Two HEMI engines from sources outside Direct Connection also made our list of powerful Mopar crate engines under $15,000.

The most powerful and expensive Mopar crate engine from Direct Connection on our sub-$15,000 list is the 550-hp 3.0-liter Hurricrate Cat3 Twin Turbo. You might notice Mopar continuing with the clever wordplay, mashing the Twin Tubo Hurricane engine name with its crate engine offering and specifying performance levels, like Cat3, in a similar fashion as the National Hurricane Center rating scale.

In addition to the Cat3 Hurricrate, Mopar also offers a Cat1 twin turbo Hurricrate that we'll present shortly. Keep in mind that the two crate engines are very similar in their construction with only a few key differences making the Cat3 more powerful with a higher price.

The Cat3 Hurricrate uses a pair of Garrett turbochargers to feed up to 26 psi of cooled air into its intake system. The provided air-fuel mixture is compressed at a 9.5:1 ratio by forged aluminum pistons attached to forged-steel I-beam connecting rods via wrist pins coated with a friction-reducing diamond-like coating. In addition to the engine's 550 horsepower, the Cat3 Hurricrate produces 531 pound-feet of torque at a relatively low 3,500 rpm.

The 392-cubic-inch HEMI engine has been installed in a variety of cars, trucks, and SUVs over the last 14 years. While you'd think that would make the Direct Connection 485-horsepower 392 Crate HEMI, MSRP $9,600, a suitable replacement in those vehicles, the disclaimer at the bottom of the product listing warns against the engine's use in vehicles manufactured in 1976 or later, on public roads.

The 392 Crate HEMI (6.4L) features a cast-iron engine block with four-bolt main caps. Its crankshaft is made of forged steel, while the main caps and connecting rods are made of powder metal. The naturally aspirated HEMI comes as a complete package including items such as the water pump, clutch assembly, oil pan, intake manifold, throttle body, injectors, and coil packs for the electronic ignition.

Connecting rods are attached to the cast-hypereutectic-aluminum pistons via floating wrist pins. The pistons, combined with the aluminum HEMI cylinder heads, provide a 10.9:1 compression ratio, while the engine's redline rpm listed at 6,400, peak horsepower occurs at 6,100 rpm with a maximum torque of 475 lb-ft, comes in at 4,200 rpm.

If you've looked around much at crate engine options you probably already know about BluePrint Engines. The Nebraska-based company has provided engines since 1982. On our list is the company's 465-horsepower Chrysler small block compatible 408-cubic-inch carbureted crate engine, with 494 lb-ft of torque, priced at $11,249.

BluePrint Engines starts with hand-selected two-bolt main engine blocks. The seasoned blocks are sonic tested before being machined to ensure square and parallel surfaces. The main bearing bore is honed to ensure straightness, and cylinders are honed straight and round to within 0.0002-inch.

The rotating assembly includes a new cast-steel crankshaft, forged connecting rods, and forged 10.0:1 compression ratio pistons. The aluminum Edelbrock cylinder head castings are machined and assembled by BluePrint Engines and feature 58cc combustion chambers, 2.02-inch intake valves and 1.60-inch exhaust valves. The engine comes complete with everything from valve covers to oil pan, ignition distributor, plug wires, spark plugs, air cleaner, 750-cfm Holley carburetor, mechanical fuel pump and fuel line.

Doug Mascaritola founded Proformance Unlimited in 2002 and continues to hand-assemble each of the company's custom-built crate engines. One of the most affordable Mopar crate engines from Proformance Unlimited is the Gen III 345-cubic-inch HEMI. The turn-key-ready 345 produces 450 horsepower and is priced at $13,695.

The Proformance Unlimited crate engine is built around the Gen III 5.7L HEMI engine block. The process starts with squaring the block, aligning the main bearings, and honing the cylinders through a deck plate to ensure alignment of the completed engine. The internally balanced rotating assembly includes a steel crankshaft, I-beam connecting rods, and performance pistons with piston rings hand-filed to ensure proper end-gaps.

The aluminum cylinder heads are topped with a single plane intake manifold from Holley and 4150-style throttle body fuel injection. The Proformance Unlimited 345 HEMI crate engine is a complete package, right down to the included oil and filter. As a bonus, the HEMI engine build is documented through photographs.

Direct Connection's other Hurricrate engine, the Cat1, delivers 420 horsepower and 468 lb-ft of torque. Like the Cat3, the Cat1 Hurricrate engine is based on Mopar's 3.0L twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six engine, one of Ward's 10 Best Engines for 2022.

The Cat1 Hurricrate engine features an aluminum block and cylinder head construction with a forged alloy steel crankshaft, forged steel I-beam connecting rods, and cast aluminum pistons compared to the forged pistons in the Cat3. While the Cat1 has a 10.4:1 compression ratio, its low-inertia twin-turbochargers feed lower 22-psi boost pressures to the intake system. The twin-turbo system dedicates one turbocharger to each half of the engine's six cylinders.

Both Hurricrate engines from Direct Connection feature cylinder bores coated via Plasma Transfer Wire Arc. The ultra-thin coating provides a low-friction wear surface for pistons and piston rings inside the cylinder. Dual overhead camshafts with independent variable valve timing are another feature shared by the Hurricrate engine lineup.

The final Mopar engine to make our sub-$15K list is the 383-horsepower 345-cubic-inch (5.7L) HEMI crate engine with 417 lb-ft of torque from Direct Connection. Direct Connection says the $7,495 crate engine is "the same legendary 345 HEMI engine found in the 2015 and newer Dodge Challenger." However, it still carries the same emissions disclaimer as found on the company's other crate engine offerings.

Like the Proformance Unlimited 345 HEMI crate engine above, this Direct Connection crate engine starts with a Gen III HEMI engine block. However, differences appear with the use of a nodular iron crankshaft, powdered metal connecting rods, and hypereutectic aluminum pistons. Cylinder heads feature 319 aluminum construction and hemispherical combustion chambers. Intake valves measure 52.1mm (2.05-inch) intake valves and 39.4mm (1.55-inch) exhaust valves. Like the other Mopar crate engines on this list, the Direct Connection 345 Crate HEMI comes complete from throttle body to oil pan and water pump to clutch assembly.