Hellcat-Powered Toyota Prius Is The Ultimate Sleeper Car
This $150,000 Toyota Prius has an 800-horsepower Dodge Hellcat engine under its hood and is ready to tear up the drag strip.
When it comes to car enthusiasts and the world of modding, engine swaps are pretty common. When you’re talking about installing a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 engine into a Toyota Prius, though, that’s on a whole other spectrum. It is definitely not something you hear of or see very often. I mean, I don’t think I ever heard of that happening – until now.
American Racing Headers, a pretty well-known company, did exactly that. They swapped the Dodge Hellcat’s 707-horsepower V8 engine into a second-generation Toyota Prius. What happened next will blow your mind. The former hybrid is now able to nearly pop wheelies and put it down on the drag strip. The best part? Thanks to this engine swap, the Prius now emits a sound that is never has before and one that no one expects to be coming from the “green” car.
Not only does it sound like a race car, but the Hellcat Prius is also really quick. Fast as hell, even. American Racing Headers took it out to Rockingham Dragway for a Modern Mopar event, where it managed an impressive 9.38-second quarter-mile sprint in the PriuSRT8. That time is even better than the one achieved by the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, the car that was actually engineered to dominate the drag strip right from the factory.
The Dodge Hellcat can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds with a 707-horsepower engine. The Prius only has between 110 and 134 horses and takes more than 10 seconds to reach 60 mph. With this engine mod, Filippides’ car goes from a low MSRP of $21,275 to its current value of $150,000. That package deal includes a dominating Prius with a six-speed transmission, a whopping 800 horsepower, and the capability to go a quarter mile in under 10 seconds – unlike its siblings.
According to CNBC, Filippides says that you do not need passengers to legacy drive qualifying hybrids in the carpool lane. This rule was apparently put into effect as a fuel efficiency incentive.
"“This is something that I concocted just driving on the Long Island Expressway, and having the HOV lane, and sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and just watching the conga line of Priuses going by,” Filippides explains."
We all know how everyone loves to suggest a GM LS V8 swap whenever someone mentions a project car. But, why stop there? You look that person right in the face (or online) and tell them you’re thinking bigger and badder. Hellcat V8’s are on the expensive side, but it will all be worth it with the looks you’ll be getting on the strip (and street even).
""
https://www.instagram.com/p/BihyIfSHDmq/?taken-by=american_racing_headers
The clip below from Jay Leno’s Garage takes you up close and personal with Nick Filippides of American Racing Headers with the beastly PriuSRT8.
The Toyota Prius aired last week on CNBC’s Jay Leno’s Garage. As Leno said, “I mean, it’s practical. It’s got four doors. It’s fuel-efficient. It’s quiet. You can eat kale in it. You can pick up gluten-free pasta in it. And when you put it in echo mode, it barely uses any gas at all.”
Next: Hennessey Performance Camaro ZL1 Is World’s Fastest Gen6
Check out the video below from American Racing Headers. They took their PriuSRT8 out to the track and achieved a 9.38 time!
Does this change your mind on the Prius at all? It’s pretty interesting to see what you can do to cars, with almost an endless slew of possibilities. No matter what your opinion is on this hybrid, there is no denying that the SRT8 version is a baddie. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts with us!