Innovative SRT Power Chiller™ in 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Wins 2017 Popular Science Best of What's New Award

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• SRT Power Chiller™ uses 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon's air conditioning refrigerant to help cool compressed air entering the 840-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI® Demon V-8
• SRT Power Chiller is one of several production-car technology firsts that make 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon the world's fastest quarter-mile car and first-ever production car to lift the front wheels at launch, as certified by Guinness World Records
• Popular Science magazine's annual Best of What's New awards for technology announced in the December 2017 issue
• Fueling the future: Technologies created for low-volume SRT vehicles also offer solutions to engineering challenges such as improving fuel economy

The SRT Power Chiller™, a key component of the record-setting, 840-horsepower 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, is among Popular Science's best of What's New for 2017.

"The Best of What's New awards honor the innovations that shape the future," says Joe Brown, Editor in Chief, Popular Science. "From life-saving technology to incredible space engineering to gadgets that are just breathtakingly cool, this is the best of what's new."

And cool this feature is, or does, literally. A production car first, the SRT Power Chiller uses the car's air conditioning refrigerant to help further cool the air entering the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI® Demon V-8's cylinders. Cooler air contains more oxygen molecules, helping the engine deliver maximum output of 840 horsepower with 100+ high-octane unleaded fuel.

The SRT engineering and advanced powertrain teams are a test bed of development for the entire Dodge and FCA fleet of vehicles. Groundbreaking, award-winning technologies developed for SRT applications can trickle into higher volume mainstream applications – and even be used for differing purposes, such as improving efficiency.  

"Creating a street-legal machine that is powered by an engine with unrelenting power and torque, specifically engineered for the drag strip, yet street legal and meeting all emissions, pass-by noise and SRT durability standards demands outside-the-box thinking," said Chris Cowland, Director of Advanced and SRT Powertrain, FCA US LLC. "The technologies that make lower-volume SRT products special can deliver significant benefits in alternative applications. For example, while denser intake air and high-octane fuels are part of the recipe that makes the Challenger SRT Demon a head-turner, they can be just as important in meeting the challenges of improving fuel economy."

Popular Science magazine's annual 2017 Best of What's New awards, covering the top 100 tech innovations of the year in 11 categories, are announced in the December 2017 issue, which reached newsstands on Oct. 17, 2017.

How the SRT Power Chiller works
The 6.2-liter HEMI Demon V-8 uses a dedicated liquid circuit, separate from the engine cooling circuit, to cool air after it leaves the 2.7-liter supercharger.

The SRT Power Chiller is enabled in Drag Mode from the SRT Drive Mode controls. When activated, air conditioning refrigerant is diverted from the cabin to the chiller unit.

The supercharger charge air coolant passes through a low-temperature radiator at the front of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon then flows through the SRT Power Chiller unit, where it is further cooled by the refrigerant. The chilled liquid then flows through heat exchanger units in the supercharger housing, cooling compressed air as it enters the intake ports. Cooler air is denser, containing more oxygen molecules per volume than warm air. With more oxygen entering the engine, adding more fuel produces more power.

Capable on the street, dominant at the drag strip
The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon roared to life in April at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, following a multi-week series of short videos and information that revealed details of the modern muscle cars capabilities.

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is engineered to be absolutely dominating at the drag strip. In addition to the SRT Power Chiller, the technology arsenal includes:

• Supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI Demon V-8 rated at 840 hp and 770 pounds-feet of torque when fueled with 100+ high-octane unleaded fuel and unique powertrain control module. The engine develops 808 hp and 717 pounds-feet of torque with 91-octane fuel
• Air-Grabber™ induction system that includes the largest functional hood scoop (45.2 square inches) of any production car
• First-ever, factory-production car with TransBrake, for more powerful and quicker launches, and Torque Reserve, to deliver increased levels of power and torque at launch
• Drag Mode suspension tuning, which maximizes weight transfer to the rear wheels for better traction, and Drag Mode Launch Assist, which uses wheel speed sensors to watch for driveline-damaging wheel hop at launch and in milliseconds modifies the engine torque to regain full grip
• Factory-installed, 315/40R18 Nitto street-legal drag radials for improved grip

Production of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is limited to 3,300 vehicles – 3,000 for the United States and 300 for Canada – with a U.S. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $84,995 (including $1,700 gas guzzler tax, excluding $1,095 destination.) Deliveries to Dodge//SRT dealers begins this fall.

About Best of What's New
Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year—breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant leap in their categories. The winners, the Best of What's New, are awarded inclusion in the much-anticipated December issue of Popular Science, the most widely read issue of the year since the debut of Best of What's New in 1988. Best of What s New awards are presented to 100 new products and technologies in 11 categories: Automotive, Aerospace, Engineering, Entertainment, Gadgets, General Innovation, Security, Software, Home, Health and Recreation.

About Dodge//SRT
Dodge//SRT offers a complete lineup of performance vehicles that stand out in their own segments. Dodge is FCA North America's mainstream performance brand, and SRT is positioned as the ultimate performance halo of the Dodge brand, together creating a complete and balanced performance brand with one vision and one voice.

For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge, who founded the company in 1914. Their influence continues today. New for 2018, the 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, the fastest quarter-mile production car in the world and most powerful muscle car ever, is taking the world by storm, along with the new 2018 Dodge Durango SRT, America's fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV, and the 707-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody. These new SRT ultimate performance models join a brand lineup that includes the Durango, Grand Caravan, Journey, Charger and Challenger, including the 707-horsepower Challenger SRT Hellcat and the Charger SRT Hellcat, the quickest, fastest and most powerful sedan in the world.

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SOURCE FCA US LLC