So what happens when you take perhaps the most non-muscle car on the planet, cut out all the sheet metal beyond the windshield and drop in a 6.2-liter V8 engine capable of pumping out 1,000 horsepower? Well, the engineers at New York-based American Racing Headers call it the Prius SRT8.
Basically, the custom car builders thought it would be fun to take the body of a Toyota Prius hybrid, mount it on a slightly customized frame, and combine it with the motor a Dodge Hellcat … that gets 300 additional horsepower from a supercharger.
The engine is bolted directly to the frame, presumably to make the most of space and to ensure the vehicle isn’t torn apart by the torque. Using a six-speed manual transmission, a report on Digital Trends says the hotrod might be the world’s first rear-wheel drive Prius with a stick shift.
The suspension system was redesigned to handle the extra power, and bigger brakes were added for obvious reasons. And in case there was any doubt, all that fuel-efficient, green automotive technology was scrapped in favor of a bigger gas tank.
ARH describes the vehicle as “arguably the most politically incorrect car” they’ve ever built.
PC aside, the Prius SRT8 recently visited a drag strip where it laid down a quarter-mile time of 9.38 seconds, reaching a top speed of 147 mph. According to Digital Trends, that’s faster than both the Challenger Demon and Hellcat.
I guess Tesla isn’t the only one who knows how to make electric vehicles fun.
