Dodge Demon SRT Power Chiller Explained – Video
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.