Someone Transplanted All The Dodge Hellcat Redeye's Parts Into This Charger Rental Car

September last year Tavarish, an automotive YouTuber, bought his most boring vehicle to date: an ex-rental 2017 Dodge Charger. In a YouTube upload, It doesn't seem to have the character of his usual purchases, such has the Yugo. The main issue with this car is the interior's smell. Unfortunately, shutting the doors doesn't seem to hold the stench in. The car has scratch marks around the driver-side window, signs that somebody tried to force entry into the vehicle. Quite worse for wear, this car is running nearly bald rear tires as well as minor rusting on the rear of the vehicle. A collection of garbage fills the car's trunk.

Bought as a non-runner the car somehow comes to life, although it does struggle to ignite. With the smell dealt with Tavarish threw his newest car around his car park. With less than 300 horsepower this Charger lacks the brute force of its larger siblings. Until now, the YouTuber kept his cards to his chest, not revealing what this full build would be.

Tavarish turned a base Charger into an 800-horsepower beast.

How Bad Is The V6 Charger?

As is the norm for Tavarish, he peculiarly acquired his car. Dodge gifted a Hellcat charger to him after Roadkill Nights, a drag racing event in Detroit. This particular Hellcat has plenty of interior features unfinished, as a prototype, it's a sign of what Dodge has coming next for the Charger. However, after the event, the pinnacle of Muscle cars was off to the scrapyard. But with the permission of Dodge, he could pick it for parts. Thus, this project was born. Tavarish describes the base 2017 Charger as a “beater” only costing $10,000.

The V6 Charger is by no means a bad saloon car. According to Dodge, MSRP starts at $31,350. With four doors, a reasonably sized trunk and the 3.6 liter Pentastar V6 the SXT Charger balances performance and usability. This car hits 60 mph in 6.5 seconds. In the real world, this base Charger performs pretty well. However, when compared to the Hellcat Charger Redeye, which sprints to 60 mph in only 3.55 seconds, it is severely lacking. This SXT specification also lacks in some of the more luxurious elements that other Dodge models come with, like leather and a larger 8-inch infotainment screen.

Although Dodge's Hellcat models sell on the prestige of the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine. More goes into a Hellcat than just this. With more aggressive and aerodynamic bodywork, larger brakes, and upgraded clutch to take the extra torque. The Hellcat's interior is a major improvement over the SXT, which is no surprise with the $60,000 price difference between them. The dashboard has two large red gauges, along with a more sporting SRT branded flat-bottomed steering wheel.

How Hard Is It To Engine Swap A Charger?

The V6 engine doesn't take much space under the hood of the Charger, leaving a huge gap between it and the frame rails. The Hellcat engine uses all the space beneath the hood. With a monstrous transmission and an estimated weight of 1,100 pounds, it's astonishing what engineers at Dodge have accomplished. Packed in tightly at the front end is the cooling package with an intercooler that covers the entire front end.

Miraculously the Hellcat swapped Charger starts the first time. With remarkably few check engine lights and only key and airbag warnings displaying this entire project seems to be far too easy. All that's left after this is the bodywork and interior to give the Charger the look of a true Hellcat.

What's The Rental Hellcat Like?

Dodge Charger Hellcat (2017 SXT built) with hood open (1) — Tavarish

Tavarish claims that underneath, the car requires very little modification. Only a small adjustment on the rear quarter panel of the car to fit the large wheels that are on the Hellcat Widebody. The team aims for a car that looks as OEM as possible, so instead of purchasing the Charger's over-fender kit they traced and built new metalwork to weld to the vehicle. However, the YouTuber's bodywork specialist Jack has plenty of work cut out for him with the smaller features that come on the Hellcat models. These include fitting all those Hellcat logos, the shark fin antenna, and large intakes on the hood.

Sprayed in Dodge's iconic Go Mango shade that adorned the exterior of the Duke of Hazard's Dodge Charger, Tavarish's project looks like any other Hellcat on the roads. The build quality is exceptional as well, with minuscule panel gaps and a fully fitted interior Hellcat fanatics won't be able to tell it apart from a 'real' Hellcat. With the Hellcat motor underneath the hood producing a claimed 800 horsepower, it has the power to back up its claim to the title.

After checking the alignment of the vehicle the first order of business, like many Hellcat owners was to perform a burnout. With the fully functional infotainment system, the project has access to the vehicle's full power as well as an array of driving modes. In SRT mode, the 'fake' Hellcat squirms under acceleration as it struggles to find traction. Tavarish asks how they can sell this vehicle to people, with such power being easily accessible it seems impossible to not get into trouble.