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The Dodge Viper's V10 might sound like a garbage truck at idle, but who cares when it delivers 600 horsepower with emissions certification and a warranty Still, for some, that's just not enough power, and so the Mopar guys have come through with some parts to take the new McLaren-engineered 8.4L up to 650 HP. We're going to take a closer look at some of these components after the jump, and feel free to click on any of the photos to get a high-resolution version from our gallery.


Extracting more power from a 2-valve pushrod engine that already makes nearly 75 HP/L is no easy feat. So how did the Mopar boys pull off this daunting task


One of the most striking features of the stand-mounted engine is the set of massive tubular headers.


The five individual equal-length primary tubes meet at a set of intermediate collectors, with air flow from the front three and rear two cylinders combining into larger-diameter secondaries before joining into the huge collectors. This is commonly refered to a a "tri-Y" design, and generally favors broad powerband instead of maximum peak horsepower.


A pair of electronically-controlled throttle bodies, each with its own actuator, control airflow into the intake plenum. They look just about big enough to swallow a Cornish game hen. To achieve the hp increase over the stock engine, the incoming airflow is routed through a Mopar cold-air induction tract.


The intake manifold is said to be a "prototype" version of the production item, with a highly-polished upper half, and black powdercoat applied to the lower. From the outside, we can't see any obvious differences compared to the production item, but we wouldn't be surprised if the internal surfaces were massaged somewhat.


Black crinkle-finish valve covers and carbon-fiber fuel injector rail covers do nothing to improve power output, but they sure look menacing.

Also note that the massive oil pan ties into the bellhousing for maximum rigidity.


Note that the indirect (port) injector is now located in the cylinder head (unlike the older versions of the Viper V10 that placed the injector in the intake manifold). The exact reasons for doing this are unknown, but the change was obviously aimed at improving charge distribution across the rev range.