For most drivers, the idea of having to replace an engine is the stuff of nightmares. Expensive nightmares. But for a certain brand of gearhead, getting a new high-performance V8 for their ride would be a dream come true. Especially if it were the biggest, baddest crate engine Chevrolet ever offered.
Those adjectives come courtesy of the Bowtie brand, which also provides the specs for its new ZZ632 V8 to back them up. For starters, the 632 is the mill’s displacement in cubic inches and translates into 10.4 liters in metric terms. It further incorporates features like high-flow spread-port cylinder heads and an all-forged roller assembly with a hydraulic camshaft, plus it’s a high-revving V8 with a redline of 7,000 rpm. As a result, you can enjoy an incredible 1,004 horsepower and 876 pound-feet of torque if you quench the engine’s thirst with 93 octane gas.
Just remember, with great power comes a great big price tag, too. The ZZ632 crate engine, available packed up from GM Performance Parts, retails for almost $49,000 with a crank-trigger ignition system, plug coils, water pump, balancer, and distinctive orange valve covers. Not a Chevy fan? Don’t worry — Dodge and Ford offer 1,000-horsepower crate engines as well.
Discovering the Dodge Hellephant V8
The Dodge bestiary has some fairly interesting creatures, from Super Bees to Vipers to even Hellephants — the latter being the name of a mighty 6.2-liter V8 crate engine. A departure from the ZZ632, it takes a different route to delivering 1,025 horsepower and 945 pound-feet of torque on E85 fuel. The Hellephant gets its grunt by adding a 3.0-liter IHI supercharger to the motor. And, yes, it’s a true Hemi engine, complete with hemispherical combustion heads.
From a real-world standpoint, the Hellephant C170 at the top of the food chain was also used in the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. This turnkey dragster was capable of getting to 60 in an EV-like 1.66 seconds and an NHRA-certified quarter-mile mark of 8.91 seconds. Dodge will now sell you that motor for just under $28,000.
Even better — and unlike the COPO Camaro sold by Chevy with the ZZ632 V8 for racing only — the SRT Demon 170 is somehow street legal. So that 0-to-60 sprint time counts as the quickest ever set by a production car.
Finding out about Ford’s Megazilla 2.0
The Blue Oval’s mighty Megazilla 2.0 V8 is our final member of the 1,000-horsepower club. True, we don’t know what’s the deal with this engine’s full specs yet, but Ford’s claim of “more than 1,000” horses is good enough for us. Its expected price of about $33,000 is also pretty good news, at least compared to the Chevy’s ZZ632.
If you’re curious, the first Megazilla crate engine was a naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V8, an evolution of the Godzilla motor found in Ford’s HD trucks. Now, Megazilla 1.0 was no slouch, as it could make a hefty 612 horsepower. The 2.0 version, however, follows the same forced-induction strategy as the Hellephant C170 to make its four figures worth of horsepower.
One downside to the supercharged Megazilla 2.0 is that Ford is touting it for competition use only right now. But we’ll see what enthusiasts get up to once it goes on sale later this year. Who knows, perhaps it will give Ford the opportunity to reboot its own factory-built dragster: the Ford Mustang Super Cobra Jet, last seen as a record-setting EV prototype in 2024.
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