Detroit's automakers are very serious about their muscle cars and the bragging rights associated with them. So you can bet Chrysler's Dodge and SRT divisions are tired of seeing their beloved Challenger being trounced by Chevy and Ford. Whereas the top-spec Camaro ZL1 packs 580 horsepower and the Mustang Shelby GT500 boasts 650, the most the Challenger can muster is 470, even with the big 6.4-liter Hemi V8 under the hood. So what's the answer? Well, if the ZL1 and GT500 got their figures by supercharging, so will the Challenger.

Sources are reporting that Chrysler is preparing to roll out a new supercharged version of the Hemi, displacing 6.2 liters to crank out nearly as much power as the Viper's 640 hp. The engine is expected to be introduced in the Challenger first, but whether Chrysler shoe-horns it into the current model to produce the track-focused version SRT chief Ralph Gilles hinted at last month or wait until the next model is ready remains to be seen. One way or another, environmental regulations could spell the end of the Hemi, leaving the supercharged version dubbed "Hellcat" to serve as the engine's swan song.