Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Uses the A/C to Cool the Engine

Hope you’re not afraid to get a little sweaty in the name of drag racing.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
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Another Thursday, another Dodge Challenger SRT Demon teaser video. Fiat-Chrysler's manic supercharged speed machine is less than two weeks away from being revealed at the New York Auto Show on March 11th, but FCA isn't letting up off the gas when it comes to promoting the mysterious muscle car. But with 11 videos and press releases revealing the Demon's secrets already in the rear view—and Dodge apparently unwilling to reveal key facts like horsepower numbers and acceleration times until closer to the reveal—the carmaker has resorted to touting the minutiae of the Hellcat-powered performance car.  

Case in point: Today's teaser video, entitled "No Ice," is dedicated to...the Dodge Challenger Demon's cold air induction system. 

To be fair, it does sound like a rather bitchin' air cooler. Rather than using regular air or coolant to chill the gases flowing through the intercooler like regular forced-induction cars, the Dodge Demon uses a liquid-to-air system that, in Drag Mode, diverts the cool fluid from the air conditioning system to help knock down the temperature of the air the engine is about to breathe. Dodge claims the system can bring down intake temperatures as much as 45 degrees Fahrenheit. (FCA didn't say if that could mean interior temperatures could rise by a similar amount, but we'd keep one of those pocket fans in the glovebox, just in case.)

Why does that matter? As anyone who watch Bill Nye on TV as a kid should remember, cold air is more dense than warm air. This means there's more oxygen per unit of measurement—which, in turn, means an engine sucking down cold atmosphere can make more power than one breathing hot air. 

Not that you'd get any of that from the latest Dodge Demon teaser video.

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