Direct Connection Bundles Hemi Crate Engines With PCM and Wiring in Six New Kits
Six Hemi V8s, from the 385-hp 345 to the 1,025-hp Hellephant C170, now ship with a flashed PCM, harness and pedal, and a three-year warranty. Pricing comes later.
Direct Connection wants to take the guesswork out of a Hemi swap. At the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the factory-backed performance-parts arm of Stellantis's SRT Performance division showed six crate engine packages that ship the V8 together with the wiring, a pre-flashed engine computer and the other electronics needed to make it run. They go on sale in the first quarter of 2027. Pricing hasn't been announced.
It is the most complete answer yet to the factory-versus-aftermarket fight we tracked at SEMA 2026. Every package carries a three-year, 100,000-mile warranty, and each one comes in an automatic and a manual version with its own part number.
Six Hemis, from 385 to 1,025 hp
- 345 Street Strip: 385 hp and 417 lb-ft from a remanufactured cast-iron block.
- 345 Super Stock: the same output on a new block, plus Redeye valve springs, a Hellcat oil pump, a larger oil filter and an oil cooler.
- 392 Street Strip: 485 hp and 475 lb-ft, with a forged-steel crank and a remanufactured block.
- 392 Super Stock: the same 485 hp on a new block with the valvetrain and oiling upgrades.
- Hellcrate Redeye 6.2L Super Stock: up to 885 hp and 787 lb-ft in High Octane mode, fed by a 2.7-liter IHI supercharger.
- Hellephant C170 6.2L Super Stock: 1,025 hp and 945 lb-ft on an E85 blend, with a 3.0-liter IHI blower, an ethanol sensor and billet steel main caps.
Each family gets its own valve-cover color: black for the 345s, Hemi orange for the 392s, red for the Redeye and yellow for the C170.
What's in the box, and what isn't
Alongside the engine, every crate holds a wiring harness with a power distribution center, a flashed powertrain control module, oxygen sensors and an accelerator pedal. Automatic versions add a shifter and a brake switch. A serialized fender tag listing the engine's specs and a branded shipping crate finish the set.
The transmission is sold separately. Direct Connection matches each engine to its own TorqueFlite 8HP90 automatic kit, which has a 4.71:1 first gear and a 12-month, 12,000-mile warranty, and lists a Tremec Magnum manual for all six. On the two supercharged engines, the automatic kit is listed as required.
"Our philosophy is simple: one part, one solution." — Tim Kuniskis, head of American Brands, SRT Performance and Direct Connection
Catching up with GM and Ford
Chevrolet Performance has sold this idea for years. Its Connect & Cruise packages pair a crate engine with its controller and a transmission, and add a torque converter and transmission controls on automatic setups. Ford Performance's Megazilla 2.0, a supercharged 7.3-liter V8 targeted at more than 1,000 hp, comes with a control pack harness meant to simplify installation.
Direct Connection still leaves the gearbox out of the crate, but it now brings every Hemi from the 345 to the C170 into one program with matched part numbers. Its show car makes the point: the 1967 Plymouth GTX that Stellantis showed as an EV at SEMA 2024 returns with the Redeye package and an 8HP90.
The rest of the SEMA catalog
A second release filled out the parts list. A Whipple supercharger kit for the Ram 1500 Rumble Bee targets up to 600 hp on 5.7-liter trucks, 700 hp on 392 versions and 900 hp on the 6.2-liter SRT. It costs $10,995 before installation, arrives in the first quarter of 2027 and keeps the five-year, 60,000-mile powertrain warranty if a certified Mopar Level 3 technician installs it.
MagnaFlow cat-back systems add up to 21 hp and 26 lb-ft on the Dodge Charger HO for $3,399, while Rumble Bee versions run $1,599 to $2,399. There is also a $4,590 Ridetech coilover kit, a $2,950 set of 22-inch wheels, a $995 cold-air intake for the six-cylinder Charger, and a $2,195 Stage 1 calibration kit worth up to 40 hp on the Durango SRT Hellcat and Ram TRX, which is on sale now. Those parts join the carbon pieces already used on the $10,995 Mopar '27 Charger package.
For the crate engines, the open questions are cost and fitment. Stellantis says final content may vary by package and hasn't said which vehicles the kits are designed around. The show runs through Nov. 6, as noted in our SEMA 2026 preview.
