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Mopar Hellephant is sold out, but here are 4 other awesome crate V8s to try

Despite a relatively enormous $30,000 price tag, Mopar's 1,000-horsepower supercharged Hellephant crate engine sold out in just 48 hours. Some enthusiasts may have missed out on the crazy engine due to lack of funds, or they just assumed there would still be some Hellephants down the line. But worry not, swap-happy gearheads. There are plenty of V8s in the world to pick from, and we highlighted four favorites. They're not as powerful, but they're all cheaper, and still have a lot to offer. Mopar 6.2L Hellcrate Odds are a lot of prospective Hellephant buyers were Mopar fans to begin with, so we'll start the list with the next-most-potent offering: the Hellcrate. This is the same supercharged 6.2-liter V8 found under the hood of the Dodge Charger and Challenger Hellcats and the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. It makes 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque like those cars, too. It's also about $10,000 cheaper than the Hellephant engine at $20,020, and that leftover money can be used to finish the project or for aftermarket upgrades to get it closer to the Hellephant's output. GM LS9 6.2L The Hellcrate isn't the only factory supercharged crate engine on the market. From General Motors comes the supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 V8. This is the engine that was used in the C6 Corvette ZR1. At 638 horsepower and 604 pound-feet of torque, it doesn't make as much power or torque as the Hellcrate. But it does boast a dry sump oil system. So instead of pumping oil out of a pan at the bottom, the engine uses an oil tank mounted remotely that pumps oil into the engine. This means the engine is shorter overall, and can be mounted lower for a better center of gravity. It also means that there's almost no risk of running the engine dry in hard cornering, as could happen with a normal oil sump where the oil can slosh to the side without the oil pump. Basically, it offers some major benefits if you want supercharged V8 power for a road course car. It's also a tad cheaper than the Hellcrate at $18,149. But get one while you can, because GM is only selling what's left from when it was building the C6 ZR1. Ford Aluminator 5.2XS Our pick from the Blue Oval lacks a supercharger, but it's still pretty sweet.

Chevrolet Camaros at SEMA are a mobile accessory catalog

Chevy's goal at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this week seems to be to show as much of its Performance and Accessories catalog as possible. That's why it brought three different Camaros - two with V8s and one powered by a V6 - with all of the best goodies from the catalog already fitted.
We gave a more in-depth recap of the Performance Camaro V8 Concept, the Performance Camaro V6 Concept and the Performance Garage Concept already, but we figured you'd like a short recap for each. It should be noted, though, that you can order all of the items you see here for your own Camaro, so be sure to take a long, hard look at our live galleries, just in case you're in the market for some mods.
Essentially, the Performance Garage Concept and the Performance V8 Concept are the same car - the only difference is that the later features a whole host of aesthetic tweaks in addition to its aftermarket, shorty exhaust headers and 2.75-inch exhaust. (The Performance Garage Concept has been usefully placed on its side; the better to see the new parts added to the vehicle.) The Performance V6 Concept is notable because, despite being a V6, there's no shortage of performance goodies fitted. All three of the Performance Camaros benefit from items from the Camaro ZL1, which can also be ordered through the catalog.

Chevy keeps teasing next Camaro, 70 percent of parts unique to it [w/video]