• SRT has developed a way to "virtually eliminate" turbo lag with a new system it has dubbed "eBoost Air."
• With an electric supercharger spooling the turbos, it helps provide immediate throttle response and boost engine power.
• While it's currently only a prototype, we expect the eBoost Air system to eventually reach production and possibly debut in the Dodge Charger Sixpack.

Now that Stellantis has resurrected the famed Street and Racing Technology performance brand, SRT's team of mad scientists has been back in the lab cooking up new ways to make vehicles more powerful and move quicker. Today during a media backgrounder, we got a chance to peek behind the curtain and see a prototype version of what SRT calls "eBoost Air." It's an attempt to make turbocharged engines mimic the more responsive feel of a supercharged V-8, with Stellantis' high-output Hurricane straight-six serving as the initial test bed.

The eBoost Air system aims to answer the question that engine tuners have struggled with for years: How can you harness the extra power from larger turbochargers without exacerbating the dreaded turbo lag? To try to solve that problem, SRT mounted an electric supercharger upstream of the 3.0-liter inline-six's traditional exhaust-fed turbochargers and integrated an electronically actuated bypass valve that functions like a throttle body. So, when the driver presses the gas pedal off idle or at low RPMs, they don't have to wait as long for the turbos to spool up, as the supercharger immediately fills the turbos with positive pressure, improving both throttle response and acceleration. The turbos revert to exhaust power at higher engine RPMs, but SRT claims this sustained boost across the rev range "virtually eliminates" turbo lag.

The concept is nothing groundbreaking as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have used similar systems for years. Perhaps that's why SRT's eBoost Air system came together incredibly fast, with the technology going from an idea to a working prototype in just seven weeks. The team also managed to stuff a version of the Dodge Charger's high-output Hurricane engine into a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which features a carbon-fiber, cowl-induction hood. Beneath it is a prominent airbox (pictured above) that feeds the engine's intake system. A project executive told us the prototype eBoost Air system helped generate 90 horsepower, which suggests the 550-hp engine now makes 640 ponies.

While no one on the SRT team would confirm when the eBoost Air system might make its way into a production vehicle, we don't think they'd invite us to see a concept that's just going to sit on the shelf. And if we had to wager what model will get this new tech first, we'd put our money on the Dodge Charger Sixpack.