DODGE DROPS DETAILS
After months of teasers, a bevy of rumours and a thinly veiled concept car that has been making the rounds for what seemed like ages, Dodge has finally dropped all the details on its replacement for the venerable Charger and Challenger. Here’s a Cole’s Notes version: both the two- and four-door variants will be called the Charger; there will be devastatingly powerful electric versions under a Daytona trim; gasoline-fuelled lunacy will be available thanks to a straight-six Hurricane engine next year; and allwheel-drive is standard across the board.
Gearheads of this stripe aren’t always known for embracing wholesale change to their beloved cars, so let’s dive into this new model one piece at a time.
POWERTRAINS
Starting with, of course, what drives this thing. Much noise (literally and figuratively) will be made about the all-electric Charger Daytona, a whip expected to reach highway speeds in just 3.3 seconds on its way to an 11.5-second quarter-mile time. Those figures are for the Daytona Scat Pack, a car which will peak at 670 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque. The R/T trim is listed at 496 horses and 404 lb-ft of twist, and hits those acceleration times at 4.7 and 13.1 seconds, respectively. To save you doing the math, we’ll tell you each trim bends the weigh scale at 5,838 pounds.
Twin permanent-magnet electric motors front and rear provide all-wheel-drive. The front unit can employ a frontwheel disconnect, improving range and efficiency, while the rear melon includes a mechanical limited-slip differential to increase traction and performance. Different drive programs include Donut Mode and Drift Mode on the Scat Pack, plus the return of launch control and line-lock. Yee to the haw. A Powershot feature, first seen on the Hornet, is standard on the Daytona Scat Pack and R/T, and delivers an incremental 40 horsepower for 15 seconds, a sum included in the power figures quoted above.
Under its floor is a 100.5kwh battery with 93.9-kwh of usable energy. This is good for 416 kilometres of range in the Scat Pack; and 507 clicks in the R/T, according to EPA estimates. We assume those numbers are not representative of a day at the drag strip, with run after run at wide-open throttle. The car should charge from neardead to 80 per cent in about half an hour, if drinking from a 350-kw fast-charger.
DID THEY REALLY PUT AN EXHAUST ON AN EV?
Yes. The patent-pending Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust system appears on Charger Daytona models, using two passive radiators to a create a unique exhaust profile. Dodge promises Hellcat levels of sound intensity, delivering a racket “worthy of the Brotherhood of Muscle.” Noise is apparently tied to higher performance, but a stealth mode is also available.
Distinct vehicle sounds assist in providing driver feedback, which will be helpful at the track and at elevated speeds. This extra in-car feel is starting to invade numerous EVS, injecting a dose of liveliness to what can otherwise be a fast but sanitized experience. Car companies are warming to the concept that speed is not just outright acceleration, but also the associated auditory and seat-ofthe-pants sensations.
THE INTERIOR
Inside the new Charger, a tablet-style infotainment system is present and was expected, though its integration is light-years better than what the crowd at Ford managed with miserable effort in the current Mustang. Instead of standing like an errant roadside billboard, the 12.3-inch display sits lower than the instrument cluster, itself a huge screen which can span up to 16 inches in Scat Pack spec. As is typical Dodge swagger, “Attitude Adjustment” is the official name for this car’s customizable interior lighting system, and the so-called “pistol-grip” gear selector is a modernized throwback.
The optional full-length glass roof (a gloss black painted roof comes standard) should open the cabin, especially since the large rear hatch on this two-door provides an expansive glass canopy.
Two-door coupe versions of the all-electric Charger Daytona Scat Pack and R/T will begin production in the middle part of this calendar year. Assembly of four-door Daytona models, plus twoand four-door gas-powered variants, is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2025. In a fit of Canadian pride, we’re glad to report the new Charger will be built at the Windsor Assembly Plant.