2025 Dodge Charger: What You Need To Know About The Gas-Powered Muscle Car (2024)

Mar. 05, 2024 11:10 AM ET by Gerhard Horn Muscle Cars / 21 Comments

Stellantis's Hurricane inline-six finding its way into the new Dodge Charger has to be one of the worst-kept secrets in the world, but now it has finally been confirmed - yup, the new Dodge Charger won't be electric-only, it's getting a gasoline sibling. But instead of coming out of the gate swinging with a powerful twin-turbocharged inline-six to battle the mighty Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Dodge will introduce two electric models first.

Customers in the market for a gas-powered Charger will have to wait at least another model year, as production will only start in the first quarter of 2025. Still, at first glance, it appears the ICE Charger will be worth the wait, which means people can finally stop spending $50,000 on 2023 V6 models still gathering dust on dealership lots. A new ICE model is on the way; there's no need to spend that much money on a wheezy V6, people.

Something much better is coming, but what can we expect from it?

Obviously, the powertrain differs between these two variants, but that's not what we mean. How can you differentiate the two at a glance?

Well, there are a couple of big differentiating factors. First of all, we haven't looked at the ICE car yet - Dodge is launching the EV hard and all the press imagery show the electron-powered model. The important thing to know is that the two are named slightly differently. Both are Dodge Chargers (and in both two- and four-door body styles), but while the combustion Dodge Charger will be simply known as just that, only the electric model will be called the Dodge Charger Daytona.

This brings us to the second big difference - the front. The Charger Daytona gets that name as an homage to the original Dodge Daytona and its spectacular nose cone. The electric muscle car gets the same sharp nose, hidden beneath an aerodynamic R-wing. The ICE Charger doesn't get either of these elements, and will have a higher hood and a grille where the R-wing sits on the EV you see here.

Two gas-powered models will be introduced next year. They're known as the SixPack models, obviously in reference to their six cylinders.

The standard output (SO) will produce 420 horsepower, while the high output (HO) will have 550 hp to play with. Dodge has already stated that all new Chargers will be all-wheel drive, which means the gas-powered Charger (only electric models get the Daytona suffix) will be more of an M3/M4 rival than a traditional muscle car.

It should come as no surprise, as the Mustang Dark Horse has also moved up a step into two-door European performance coupe territory. When asked whether Dodge needed a V8 to compete with the Mustang, brand CEO Tim Kuniskis simply replied, "What's the horsepower in the Dark Horse?" before swiftly moving on. It's only 500, for the record.

He followed up with, "We don't have a V8 in the plan. We love performance. We love to go fast. We don't have a V8 in the plan."

Straight off the bat, the new Charger is in a good position as it will be available in two-door and four-door formats. So we have one car replacing both the outgoing Charger and Challenger.

The Charger rides on the new STLA Large platform, which will also be used by Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, and Maserati. While it was designed as a BEV-first platform, but it can house hybrid and internal combustion systems. The engine can be mounted transversely or longitudinally, and it supports front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive.

To save costs, the ICE model will likely be built around the same 121-inch wheelbase, which is only an inch bigger than the outgoing model. The maximum width of the outgoing model is 75 inches, while the new platform is 84.3 inches wide. That's significant growth and will inevitably lead to a long car with a wider track, precisely what you want for favorable handling.

For this application, the engine will be mounted longitudinally and be paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. We were hoping for rear-wheel drive, but Dodge has said it will be AWD to start. But it doesn't mean upcoming models have to be. Like BMW, Dodge would do well to at least give customers the option of a base RWD model.

Still, we've seen automakers work magic with AWD systems in recent years. With an active power split between the front and rear axles, you can make a car feel RWD while retaining that safety net, and since the Daytona EV will have a drift mode, we won't be surprised to see the ICE Charger get the same option.

Having the engine longitudinally mounted has several weight advantages. Dodge can either distribute the weight of the engine more evenly over the front axle or it can mount the engine as far back as possible to avoid a heavy front end. A heavy front end leads to understeer, which is not what you want in a car like this.

Speaking of weight, how do the Hurricane and the existing engines compare? The dry weight of the SO is 430 lbs, and the HO weighs 441 lbs. The Pentastar V6 weighs 326 lbs, but we all know that's not the engine Dodge is aiming for. The Hurricane is meant to replace the 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter naturally aspirated Hemi V8 engines.

The 5.7 V8 is a massive lump of an engine weighing 560 lbs. The 6.4-liter is actually a bit lighter, with a 500 lbs dry weight. Basically, the ICE Charger will lose more than 100 lbs over the front axle compared to the 5.7-liter V8.

That's a huge amount to take out of the front end and will inevitably result in better turn-in if Dodge can figure out how to properly tune the suspension and steering. Luckily, it has many sister companies to ask for help, but more on that later.

The SO Hurricane matches the output figure in the recently updated Ram 1500. It produces 420 hp and 469 lb-ft of torque. The HO in the Charger will produce 550 horses, which is close to the HO motor in the 1500 Tungsten (540 hp and 521 lb-ft), but for now, it's uncertain whether the bump in power will come at the expense of torque.

This means the SO easily beats the 5.7-liter V8 and its 370 hp and 395 lb-ft output. The HO wipes the floor with the 485 hp/475 lb-ft 6.4-liter Hemi V8. More importantly, the 5.7 only started producing peak torque at 4,200 rpm and the 6.4 gets there 100 rpm sooner. The Hurricane starts producing maximum torque from 3,500 rpm and has a linear torque curve for maximum driving pleasure.

Finally, we have to consider the tuning options available. The moment these first Hurricane units land on dealership floors, aftermarket tuners will be trying their best to crack the ECU. It took South Korean tuners less than a year to crack the Corolla GR ECU. And that's when the real fun starts. The 550-hp tune is just the start. Dodge has to have something more powerful in the pipeline.

The best thing about turbocharged engines is cheap power gains. A simple ECU flash will give you an additional 100 horses. Once you start replacing the stock turbos, you can get some big power gains.

Dodge is not exactly well known for making cars that go around corners. The most dominant element in any Dodge has always been the engine. Yes, the Viper could go around a corner like a boss, but it was essentially two seats strapped to a colossal V10 engine.

When it comes to its muscle cars, Dodge has never built a model specifically for the track. In recent years, Ford had the Shelby GT350 and GT500. The new Mustang Dark Horse is also a fine example of a track car, not to mention the upcoming Mustang GTD. Chevrolet has the Camaro ZL1, and Cadillac will sell you the sublime CT5-V Blackwing. Meanwhile, Dodge built the Demon 170, which only really works in a straight line.

Dodge now has the opportunity to tap into existing experience to elevate itself into the company mentioned above. The Stellantis Mothership also owns Alfa Romeo and Maserati, and STLA Large is developed from the sublime Alfa Giorgio platform, so if Dodge can borrow some Alfa engineers for a few months, who knows what they'll come up with?

In an ideal world, Dodge would borrow the person(s) behind the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The latter uses a vee engine layout instead of a straight-six, but if the engineers can bless the Charger with the same brilliant suspension setup and Ferrari 458-like steering, the ICE Charger will force Ford and Chevy to go back to the drawing board.

Yes, people are going to moan about the V8 being replaced with something smaller, but the original definition of a muscle car doesn't mention engine size or configuration. In case you're wondering, the actual definition is a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high performance. We don't necessarily agree with this definition as there are at least 10 muscle cars not made in America, but even if we limit it to affordable power made available to the masses, the new ICE Charger could still deliver on the brief (exact value for money can only be ascertained once pricing is announced).

Ford and Chevy have already proven that you can have a muscle car capable of more than just going fast in a straight line. It's nice to see Dodge is finally joining the party.

While we loved the old L-chassis muscle cars, a bit of modernity won't hurt. But above all else, we're just glad the combustion muscle car is being given a stay of execution.