If 550 horsepower isn’t quite enough for you, Dodge will soon debut an even more powerful option.
You guys are a bunch of whiners, you know that? What, is 550 horses not good enough for ya?
In all seriousness though (I’m joking, of course), Dodge is actually planning a big debut at this year’s Roadkill Nights event in Pontiac, Michigan. And what else could they bring but a more powerful Charger! The nameplate just hit the 60-year mark, and to celebrate the birthday, Dodge is cooking up the most powerful Sixpack Charger yet for an August 8 premiere.
Yep, it’s still not the return of the Hemi V8 to the latest Charger…at least not yet. That’s not completely off the table, as there have been plenty of rumblings that it will inevitably happen. After all, the Hemi returned to the Ram 1500, it’s still with us in the Dodge Durango and the Jeep Wrangler, and Jeep leadership hinted at the iconic engine making its way back into the Grand Cherokee, too. It’s not much of a stretch that will eventually include the Charger, but Dodge is not making that reveal just yet.
With 550-horsepower on tap, the current Charger Scat Pack is the most powerful gas model you can get at the moment. With the reveal of the most powerful Sixpack Charger yet, then, we could be looking at 600 horsepower or even more under the hood. Considering we are talking about a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six, that would make this upcoming debut pretty beastly in its own right.
Odds are, Dodge’s upcoming debut is more about just cranking up the dial on that six-pot Hurricane. What exactly that will be, we aren’t sure yet, but we don’t have long to wait to find out. For those who only want, say, a supercharged Hellcat V8 and nothing else will do, there could still be a window for some old-school firepower. If it’s anything like Ram’s reintegration of the 5.7-liter and debut of the 6.4-liter big Hemi in its half-ton truck, though, there’s some engineering work involved in getting it to play nice with the Charger’s new platform and electrical system. That said, the furor from enthusiasts alone is probably strong enough to make it happen. Stellantis’ new leadership knows Americans love a good V8, even if it doesn’t make as much power as the Hurricane on paper.
In addition to Roadkill Nights, Dodge has been on a summer tear — I’m sorry, tour — to celebrate six decades and eight generations of Charger muscle. That said, you know there’s still plenty of pavement tearing up to come on Woodward Avenue. We just had the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals this past weekend as well as the Route 66 Centennial Parade. Beyond that, you’ll have the All-American Cruise-In at Petersen Automotive Museum on July 26, Roadkill Nights on August 8, Woodward Cruise on August 15, and the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals on September 18-20.
