2025 Dodge Charger Sixpack Keeps Old-School Muscle Alive (And It's Better Than A HEMI)
Dodge may be embracing electrification with the 2024 Charger Daytona, but that doesn't mean internal combustion fans will be left empty-handed. Instead, they'll just have to be patient, with Dodge promising that its all-new electric muscle car will be followed by a second ICE version, the Dodge Charger Sixpack.
Production of the Charger Daytona — the "Daytona" nameplate being saved for electric versions of the muscle car — is set to kick off in mid-2024. Depending on trim, it'll offer as much as 670 horsepower and a 3.3 second 0-60 mph time, enough to shame even the current Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye we first drove back in 2019. However, Dodge is also entirely aware that not everybody is ready (or even able) to go all-electric yet.
The fact that it can offer an alternative is a benefit of the underlying STLA Large platform, which was designed from the outset to be configured for internal combustion, electric, or hybrid drivetrains. Combined with Stellantis' latest Hurricane gas engines, it means a more traditional heart for a next-gen muscle car. Just don't go looking for a V8 HEMI.
Up to 550 horses but the EV still packs more punch
There'll be two Dodge Charger Sixpack versions, the S.O. (Standard Output) and H.O. (High Output), using two different tunes of the same 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six gas engine that we drove recently in the 2025 Ram 1500. The Sixpack S.O. will deliver 420 horsepower, while the Sixpack H.O. will kick that up to 550 horsepower. Each will have all-wheel drive as standard and an eight-speed automatic transmission.
As with the electric Charger Daytona, Dodge will have both two-door and four-door versions of the Charger Sixpack. At first glance, they'll look much like the EV, too, though there'll be differences beyond the badging. The Sixpack won't get the R-Wing pass-through cutaway that the Daytona uses for downforce purposes at the front of its hood, for instance, though it will use the same body-spanning LED light bars and — probably — the illuminated "Fratzog" logos.
Both the two-door and the four-door will have a liftgate rear to maximize cargo space. They'll lack the front trunk, of course: open the hood, and you'll only find the Hurricane engine. And, according to Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, six cylinders are all you're getting.
Don't wait for a V8
"We don't have a V8 in the plan," the Dodge chief said at a Charger pre-launch event last month. "We love performance. We love to go fast. We don't have a V8 in the plan."
The same goes — for now, at least — for hybrids. While the STLA Large platform supports gas-electric mashups, including the range extender that Ram will use in the upcoming 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger, Kuniskis says there are no current plans to offer such a setup in the Charger.
One advantage the Charger Sixpack will have over its Daytona EV sibling is the ability to disconnect the front axle and have all of the engine power go to the rear wheels instead. That way, some of the familiar playfulness of the current Challenger RWD can be channeled by the new car, even if AWD promises more stability on wet asphalt.
Pricing for the Charger Sixpack in S.O. and H.O. forms will be confirmed closer to the muscle cars' launch, with Dodge saying production should kick off in Q1 2025.