If you believed that the myriad final editions of the Challenger and Charger signaled Dodge’s final dance with internal-combustion muscle cars, you were not alone. The brand that brought you nearly two decades of tire-smokin’ good times announced in August of last year that 2023 would mark the final year of production for its Hemi-V-8-powered muscle cars. Dodge then offered a preview of its electric future: theCharger Daytona SRT Banshee concept. The writing on the wall said gas-powered Dodge muscle was dead … or so we thought.
If a new report is to be believed, there might yet be hope. Speaking with an anonymous source “connected to a supplier with firsthand information of Dodge’s production plans,” The Drive writes that the next-generation of the Charger will be a two-pronged affair—one model powered by batteries, another by internal combustion.
“They’re keeping gasoline engines,” the source said toThe Drive. “The official designation for the vehicle platform is LB and it will have the new GME-T6 Hurricane inline-six in RWD and AWD. It will be using the Stellantis Gen 4 transmission that’s also rolling out to Mack Assembly, Jefferson North Assembly, and Toledo North.”
Quite the claim. We reached out to Stellantis for comment and received the following from Tim Kuniskis, chief executive officer of the Dodge Brand:
“More than a year ago we revealed the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Banshee concept and announced that Dodge will build an all-electric muscle car. For the first official look at the car, and for more info, you’ll just have to wait.”
That … is certainly not an outright denial of whatThe Drive says.
While we hurry up and wait, let’s take it piece by piece, doing our best impersonation of a 1940s noir detective with a wall of photos and a ball of red yarn.
When Stellantis powertrain engineers first revealed the Hurricane back in March of last year, one of the big points they were keen to highlight was the engine’s improved efficiency compared to the larger-displacement engines in the company’s portfolio. The only engines with more displacement than the three-liter Hurricane are: the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6, the 5.7-liter naturally aspirated Hemi V-8, the 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat engine (which we love dearly), and the 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 that will live on in Ram’s heavy-duty pickups.
That six-four also powered select versions of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, but the luxury subbrand has quietly been pivoting to either the high- or standard-output versions of the Hurricane. (The 6.4 came standard in the Grandie, but not the Wagoneer, which made due the 5.7-liter Hemi.) We now know that the Hurricane seems to fit wherever a Hemi can, regardless of which displacement (5.7 or 6.4 liters) Hemi you were dealing with.
GME-T6 is the internal designation for the standard output version of the Hurricane. When it launched, engineers said that version was good for “more than 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque, dependent on the application.” In the higher-spec versions of the 2023 Wagoneer, that GME-T6 is actually good for 420 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque, so we know that there’s even more twist available. The high-output version of the Hurricane, internally known as GME-T6 H.O., was initially rated for 500 hp and 475 lb-ft of twist, application dependent. We now know those figures were conservative, because in the 2023 Grand Wagoneer L, the Hurricane makes 510 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque. If The Drive‘s report is indeed true, let’s hope there are also plans for the high-output Hurricane to find its way beneath a Charger’s hood.
What about the source’s comment about rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configuration? When the all-electric Charger Daytona SRT Banshee concept debuted, Stellantis noted that it was underpinned by the STLA Large platform, one of four new electric platforms developed by the conglomerate ahead of a massive influx of EVs slated to arrive in the coming years. On a webpage detailing its electric future, Stellantis says that the STLA group of platforms will be configurable as front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive.
What’s more, another report from The Drive published in late 2022 noted that Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis did allude to the fact that the STLA Large platform could, in theory, house a gas-powered drivetrain and all the accompanying bits. However, in the same article, Kuniskis made it clear that Dodge was going full-bore into electric muscle cars, not anything Hurricane-powered.
That “Gen 4 transmission” is essentially an updated version of the eight-speed automatic that Stellantis uses in everything from Jeeps to Rams to the outgoing Charger and Challenger. Nothing too surprising there, though it doesn’t sound like Dodge has any plans for a manual-equipped version of this next-gen Charger. Bummer.
Our conclusion: Dodge is obviously playing coy, but a lot of the hypotheticals play out favorably for the next Charger. Consider us cautiously optimistic. Selfishly, we just want to see another round of muscle-car wars. Imagine a Hurricane H.O.–powered Charger hounding aMustang Dark Horse around a track!
Your move, Chevy.
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