Starting with the 2024 model year, the eighth generation Dodge Charger is with one eye on the past and the other on the EV plus downsizing future. Some would say it looks cockeyed because of that, right?
So, the all-new 2024 Dodge Charger follows in the footsteps of the L-bodied Charger and Challenger by unifying the traditional two-door fastback coupe body form with the four-door sedan style. It also comes initially with two EV powertrains for the Charger Daytona R/T and Scat Pack models and up to 496 or 670 horsepower produced by zippy electrons.
Luckily for those who seek an ICE-powered alternative, Dodge hasn't forsaken them. Alas, the mighty Hemi V8 is gone, and in its place comes the first-ever 2025 Charger Sixpack rocking the group's new 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six mill with standard and high outputs of 420 and 550 horsepower. Will that be enough, or will everyone dream of the dearly departed times when the Charger Daytona meant V8 power?
Well, no worries, those times are not gone yet. Here, let us give you an eloquent example, especially if you're a fan of quarter-mile dragstrip action. The good folks over at the racing-focused ImportRace channel on YouTube are at their usual venue - Island Dragway - for some ICE-powered Daytona goodies. So, not long ago, the videographer focused on a feisty BMW M240i that taught everyone it encountered some mighty eleven-second lessons.
Among them was also a subtle Dodge Charger Daytona dressed in gray with a blue Daytona script, and now it has become the subject of this video feature that we have embedded below. A couple of the first skirmishes were against a C7 Chevrolet Corvette – a classic Mopar versus GM feud, of course. Well, it wrapped up undecided as each of the rivals took home one win for their teams. After that, an old-school Dodge Ram pickup truck came along for a taste of the classic days – but couldn't handle the modern Daytona and conceded the victory.
In the end, the Mopar versus GM war was settled that day with help from a Daytona versus Chevy Silverado skirmish – the pickup truck was missing some parts, rocking new ones like the big-lipped aftermarket wheels, and also drenched the videographer in diesel soot. Alas, it was all in vain, as the Dodge took home yet another win for the Mopar faction. Last but not least, the final challenger was – of course – a Dodge Challenger. In the end, it didn't even matter who won, right? After all, it's a victory just to see the defunct L-bodied Challenger coupe and Charger sedan side-by-side doing what they do better one more time!
However, we always think that beauty is only in the eye of the beholder. So, if you had the chance, what would you choose? Would you take home from the local quarter-mile dragstrip a V8-powered Daytona or the all-new 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona EV?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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