Dodge Has No Future Plans For the V-8 Engine
We’ve known for years at this point that the V-8-powered performance car was not long for this world. With the death of both the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro nameplates last model year, choices for American buyers only continue to disappear. And while Dodge has announced that it hasn’t entirely given up on the internal combustion muscle car, it's made it clear that the V-8 engine is not a part of its future aspirations.
As rumors initially suggested, Dodge hasn’t let go of gasoline power with the introduction of the 2025 Charger lineup. While the Daytona-branded models are pure electric performance machines, the car’s STLA Large platform was designed with traditional powertrains in mind. As such, a gasoline-powered variant of the model will arrive for 2025 wearing just the Charger nameplate. This model is slated to come equipped with the automaker’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six engine, which currently does duty in Jeep and Ram products. There are no V-8s on the menu, nor does it seem like they will come down the line.
“We don't have a V-8 in the plan,” Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis told reporters during the debut of the Charger Daytona. “We love performance. We love to go fast. We don't have a V-8 in the plan.”
2025 Dodge Charger Inline-Six SixPack Gas Engine Power Figures
Dodge’s variant of the inline-six engine is known as the SixPack, a nod to the 440 SixPack engine option found on the original 1969 Dodge Charger R/T. Despite lacking a trio of Holley 2300 carbs, the inline-six engine compares quite favorably to the outgoing V-8s. In SixPack standard output trim, the engine provides the Charger with 420 hp. The outgoing 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 was rated at 370 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque. Step up to the SixPack High Output and that figure jumps to 550 hp, which dwarfs the 6.4-liter Apache V-8’s 485 hp and 475 lb-ft rating.
“We looked at many different powertrains,” said Kuniskis. “But I think you've probably driven many times the Hurricane, and it is a fantastic powertrain. If you want to count cylinders, sure, it's different. But if you want to put a 550-horsepower Hurricane up against a 5.7 or even a 6.4 V-8, the numbers tell the story. It's a pretty amazing package."
Kuniskis went on to ask the crowd how much horsepower Ford's new Mustang Dark Horse makes with its 5.0-liter V-8. The answer is a healthy 500 hp, a figure that notably falls short of the SixPack High Output variant of the Hurricane. The Coyote V-8 makes that power without the help of turbos, however.
While the Hurricane will be able to bring the performance we’ve come to expect from our muscle cars, the attitude of the inline-six is inherently different from a V-8. Add to the fact that every Charger will come equipped with all-wheel drive, and it’s clear we’ll need to look at these models a bit differently than their predecessors. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing though. Especially if the alternative was a solely electric offering.
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