This is just a thought so everybody take this for what it's worth. We're in a spot right now where the EV mandates will probably get pushed back a few years so this buys us a bit of time. Over these last few years we've all gone from being solidly against anything but a hemi, to tolerant of the thoughts of alternative powertrains but I think maybe we could actually move things around a little bit and actually find a place for the hurricane, the hemi V8 and the EV powertrains in the Mopar brands and it would keep everyone happy.
Rebuild the Chrysler & Jeep brand with the Hurricane and EV platforms along with the 4Xe hybrid powertrains. Let Ram have a blend but I think the Dodge Brand needs to continue on with the V8 as an option and there is no better V8 that the pushrod engine we know as the 5.7L Hemi V8. There's a catch to this though as I don't think the Hemi name should be carried over into the next gen Charger. Nor do I believe the Scat pack name should be a trim package for this next vehicle. Take the base Charger, put the 3.6L Pentastar in it with about 320hp (Mopar intake, better exhaust, ECU programming) and have the base Charger be the Charger GT, above that, bring back the 5.7L V8 as the Charger R/T with the same 395hp as it has now. Give the R/T trim level a "Roadrunner-440" package that adds the full 6.4L top end (CAI, throttle body, intake manifold, fuel rail, injectors, cam & valvetrain & heads along with the 392 manifolds & cats and a 2.75" catback exhaust with an H-pipe for that old school sound. The car should have the AWD setup with a 1320 torque converter, huge Brembo brakes, the "Daytona Track Pack" wheel and tire package and suspension setup. Above that, the Charger Daytona with the 550hp 3.0L Hurricane I-6 twin turbo and then top it off with a 750+hp 5.7L Charger Super Bee with a "GTX" powertrain which takes the 5.7L V8 short block and adds the Redeye supercharger, Redeye heads & valvetrain, a CD170 race fuel compatible fuel system & a 6.1L Forged crankshaft mated to the hybrid ZF Gen-4 plug in 8-speed. Bring back the Coronet as a wagon version of the next gen Charger as it's stable mate along with a Dodge Magnum SUV. Figure if pretty much everything else is powered by a hurricane, pentastar or EV, there shouldn't be any problems with one V8 with three configurations in only 4 different models under one or two brands (Dodge & Ram) What would also make this feasible is if Dodge had a larger vehicle portfolio, spanning the STLA Medium & Large portfolio. Sure the STLA Large could have the Charger, Coronet & Magnum SUV (would actually be cooler if the Durango replacement was called the Magnum & we could get a full size STLA Large Dodge Durango), but the STLA Large could also bring back the Dodge Monaco as an STLA Large sedan powered by the 2.0L 375hp 4Xe AWD powertrain with an optional 3.0L S/O 420hp powertrain.
STLA Medium platform really could see the return of cars like the Dodge Dart as a competitor to cars like the Acura TLX Type S with a 320hp 3.6L transverse mounted V6 with a hybrid transmission adding another 80hp and about 95lb-ft of torque and then below that a Dodge Dart SRT4 along with an improved and revised Dodge Hornet crossover that does away with the current hybrid system and replaces it with something better. Like I said. Just a thought
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