There are moments when I wonder if fighting the inevitable is at all even worth it. I love the nostalgia of muscle cars. The sounds, the smells, the feel and all of that, the moments for some to relive the glory days and for others to have their own. Someone said it best that this whole thing isn't necessarily about overall speed, it's the experience. We all know by now that EVs deliver speed but none of them really deliver on the experience, which lead some of us to call the new Charger EV a "fake" muscle car with a "fake" exhaust and alot of other stuff. Searching google for the definition of a muscle car, the first two definitions that come up are "A Muscle car is an American-made, two-door sports coupe with a powerful engine, generally designed for high performance driving."-Wikipedia. The second one I saw was under What Classifies a muscle car and the answer states "Powerful engine: Muscle cars have engines,
typically V8 or larger and have more horsepower than most cars. High Speed: The powerful engine in a muscle cars allows it to reach high speeds. While sports cars can safely speed through tight turns, muscle cars need to slow down while turning." definition listed by
www.progressive.com. By definition, this new car is, in fact a Muscle car, but not a traditional one and by the first definition, the new Charger is a muscle car because it's an American Made two door sports coupe with a powerful engine designed for high performance driving.
Now personally, I have a lot of "conspiracy theories" when it comes to EVs that range anywhere from "Big brother will always be watching" which is already a thing, to Hackers can hi-jack your car and turn it into a big remote controlled car and do what they want with it with you and your family inside." again, something that can already be done with non EV cars. The list for me goes on and on but outside of that kind of stuff and wondering what's behind the governmental aspect of the EV push really comes down to for me to why I'm not a full fan of EVs the prejudice of the fact that they are different and not understanding them. While there is a small part of my angst that is validated including the future of my job, being that I've been in the auto industry as a parts counterperson for the better part of the last 20-years does come into play along with concerns of the potential of costly repairs, longevity of the vehicles themselves, part availability both factory and aftermarket and of course just the experience of ownership, my general disdain comes from the stigma that EVs have thanks largely to the nauseating stench of the abomination created by Elon Musk known as Tesla. These four wheeled mobility appliances that are as silent as the grave with the soul of an empty coffin, even when fully loaded with passengers with a recycled interior that rivals Ikea furniture circa 1985 (with Ikea having much better quality and fashion sense even back then nearly 40 years ago). While fast, there is no emotion to it, no real feeling, no connection. Like it's trim levels, Tesla is a spoof of what electric vehicles could and should be. As far as what Dodge has done here with the Charger Daytona EV, I can only say that I LOVE this car. Further more I'm excited about the potential of this car in both EV and ICE form. I'm going to focus on EV just for the response to this article when I talk about this car and what may potentially be coming down the line from the brand.
We all know I'm going to gripe about the doors until they change, but outside of that, the Design team did the darn thing with this car! The car is beautiful inside and out. If previous SRT vehicles are any indication to what may be coming, I really wonder just how different the Banshee will look as opposed to the non-SRT variant of the Charger. Not only that but what tech from the Banshee will trickle down to the Scat Pack in the form of Direct Connection upgrades. Maybe at some point we will see the E-Rupt system on the 400v high output car for more of that organic feel. But not only am I interested in what Direct Connection will do, what will the aftermarket do with this car. Anyone who has read some of my previous responses knows that I am a HUGE fan of Vicrez and I can not wait to see what they have in store for this car!!!! Other companies with light upgrades, suspension packages, wheel and tire packages and at some point EV performance upgrades will be a thing in the aftermarket. But Dodge has something that no one else really has and that is the Fratzonic chamber for the sound aspect of this car. Yes, it is in a way a pipe-organ speaker system and no it is not an exhaust system, it does not aid in engine breathing or reducing emissions or anything like that. It's a sound system. Borla has already created a sound system for the Mach-E, what kind of epic craziness could they come up with for upgrades to the Fraztonic system? What kind of Polyphonic, acoustically tuned applied kinetics (ATAK) systems can Mr. David Borla create for this car? And then we have the upcoming Charger SRT Daytona Banshee that promises to be an all-conquering muscle car. Are we talking motorized adjustable downforce, maybe in the R-Wing or maybe some kind of motorized rear "Daytona" wing in the back of the car? Aggressive styling, an insane suspension, 1,320hp total system from a tri-motor setup? A 140-decibel side exit race-level Fratzonic system with amplified megaphone tips? Are we talking a reduced weight setup with that carbon fiber "tub" so to speak along with a next gen "Demon" crate that allows you to get the car as a pretty much bare basic "stripped" street legal car but then add the rear seat, passenger seat and trunk cover back in? Just asking because a car like that with instant torque and all wheel drive will dominate the drag strips with 1,320hp, especially if it can launch harder than a Demon 170. Even to set that with a split 2-speed gearbox with two high and two low gears along with park, neutral and reverse, that definitely would help the car feel more natural. There's now more talk about this Durango replacement rumor. Okay that's great, will this Dodge Stealth have a Banshee package, an R/T package and a Scat Pack trim level as well in EV trims? Are we getting a high performance EV Ram 1500 pickup as well? What's going on?
What Dodge has done with the Charger Daytona EV in a way, is kind of what happens when that hero becomes to old to be the hero anymore but the passion is still there and the only way to continue what he or she started is to train that young apprentice to carry on with what the hero started and to teach the apprentice how to be that hero in their own way. Like Top Gun, Maverick or even the Cars movies. (by the way there is alot of actual truths and histories buried in the cars movies, ya'll should all go back and watch them). Mopar has gone from it's original hero, the 7-liter 426 Hemi, to the 6.2L Hellcats and now to the next generation with EVs, similar to how Top Gun went from the Grumman F14 Tomcat, to the new E/A-18A growlers to the Gen-5 fighters. Most of us older (and semi-older) guys love the F14 just as much as we love the 426-Hemi. Those were our heroes and they will be immortalized forever. But I guess in a way, I've started really trying to look at what we have here and I'm starting to see if there is anything really positive about what is coming with the next gen Charger as well as what might be down the line with the Dodge Brand. Time will tell.
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