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Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack Takes On Its First Michigan Snow

Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack Takes On Its First Michigan Snow​

A Late-Night Run Down Woodward Avenue Proves This eMuscle Car Is Ready For Winter​


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Winter finally arrived in Metro Detroit this weekend, and with it came the perfect excuse to test something I’ve been itching to do since May — put my 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack through real Michigan snow. With 670 horsepower on tap and standard all-wheel drive (AWD), there’s been plenty of conversation — and controversy — around how the first-ever electric Charger would handle the kind of winter weather we battle every year here in Michigan. Well, we finally have answers.

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Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack Takes On Its First Michigan Snow

See how the Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack performs in its first Michigan snow. Can 670 horsepower conquer winter conditions?
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You rang my bell with this report, here is why.
My wonderful wife is intimidated by my Hemi Challenger, especially in the rain. She only drives our 4X4 Jeep Cherokee. What’s the problem ? Well it’s the unpredictable and my desire to drive my self identifying muscle car, fast and loud, whenever.
This Saturday we had dinner at our Club and I passed out and was transported to the hospital by fire department emergency service. My shaken wife was driven in the Jeep to the hospital by our friend. A last minute decision to take the Jeep saved the moment in this story. Our biggest concern became reality.
Saturday convinced me that the Challenger has to go, but I need something cool to replace it. My efforts now focus on educating my wife on the fact that this Charger Six Pack R/T is broadly, an SUV 4X4 in muscle car dress. It is dear, with a big hatch, a practical six engine that performs safely in rain or snow. Your video/article will make my tutorial easier to sell
I get my muscle car and the worries about an emergency drive for her are abated. Yea honey, the Charger is nothing more than a muscle car looking SUV. You know, in fact, it really is and you proved that point for us. She has agreed to drive the R/T, it’s a start.
 
Dodge did a great job with this car in all trim levels. I'm looking forward to owning this car in the near future. Would be nice if Dodge made a GT version with the new 2.0L Hurricane powertrain and an HEV ZF HP8 EVO 8-speed transmission. A car like that at a lower price point than the R/T Six Pack that could have slightly better than 5.7L Hemi power (395hp) and better than 6.1L Hemi torque (450lb-ft) with electric drive modes. Something like that (to me) would be a great car, especially if it's tunable. (Direct connection Cold air intake, intercooler upgrades, blow off valve, catback exhaust, tune, brake upgrades, suspension upgrades, cosmetic upgrades, etc. Not insanely fast but fast enough to be fun.
 
patfromigh said:
Bill, I hope you're doing better and it's nothing serious. 🙏
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How kind of you, a caring good guy in our Mopar Brotherhood. I’m home and on some meds.
I so love interacting with my Mopar friends and I remain amazed at their knowledge and common sense.
Again, thank you and Merry Christmas.
 
vbondjr1 said:
Dodge did a great job with this car in all trim levels. I'm looking forward to owning this car in the near future. Would be nice if Dodge made a GT version with the new 2.0L Hurricane powertrain and an HEV ZF HP8 EVO 8-speed transmission. A car like that at a lower price point than the R/T Six Pack that could have slightly better than 5.7L Hemi power (395hp) and better than 6.1L Hemi torque (450lb-ft) with electric drive modes. Something like that (to me) would be a great car, especially if it's tunable. (Direct connection Cold air intake, intercooler upgrades, blow off valve, catback exhaust, tune, brake upgrades, suspension upgrades, cosmetic upgrades, etc. Not insanely fast but fast enough to be fun.
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Right on! Dodge needs to build traction with the Charger, as I agree, it clearly is a great product that can be a game changer for Dodge. Especially in four door configuration, price point is critical and this newest Hurricane 4 is just perfect. I honestly see a wide range of product appeal with the Charger from family sedan, to electric goodie two shoes green machine to a Hemi beast muscle car, to what I want, a performance styled upscale coupe that delivers, performance, comfort and convenience depending on one’s mood and needs.
The Daytona launch was a disaster but the package has so much potential, it just needs to offer something for everyone. Your suggestion adds to that formula. We need to be patient with Dodge, they have gotten the message and so far, they are building back better.
 
bill burke said:
How kind of you, a caring good guy in our Mopar Brotherhood. I’m home and on some meds.
I so love interacting with my Mopar friends and I remain amazed at their knowledge and common sense.
Again, thank you and Merry Christmas.
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Didn't know anything was wrong but definitely glad you are okay
 
bill burke said:
Right on! Dodge needs to build traction with the Charger, as I agree, it clearly is a great product that can be a game changer for Dodge. Especially in four door configuration, price point is critical and this newest Hurricane 4 is just perfect. I honestly see a wide range of product appeal with the Charger from family sedan, to electric goodie two shoes green machine to a Hemi beast muscle car, to what I want, a performance styled upscale coupe that delivers, performance, comfort and convenience depending on one’s mood and needs.
The Daytona launch was a disaster but the package has so much potential, it just needs to offer something for everyone. Your suggestion adds to that formula. We need to be patient with Dodge, they have gotten the message and so far, they are building back better.
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Agreed. I wasn't a believer of the Daytona until I experienced it first hand. I'm not an EV person but I LOVE the Daytona Scat Pack. While personally I'm completely impressed with the Hurricane-6 and have high hopes for the new Hurricane-4 and would be completely satisfied with just the turbocharged and potentially hybrid variants of the turbocharged powertrains, I do agree that the greatest thing for this car is the plethora of choices this car has the potential of offering so hopefully somewhere down the line, we get some kind of v8 under the hood of this thing.
 
FYI, if you were wondering why I was hitting the brakes after I time I tapped the accelerator in the video, I didn't. If you have second or third level regen, the brake lights automatically come on when you let off to let people know that the car is coming to a stop quickly.
 
I have to wonder about the future of the Charger as I survey the realities of the marketplace. There are some wild rumors floating around about a killer supercharged Hemi V8 option, but such models don't generate high sales volumes. Don't get me wrong, the 3rd Gen Hemi is an awesome engine, but electrification has changed customer expectations. People who have driven an EV like the smoothness with the power delivery. Later when confronted of the realities of the charging infrastructure, those same customers want their internal combustion engines back. That's why hybrids are soaring in popularity.

As I point out in another thread, the basic A-engine block architecture is 70 years old. Through each transformation, from the Poly to the LA wedge head, the Magnum series, and now with the 3rd generation Hemi, it's all the same block architecture. For the Hemi they did raise the distance between the crankshaft and camshaft centerlines and shortened the deck height slightly, but the bore spacing remains the same.

I suspect there will eventually be a new clean sheet V8 to replace the Hemi. The new Hurricane four offers a glimpse of the future with its TJI head design borrowed from the Maserati Nettuno V6, itself an engine derived from a Ferrari V8. The Maserati and Ferrari engines are no compromise designs. The Hurricane four has to accommodate consumer preferences and production realities. The wild twin side turbochargers on the Nettuno V6 would not be suitable for a regular production vehicle, nor would the lack of a balance shaft in a V6. I suspect that's why the Hurricane 6 is an inline engine design.

My guess is the next V8 will be closer in design to the 4.7 PowerTech V8 used in some Jeep and Dodge (Ram) models in the 2K decade. The block used a shorter distance between the bores and a shorter deck height than in the A engines. it just wouldn't be practical to use the same bore and stroke formula as the inline four and six Hurricane engines, because such a V8 would only yield 4 liters of displacement or 244 cu.in. The PowerTech was 287 cu.in. The Ford Triton V8 had even smaller block dimensions, yet they were able to have larger bore diameters than the PowerTech engines used in Jeeps and Rams. Ford had to raise the deck height 1.14 inches for the longer stroke needed to achieve 330cu.in.

What the Charger lacks is a range extended EV option. While the Ram Rev uses up all its underhood space for a V6, generator, and the electric motor drive, BYD gets away using a much smaller solution. The design BYD uses is a combination generator and drive unit. This allows everything to fit in a much smaller vehicle. There are also a whole portfolio of other hybrid solutions from suppliers available to Stellantis engineers. Replacing the front e-drive unit in a 600hp dual motor EV with a 324hp Hurricane Four/ generator combination should still come close to a pure battery electrics power output. Dodge could even use the 1.6 four depending on how much power a generator e-motor unit produces.
 
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