I think terminating the Banshee project may be a good idea overall seeing that the Daytona wasn't received very well. Not saying that the Daytona is a bad car, because it's not. The car was truly half baked and rushed to market in extremely bad timing. Personally I don't want to see the Daytona go away completely being that I like the idea of it being around and also I think it's going to be even more amazing if/when they put the 3-speed gearbox in it, along with the ERUPT system and the new battery technology with lighter, more powerful solid-state batteries and that new charging technology. Especially if the Charging time situation improves. Now I get it, that car isn't for everyone, but that's Dodge and that's what (to me) makes this brand so wonderful. Honestly, even if the HP doesn't increase alot, the current Daytona, with less weight, a better gear box and more range with all the bugs finally worked out would be the best EV performance vehicle on the market. Maybe not the most powerful, but definitely the most fun.
I want to point out something to everyone that is being gung-ho about the return of the Hemi V8. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the freedoms of choice still remain in this world but CARB is still very much alive and thriving. That monster isn't dead and honestly, it's not going anywhere. As we look at the situation we have here, there are a lot of CARB states where nothing larger than a 5.7L Hemi is going to be available. As of now, that works in the Durango and the Ram (waiting to see what this street performance Ram 1500 truck is going to be like on Monday 8/6/25), but where does the 5.7L Hemi V8 fit in the lineup with the Charger? Even as a GT, how affordable/practical would it be and what would a car like that really compete with as a V8? No one out there has a sub 400hp V8 in a "performance" car anymore so the 5.7L Hemi would literally be outclassed and outgunned by even alot of turbo-4 cars so that doesn't make sense. From a business standpoint, that's not good. Unless the 5.7L Hemi gets a blower and a hybrid transmission to shoot it past the 550hp in terms of power, it doesn't make sense to have a 5.7L Charger, not to mention the fact that it would be astronomically priced. Now, I do think we're going to see higher-horsepower versions down the line with the Hurricane-6 both full ICE and hybrid, especially in the CARB states and yeah, Dodge may sneak in a high horsepower V8 car for the non-carb states as a low-volume option, but that's about all I see when it comes to the V8 for a large portion of the North American market.
Something else with the Charger that we've discussed before here is the missing entry level car, like a Charger GT. Honestly a mild hybrid 2.7L turbocharged 4-cylinder with a 90-degree crossplane crankshaft would be a great idea. If anyone here knows what a Yamaha R1 motorcycle is, you'll understand why I mentioned the crossplane crank. All car Inline-4 engines have a flat plane crank, a Crossplane crank 4-cylinder sounds very similar to a V8. GM makes a 2.7L turbo-4 that makes 310hp and 430lb-ft of torque, If Stellantis could make a 2.7L crossplane crank with similar numbers and then you add a 4th Gen Mild hybrid EVO powertrain that can add about 40hp and 184lb-ft of torque, that's still a 350hp powertrain making 614lb-ft of torque. Add a few Direct Connection upgrades or a GLH package to a car that has that kind of power and sound and most people won't be upset at all.
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