Dodge Could Offer Two Drastically Different Versions Of Its Next-Gen Muscle Cars!

Revealed in August, the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee Concept showed the public the direction Dodge is taking toward an electrified future. The conceptual two-door muscle car is just a preview of what the public can expect once the production car hits the streets in 2024.

Obviously being electric, the Charger Daytona SRT ditches the conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) in favor of electric drive modules (EDMs). The compact EDMs have allowed the Dodge Design Studio in Auburn Hills to become more innovative and push the boundaries of automotive design. No better example explains this than the “R-Wing”.

Named after the Head of Stellantis Design, Ralph Gilles, the R-Wing allows airflow through the front opening where a traditional grille would be for an ICE vehicle. But instead of being used for cooling, the R-Wing allows air to be pushed up and over the hood of the car creating front end downforce. An ingenious idea, even if it is gimmicky, the R-Wing has become a key design element for the conceptual electric muscle car.

Dodge has made it no secret that it plans to offer both a 400-volt and 800-volt variants of its next-gen electric muscle cars. But when it comes to the saying something about an ICE variant on the record, the American performance brand has remained slient for the most part. 

In what could be one of the worst-kept secrets in the industry, Dodge will continue to offer ICE power in its next-gen muscle cars, however, it won’t be in the form of a HEMI V8. Rather the automaker’s will be using its new twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder lineup of engines.

The new engine lineup, we believe will be dubbed the Hurricane6 once it arrives on the market, following the engine naming structure introduced on its turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four-cylinder Dodge Hornet GT. On the Hornet GT, that engine is called the Hurricane4 officially by Dodge.

But with the arrival of the Hurricane6 Challenger and Charger, we could see quite a difference in appearance between the traditional and electric versions of the cars.

For example, because of the needs that an ICE engine, certain design elements like the radical R-Wing could be absent on the Hurricane6 models. Instead, we could see a more traditional grille and hood design. 

While Dodge has stated that its 800-volt Banshee system will be the top-dog when it comes to performance, we wouldn’t put it past engineers to have fun with the new ICE models too. In fact, engineers are hard at work on a race-oriented version of the Hurricane6 called “Cat X”. That engine is expected to have horsepower around the 1,300 to 1,500 mark and will make its debut in the next-gen Drag Pak.

It shows us that Dodge has no plans in abandoning ICEs anytime soon.

But we say its a safe bet, that Dodge will offer two drastically different flavors of both its two-door and four-door muscle cars once they arrive.

With that said, those who are curious to know more about the future muscle car lineup will more than likely have to wait to later this summer. There is a chance that Dodge could introduce something around the week of the Woodward Dream Cruise, as they have in recent years.