There’s a Hurricane churning under the hood of the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack, and it’s here to decimate the competition with pure power.
Dodge heard the complaints about the electric Charger and answered with something the muscle car performance crowd actually wants. The 2026 Charger Scat Pack ditches the EV batteries for a twin-turbo inline-six engine that cranks out 550 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque. Sure, it’s not the rumbling V8 everyone grew up with, but this thing rips through corners on the Tail of the Dragon and still does burnouts in rear-wheel drive mode.
The gasoline Charger you’ve always wanted to drive
Starting at $56,990, it’s lighter than the EV version by over 1,000 pounds and handles like Dodge finally figured out how to make a big muscle car that can actually take a curve. The turbos spool up fast, launch control works great, and you can fill it up with gas instead of waiting at a charging station. Two-door models hit dealerships in December, with four-doors coming next spring.
The 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack answers the demand
Although the electric version, the Charger Daytona EV, is an excellent electric muscle car, it’s fighting an uphill battle. Many muscle car enthusiasts aren’t willing to give an electric car a chance, which has led to only 7,075 of the EV models being sold through three quarters of the year, compared to 1,868 gas-powered models, which went out of production in 2023. It’s easy to see that the Charger crowd wants gas-powered Dodge performance cars, not electric models.
The Sixpack Hurricane engine delivers amazing power
In the Sixpack version, the Charger has 420 horsepower, but the Scat Pack model uses the uptuned version of this engine. The Hurricane engine is quickly replacing V8 engines in Stellantis vehicles, including the Charger. This impressive engine is a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged six-cylinder model that has the power desired. The two-door Scat Pack comes in at the quoted starting price, but a four-door model will be offered early next year, and it will cost $2,000 more than the two-door version. In addition to the impressive engine, this Charger has the latest ZF-designed eight-speed automatic transmission and is an AWD muscle car, capable of taking on a twisting road like Tail of the Dragon.
The 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack has three modes for your driving pleasure
In the normal driving mode, the AWD system splits the torque 50/50 front to rear, giving you a balanced drive on every road and through the turns. When you switch to Sport mode, you get a rear bias that sends 60 percent of the torque to the rear. There’s also a burnout mode that disengages the front axle, sending 100 percent of the torque to the rear to deliver amazing burnouts and allow you to drift the Charger with ease.
You might think the AWD system would cause the Charger to be heavy, but even with the system, it only tips the scales at 4,816 pounds, compared to the 5,925 pounds of the Charger Daytona EV.
Excellent exhaust sounds in Sport mode
When you get a chance to use Sport mode in the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack, you should. This model gives you a dual-mode exhaust sound, which is the car’s straight-pipe configuration. You’ll hear an incredible sound that makes you know this car is ready for action. While it doesn’t quite have the same deep, guttural soundtrack as a Hemi V8, the Hurricane engine brings the raspy notes and turbo chirps you expect from a powerful six-cylinder engine.
A Charger for every drive
The new Charger Scat Pack truly does the job when it comes to satisfying muscle car enthusiasts. Despite the loss of the V8 engines, this car is the perfect alternative to the EV direction that Dodge was heading in. You get the choice you need with a powerful six-cylinder engine and AWD, which makes it a capable car for a winding road, such as the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee, or for some straight-line acceleration and sprint speed that will get you to the end of a quarter-mile sprint in a hurry.
There’s nothing tame about the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack, and it brings back the excitement of a gas-powered Dodge muscle car that we thought might not be part of the mix after the 2023 models left and took Hemi V8s with them. Will you choose the Scat Pack or the Daytona EV when you choose your Dodge Charger?
