2026 Dodge SIXPACK-Powered Scat Pack is the Charger Most Muscle Car Fans Are Waiting For

It’s hard to top the performance of an EV, yet sales of the blisteringly fast Dodge Charger Daytona have fallen short of expectations. For muscle car fans still unwilling to go electric, however, there’s a gas-powered alternative soon set to roll into showrooms. Headlight.News has this first look at the Sixpack-powered 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack.

Punching out 670 horsepower and able to hit 60 in just over 3 seconds, the Dodge Charger Daytona might seem to be what every muscle car fan would drool over. The problem: it’s all-electric, and for classic performance fans, that remains a hard sell. But despite what some long-time Charger fans might have once feared, Dodge isn’t about to abandon them.

Just in time for the upcoming Woodward Dream Cruise, the Stellantis performance brand has pulled the covers off the Sixpack-powered 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack. No, it’s not the rebirth of the Hemi-powered muscle cars that helped the brand build a “brotherhood of muscle.” But it’s gutsy new package that delivers serious performance numbers – and blasts a deeply resonant exhaust note out of its twin tailpipes, rather than the simulated “Fratzonic exhaust” of the Daytona model.

Set to roll into Dodge showrooms early next year, the ICE – or internal combustion – Charger Scat Pack also comes in $5,000 under the all-electric version. Here’s more.

Maximum flexibility

In recent years, most automakers have chosen to develop unique, EV-only skateboard-like platforms. Dodge parent Stellantis took a different route, designing its STLA Large “architecture” to be flexible enough to handle a variety of different powertrain technologies – and to underpin a wide array of product lines for the Dodge, Jeep, Ram – and, eventually, Chrysler – brands.

The all-electric version of the Charger, dubbed Daytona, was one of the first models to use STLA Large. But Dodge is now about to launch a gas-powered line-up.

With the Sixpack-powered versions of Charger – which drops the Daytona badge — there’s no battery pack under the load floor, of course. But to fit an internal combustion engine into package required some obvious changes. The hood has been raised visibly. The sealed grille has been opened up because this package “needs a lot of air to keep cool,” noted Stellantis global powertrain chief Mickey Bly. And the unusual R-Wing found on the EV – a passthrough at the front of the hood to increase downforce and lower drag – is gone.

Beyond those changes, however, there are enough similarities that even Charger fans might not notice which version is which.

What’s a Sixpack?

While it’s yet possible Dodge might bring back a Hemi-powered package, the gas-fired Charger relies on the most potent version yet of the Stellantis Hurricane engine, renamed Sixpack. Make that two versions:

• The high-output package is the Dodge Charger Scat Pack, with its 3.0-liter inline-six making a gutsy 550 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque. To deliver those numbers the engine gets a spray bore coating, high-pressure injectors, oil-jet-cooled pistons and other upgrades. The results? A 0-60 launch time of 3.9 seconds, quarter miles estimated at 12 seconds, and a top speed of 177 mph;
• The Dodge Charger R/T uses a standard-output version of the Hurricane, here making a still beefy 420 hp and 468 hp.

Both versions push power through a beefed-up 8-speed automatic, then directing torque to all four wheels. In normal operation, power is biased towards the rear.

AWD or RWD? Your choice

One of the more unusual features of the Sixpack-powered Charger models is the ability to instantly go from AWD to RWD.

“The robust 880RE TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission features a multi-disc wet clutch system that opens at the push of a button to enable on-demand RWD functionality, capable of sending 100% of torque to the rear wheels.

Charger’s electronic brain automatically switches to rear-drive when activating two of its numerous drive modes: Drift and Donut.

Drivers looking to maximize take-off, meanwhile, also can activate features including Launch Control and Line Lock.

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Enhanced handling

Gone are the days when muscle cars simply had to be fast off the line. Sure, there are plenty of buyers who will opt for Charger – and Charger Daytona – because of the numbers they can deliver on the dragstrip. But Audrey Moore, the chief program engineer, insists all versions of the Charger now deliver the sort of handling owners could only dream of with the old Charger and Challenger packages Dodge pulled from production in December 2023.

That STLA Large platform deserves much of the credit. Under the new Charger, it’s  20% stiffer and boasts 10% better suspension damping. Moore also claims the 2026 Charger delivers “a 20% better ride.” Understeer, meanwhile, has been reduced by 20%, translating into better handling, as many reviewers have already noted about the Charger Daytona.

The internal combustion version of Charger adds Brembo brakes – with 6-piston fixed front calipers – to ensure it can rapidly scrub off speed.

Coupe or sedan

The Charger Daytona initially launched in a 2-door configuration – more Challenger than Charger, some complained. Dodge recently added a 4-door package to the option list for an extra $2,000.

Sixpack-powered Charger models will immediately be available in both body styles when they reach showrooms later this year – again, the sedan carrying a $2,000 mark-up.

Unlike the old muscle cars, both sedan and coupe will feature unexpectedly large rear seating areas and surprisingly spacious cargo compartments. They’re actually 5- and 3-door configurations if you consider the hidden hatches Dodge designed in. Fold down the roomy back seats and you’ll get up to 37.4 cubic feet of cargo space.

Further enhancing seating room, the 2026 Charger is about two inches wider than the Widebody versions of both last-generation muscle cars.

Interior and technology

While it’s far from a retro-mobile, the 2026 Dodge Charger clearly picks up on classic brand cues, both outside and in, including the horizontal instrument panel layout that emphasizes the car’s width. The IP is dominated by a 12.3-inch infotainment display and, depending upon your package, either a 10.25-inch or 16-inch digital gauge cluster. Both screens are readily reprogrammable, and the cluster automatically changes appearance, including layout and color, depending upon driver mode. The flattened steering wheels are subtly different. In the EV, there’s a “Powershot” button that briefly calls up maximum power. In the gas models. It lets you set drive modes.

Charger also features a welcome array of tech features, starting with the Uconnect5 operating system., Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, Amazon Alexa integration and a TomTom navigation system. Dodge also claims to offer more than 100 driver assistance and safety features.

Like the Daytona EV, the Sixpack models have the capability for smartphone-style over-the-air updates of most onboard software.

Pricing and Availability

Dodge currently offers only one version of the all-electric Charger Daytona, the Scat Pack package. It recently put the lower-powered R/T on hold, though company officials denied that was the result of weak sales. An even more powerful Charger Banshee is in the works but it’s not clear if it will reach market next year, as originally planned. The 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack will start at $59,995.

The 2026 SIXPACK-powered Dodge Charger models will reach U.S. showrooms during the first half of 2026, according to the automaker – though interested buyers will be able to start placing orders online as of August 13. The gas Scat Pack will start at $54,995. The Charger R/T will carry a $49,995 MSRP.

Add to those figures $1,995 in delivery fees.