2026 Dodge Charger Sixpack Review

I love cookies. I wish they were a required food group. But if someone gave me an oatmeal raisin cookie or, even worse, a blue cheese cookie (which someone actually did recently), I’d decline it or maybe even throw it in the green bin because that’s not a real cookie! Why would they take something I love and make it gross?

That’s how I believe Dodge fans — the Brotherhood of Muscle — reacted when they got the new Charger as a fully electric car. “We like muscle cars,” I can imagine them saying. “But not like that.” A line in the sand was drawn.

It didn’t matter that the electric Dodge Charger Daytona got mostly good reviews and was an objectively great car that was better, in most ways, than the car it replaced. It seemed to be an affront to everything the Brotherhood stands for.

Luckily for them, Dodge always planned to have a good, old-fashioned gas-powered engine in its new-generation Charger. Hopefully, even the “give-me-a-V8-or-give-me-death” crowd finds solace in this happy medium that doesn’t at all feel like a compromise.

Power 10 / 10

While it’s not the HEMI V8 that the Brotherhood regards as sacred, the 3.0L “Hurricane” twin-turbocharged inline-six is not some crunchy, granola “woke engine.” While not as outrageous as the HEMI V8, the inline-six is a capable powerplant that infuses the Charger with a lot of the big, boisterous personality that the previous model had. I loved the old V8 as much as I love cookies. And while the new Sixpack doesn’t sound as ferocious as the V8, I can, with my hand on my heart, assure you that it’s a great engine and that you’ll love it. The Sixpack is not a blue cheese cookie (to be fair, neither is the Daytona). It’s a very delicious, well-balanced, highly satisfying cookie.

In the tested Scat Pack trim, the inline-six is a high-output version with 550 hp and 531 lb-ft of torque, enough to go from zero to 96 km/h (60 mph) in a claimed 3.9 seconds. There’s a standard-output Charger R/T version joining the lineup later with 420 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque. The big news that some people have been distracted from while mourning the V8 is that the Charger now comes standard with all-wheel drive (AWD). Sadly, there’s no more manual transmission available, but a capable eight-speed automatic is a good match for the new engine.

Driving Feel 8 / 10

The old rear-wheel-drive (RWD) V8 Challenger coupes felt feral. Highly engaging and wildly enjoyable, they felt like they were always on the edge of fantastical violence. With the new AWD format and new platform, the Charger doesn’t feel like it’s constantly trying to kill you. That’s a good thing!

The new Charger is heavier than all versions of the old Challenger, but it doesn’t feel that way from behind the wheel. Despite the extra weight, it feels so much more balanced and better to drive than it used to, displaying a level of refinement that the previous one could not match. The steering is a bit numb and the AWD helps manage power delivery much better, softening a bit of the edge, but that’s not to say all the personality has been diluted to the point of boredom. The Sixpack still offers a generous helping of old-school muscle car charm and attitude.

This is a full-size car, after all, with an overall length of 5,248 mm, which is ever so slightly shorter than a Toyota Sequoia (5,286 mm). That’s enormous for a performance car and the wheelbase is truck-like in length, so this isn’t some nimble corner-carving little thing; it’s a large and in charge muscle car in every way, prioritizing power and personality, not poise and precision. Yes, the Charger is much better to drive than it used to be, but no, it’s still not a sports car. Its generous riches of horsepower make you a beast in a straight line, the inline-six engine is favoured for smoothness and balance, and the Charger feels much more composed in a corner than it used to, but it’s still a whole lot of car. Its enormous size feels perfectly fine on an open road, but parking garages, switchbacks, and tight urban areas will not feel very accommodating.

The AWD system is clever and drivers can engage certain driving modes that can send 100 per cent of the power to the rear wheels should they want to perform smoky burnouts or donuts. While better fuel economy is another great reason to disconnect the front axle, let’s be real, that’s not why you’re using it. Of course, Line Lock and launch control are also on deck for drag strip shenanigans. Snow/wet mode locks power delivery front to rear at 50:50 and keeps things mellow, eco mode prioritizes RWD, slower shifting, and keeps RPMs low, while sport mode sharpens everything up and opens the active exhaust valves. There’s also a custom mode that allows drivers to configure the Charger how they want.

It should be noted that Charger buyers get one day of instruction at Dodge/SRT’s high-performance driving school in Arizona, but flights and accommodations are not included.

Styling 9 / 10

Attitude and presence are hallmarks of Dodge muscle cars, more so than almost anything else. The Charger looks every bit like a modern muscle car should: menacing, nostalgic, and dramatic. The three-pointed space age-inspired Fratzog logo is everywhere and is a callback to a logo used by Dodge between 1962 and 1976 — muscle car glory days. I also love the nostalgic angry bee badges on the front fenders of this Scat Pack, another reference to Dodge’s dominance in the horsepower wars of the late 1960s and early ‘70s. The proportions are proper, the design is in your face without being outlandish, and it looks remarkably clean and cohesive from every angle. I wish the hood bezel was a functional air intake, however. Fake vents are a big yuck on performance cars (like raisins in cookies).

The interior is also very cool, with optional customizable wraparound ambient lighting (Dodge annoyingly calls it “Attitude Adjustment”) and matte carbon fibre giving the cabin a lot of life. It’s much more refined than it used to be, and all the elements, including the chunky flat-bottom and flat-top steering wheel, contrast stitching, and a pistol-grip gear selector, give the interior the right exaggerated personality to match its outward attitude.

Fuel Economy 6.5 / 10

Official Canadian fuel economy hasn’t been released yet, but converted from American figures, the Charger Scat Pack is rated at 14.7 L/100 km in the city, 10.2 on the highway, and 12.4 combined. After about 400 km of mixed testing, the indicated average was 12.5 L/100 km. Dodge recommends using premium 91-octane fuel.

Comfort 8 / 10

One benefit of being so huge is that the Charger has more rear seat legroom than a coupe has a right to. Even with a taller person in front, there’s more than enough room to be comfortable in the back seats, which includes decent headroom with the optional full glass roof. The suspension is also set up in a way that’s forgiving and comfortable for cruising, soaking up rough roads well, while active noise cancellation ensures the cabin is quiet.

The Charger’s huge footprint, however, means that you need more space to enter and exit than the average parking space allows because the doors are enormous and open wide. If you park next to other cars, it’s awkward trying to avoid dinging their doors.

Practicality 8 / 10

While the trunk is quite large at 644 L, the high liftover height and the dramatic slope of the Charger’s sportback-like trunk hatch limit practicality a bit. The trunk has a lot of surface area, but not a lot of height. Luckily, the seats can fold 40:60 to open up 1,059 L of space if you need to hold longer items.

The cabin also has decent small item storage; big door pockets with bottle holders, a rubberized bin for keys or change, a phone holder, and a large compartment under the armrest ensure you have enough space to stash your stuff.

User Friendliness 8 / 10

The Charger’s cabin is relatively straightforward and anyone used to how the Uconnect system works will find this version very familiar.

The touch-capacitive controls that flank the touchscreen need to be more sensitive because they don’t always respond, but the row of touch-capacitive controls on the bottom of the screen are a bit better and “click” when you push them, which is helpful, but you still have to glance away from the road to use them. The infotainment system itself is responsive and logical enough, though some controls are buried too deep inside menus. I love the media controls on the back of the steering wheel for volume, source change, and cycling through your saved channels because it prevents distracting touchscreen use.

Passengers now open the door using a button for electronic release instead of a more straightforward lever and seems designed for people with huge hands. It was placed in a non-intuitive and awkward spot for me to use.

Features 8 / 10

Standard feature highlights on the Scat Pack Plus include eight-way power driver seat with memory, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, active noise cancellation, a flimsy cargo cover, remote start, keyless entry, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic high beams, light-up front and rear badges, two USB-C ports in the front and two in the rear, and a nine-speaker audio system. It would have been great to see a lot more standard features, especially at this price.

An optional and worthy upgrade package adds ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a wireless charging pad, power hatch, customizable ambient lighting, head-up display, performance data logs, a larger 16-inch digital driver display, power adjustable steering column, navigation display in the gauge cluster, voice commands, and more.

Safety 8 / 10

Standard safety features on the Scat Pack Plus include forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist with steering, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, parking sensors all around, traffic sign recognition, and drowsy driver detection. Optional extras include a 360-degree surround-view parking camera that includes a tire-to-curb view so you never curb rash your wheels, and a front camera. A camera-based blind spot monitor is also available.

The Charger’s safety systems, however, notified and warned me multiple times with varying degrees of loud beeping without giving any indication of what the problem was, which renders them pretty useless.

Value 7 / 10

The 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack Plus with the high-output Sixpack starts at $77,490 plus the non-negotiable $2,295 destination fee. With $9,670 in options, the price balloons to an as-tested $89,555. That’s a lot for a muscle car, but that’s the world we live in now. The most expensive V8-powered Mustang Dark Horse Premium is $87,660 before tax. The Charger R/T starts at $59,995 before taxes and fees, and four-door versions will be available in 2026 for $3,000 extra.

The Verdict

As a modern evolution of an old-school muscle car, the new Dodge Charger Sixpack should satisfy brand loyalists. Built on a vastly improved platform, it drives far better than its predecessor, features a more refined interior than ever, and still retains the personality and sense of drama that define a proper muscle car.

The Charger Sixpack — which is assembled in Windsor, Ont. — exudes a welcome sense of authenticity. It isn’t trying to be something it’s not, which helps explain why the Daytona EV failed to resonate with traditionalists.

And I have to come clean; an oatmeal raisin cookie isn’t inherently bad, but the realization that you’re biting into one when you were expecting chocolate chips is a classic disappointment. Thankfully, the Charger Sixpack delivers exactly what it promises and then some. It’s a triumph: a chunky, fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookie in a world full of oatmeal raisins.