The ground used to shake. If you stood within ten feet of a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat at idle, you didn't just hear the exhaust; you felt the rhythmic thumping of 6.2 liters of supercharged iron in your chest cavity. It was visceral. It was loud. It was, for better or worse, the defining characteristic of the American dodge gas-powered muscle car for over a decade. But then the production lines in Brampton went quiet in December 2023, and a collective panic set in among enthusiasts who thought the internal combustion engine was dead at Mopar.
They were wrong. Mostly.
While the "Last Call" models felt like a funeral, Dodge was actually just performing a heart transplant. The V8 is gone, which feels like a betrayal to many, but the gasoline-fed muscle car is far from extinct. Enter the 2025 Dodge Charger Sixpack. It's powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six called the "Hurricane." Some people hate it already. Others are looking at the spec sheet and realizing that this "downsized" engine actually puts out more power than the legendary 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter HEMI V8s it replaces. It's a weird time to be a gearhead.
The Hurricane Engine: Blasphemy or Brilliant?
Let’s be real for a second. A muscle car without a V8 feels like a cheeseburger without the beef. It’s conceptually jarring. However, the engineering behind the new dodge gas-powered muscle car lineup is legitimately impressive, even if you miss the old rumble. The Hurricane engine comes in two distinct flavors for the new Charger. There is the Standard Output (SO) version, which produces 420 horsepower, and the High Output (HO) version, which cranks out a massive 550 horsepower.
To put that in perspective, the old 6.4-liter 392 HEMI—a massive, naturally aspirated beast—topped out at 485 horsepower. The new six-cylinder is smaller, lighter, and significantly more powerful.
Why the shift? Emissions regulations are the easy answer, but there’s a performance angle too. Inline-six engines are inherently balanced. They’re smooth. By slapping two low-inertia turbochargers on the block, Dodge has eliminated a lot of the "turbo lag" that used to plague smaller engines. You get peak torque much earlier in the RPM range than you ever did with the old naturally aspirated V8s. You’re pushed back into the seat sooner. It’s a different kind of fast. It’s clinical rather than chaotic.
Stellantis and the STLA Large Platform
The bones of the car have changed just as much as the engine. Dodge is using the STLA Large platform now. This is a "multi-energy" architecture. Basically, it means the engineers designed the chassis to handle both massive battery packs for EVs and traditional gas engines with driveshafts. In the past, when companies tried to make one car do both, the gas version usually suffered from weird packaging or extra weight.
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Dodge claims they’ve avoided that.
The new dodge gas-powered muscle car maintains a wide-body stance. It looks mean. It’s got the "R-Wing" on the front (though primarily on the Daytona EV models) to manage airflow. But for the gas-powered Sixpack, the focus is on maintaining that mechanical connection. You still get an all-wheel-drive system as standard, which is a massive departure from the rear-wheel-drive-only days of the high-power Challengers. It's a necessity, honestly. Trying to put 550 horsepower through just the rear tires using a high-torque turbo engine is a recipe for ending up in a ditch or a "Cars and Coffee" fail video.
What Most People Get Wrong About the New Sound
You’ve probably heard the rumors about "fake exhaust." Let’s clear that up. On the electric Daytona version, Dodge uses a "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust" which is essentially a speaker system that pushes air through a series of chambers to mimic a V8 roar. It's controversial.
However, on the dodge gas-powered muscle car Sixpack, you’re hearing actual combustion. It doesn't sound like a Hellcat. It sounds more like a high-end European sport sedan or a Nissan GT-R. It’s a raspy, mechanical wail. For some, this is the dealbreaker. If the soul of a muscle car is its sound, then the new Charger is soul-searching. But if the soul of a muscle car is its ability to humiliate the guy in the next lane at a red light, the Hurricane engine is more than up to the task.
Real-World Performance: The 2025 Charger Sixpack Specs
If you’re looking at buying one of these, you need to know the hierarchy. Dodge isn't doing the "SXT, GT, R/T, Scat Pack" naming convention in the same way anymore.
- The Sixpack SO: This is the entry-level gas model. 420 hp. It's meant to be the daily driver. It’s for the person who wants the look of a muscle car without the $1,000-a-month fuel bill.
- The Sixpack HO: 550 hp. This is the enthusiast's choice. It features a reinforced block and cooling systems designed to handle higher boost pressures.
The weight is the elephant in the room. These cars are heavy. Because the platform has to support EV tech, the curb weight has ballooned. We are looking at cars that push 5,000 pounds. That is a lot of mass for a "sporty" car. To compensate, Dodge has fitted them with massive tires and sophisticated suspension geometry, but you can’t fight physics forever. You’ll feel that weight in the corners, even if the turbos mask it on the straights.
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The Interior Leap: No More "Plastic Fantastic"
For years, the interior of a dodge gas-powered muscle car was... fine. It was functional. It was also full of grainy plastics and parts-bin buttons from a 2012 Jeep. That’s gone. The new interior is a tech-heavy cockpit. You’ve got a 12.3-inch central touchscreen running Uconnect 5, which is arguably the best infotainment system in the business right now. It’s fast, it doesn't crash often, and it supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto without making you want to pull your hair out.
They’ve also added a "64-color attitude adjustment" lighting system. It sounds gimmicky, but it actually changes the vibe of the cabin significantly based on your drive mode. If you’re in "Track," everything goes red and aggressive. If you’re just cruising, it settles down. The seats are also a huge step up. They’ve moved toward a more bolstered, "bucket" style that actually holds you in place when you're testing that all-wheel-drive grip.
Reliability Concerns and the "New Engine" Tax
Whenever a manufacturer kills a bulletproof engine like the 5.7 HEMI and replaces it with a twin-turbocharged unit, people get nervous. Rightfully so. Turbos add heat. They add complexity. The Hurricane engine has been around in the Jeep Grand Wagoneer for a little bit now, and the early reports are mostly positive, but a muscle car user drives differently than a luxury SUV owner.
Owners of the new dodge gas-powered muscle car will likely face higher maintenance costs over the long term. You have more moving parts. You have intercoolers. You have oiling requirements that are much more stringent than the old "slap some 5W-20 in it and call it a day" V8s. If you’re planning on keeping one of these for 20 years, you need to be prepared for the reality of modern, high-string turbo engines.
Why the Used Market is Exploding
Because the new gas-powered Charger is such a radical departure, we are seeing a strange phenomenon in the car market. Used Challenger and Charger V8 prices are staying stubbornly high. People are panic-buying the last of the "real" HEMIs. This has created a divide.
On one side, you have the purists who will never accept a six-cylinder Dodge. They are scouring dealerships for 2023 leftovers. On the other side, you have a younger generation of tuners who grew up on Japanese and European turbo cars. To them, a twin-turbo inline-six is the perfect canvas. They know that with a simple ECU reflash and a bit more boost, that 550 hp Hurricane could easily pushing 650 or 700 hp.
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Actionable Steps for Potential Buyers
If you’re on the fence about the new era of Dodge performance, don't just read the spec sheets. The internet is full of "vibe-based" reviews that don't tell the whole story.
First, drive a Jeep Wagoneer with the Hurricane engine. It’s obviously a different vehicle, but it will give you a feel for the power delivery of that engine. It is incredibly linear. It doesn't feel like a small engine struggling; it feels like a powerhouse that just happens to have fewer cylinders.
Second, evaluate your needs for AWD. The fact that the new gas-powered muscle cars are all-wheel drive makes them viable year-round vehicles in places like Chicago or Boston. You couldn't say that about a Hellcat unless you had a death wish or a very expensive set of winter tires.
Third, look at the insurance premiums. Insurance companies are still figuring out how to classify these. Sometimes a "High Output" six-cylinder is cheaper to insure than a V8 simply because the "V8" tag triggers a higher risk profile in their algorithms.
Finally, check the production timelines. The electric Daytonas hit the showrooms first. The gas-powered Sixpack models are trailing behind. If you want a gas engine, you might have to wait a few extra months or deal with dealer markups on the first wave of "Sixpack" badges.
The dodge gas-powered muscle car isn't dead; it's just evolved into something more technical and less primitive. Whether that's a good thing depends entirely on whether you value the sound of the past or the speed of the future. The HEMI is a legend, but the Hurricane is the new reality. Accept it, or go buy a used 2023 while you still can.
To make the most of this transition, track the specific VIN allocations at your local Power Broker dealership. These specific dealers get priority for performance parts and "Direct Connection" tunes that allow you to upgrade your Hurricane engine without voiding the factory warranty. This is the safest way to chase higher horsepower figures while maintaining the peace of mind that comes with a new vehicle purchase. If you’re planning to modify, the Power Broker network is your only real path forward in the early years of this platform.