It might not pack a V8 anymore, but at least it looks really good.
Last week, Dodge revealed its upcoming Charger Daytona, the sleek-looking coupe that will seemingly replace the current, nearly prehistoric Challenger. The photos showed a pre-production car, which looks identical to the Charger Daytona SRT concept, and the caption provided little information, stating only that it was not a final vehicle and that it will be available in 2024. However, thanks to Instagram user hellrango_nic, we can get a better look at the new Charger’s rear end in motion, as it cruised I-75 in Michigan, near Chrysler’s headquarters.
There are going to be two versions of the new Dodge Charger Daytona: an electric model and a Hurricane inline-six-powered one. While we can’t be certain from this quick Instagram clip from inside someone else’s car, it seems that this Charger test mule is an EV. The video’s caption claims that no exhaust noise could be heard from the Charger, but even a Hurricane I6 cruising at 1,500 rpm on the highway isn’t going to be heard from inside another car, especially with wind and tire noise muddying the airwaves.
Instead, what seems to truly give away its electric nature is its lack of visible exhaust pipes, just as we saw on Dodge’s own released images. There are dozens of supposedly sporty cars and SUVs on sale without visible exhausts (I’m looking at you, Audi), but I’d bet my house that Dodge isn’t going to make a gas-powered Charger without real exhaust pipes.
That isn’t entirely surprising, though, as we already knew that an electric version was coming. Dodge testing it on public roads, to fine-tune whatever needs to be fine-tuned, isn’t unusual. I think the more important takeaway is how good it looks on the road. Most cars look good in heavily edited press photos, but when a car gets out onto the road and you can see the way it moves and how natural light passes over it, that’s when you can tell if a design truly works. And I think this new Charger looks really good.
It looks surprisingly small, compared to the road-going cargo ship that is the Challenger, and its proportions seem spot-on for a pony car. It sports muscular rear fenders and crisp lines, making it look more athletic than the old Challenger, too. I’m still not sure how I feel about that new front emblem, but this clip has me excited about seeing the Charger in person. Maybe that was Stellantis’ goal, having it drive around in public uncamouflaged.
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