Review: 2024 Dodge Challenger Turbo Six-Cylinder
The end of the V8 era may be near, but a former employee claims the 2024 Dodge Challenger and Charger will use a new 3.0-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder petrol engine.
Dodge said earlier this month that its ‘Hemi’ family of V8 engines would be phased out from the Challenger coupe and Charger sedan by the end of 2023, with a new era of fully electric ‘eMuscle’ cars.
While some versions of Dodge’s future muscle vehicle will use electric motors, as shown last week in the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept, it appears some variants will continue to be powered by the petrol engine of the all-new six-cylinder ‘Hurricane’. machine family.
In recent months, outlets like CarsAuthority have speculated that the 2024 Dodge Challenger with a twin-turbo inline-six engine will be used in the next generation of Dodge muscle vehicles.
However, information obtained by Drive indicates that the Hurricane’s six-cylinder engine will be used in the Challenger and Charger, according to internet posts by former employees.
According to one of his social media pages, the product engineer admitted to having helped create new exhaust components for the Hurricane on the Challenger and Charger while working for Stellantis, Dodge’s parent company which also owns Jeep and Ram.
During his 15-month tenure at the automaker, he oversaw “removal requirements and new catalytic converter design for the 3.0-liter Dodge Charger/Challenger [2024 Model Year] ‘GMET6’,” according to his biography.
The US automaker’s twin-turbo straight-six engine, known internally as the GMET6, will be available in two states: a standard output (SO) version with at least 298kW and 610Nm, and a high output (HO) version with at least 373kW and 644Nm.
According to Mopar Insiders, the Hurricane’s SO and HO engines will be offered in the Challenger and Charger, potentially replacing the entry-level 3.6-liter ‘Pentastar’ V6 and mid-range 5.7-liter ‘Hemi’ V8 options.
Meanwhile, a 400-volt electric powertrain may replace the 6.4-litre ‘Scat Pack’, with the flagship 800-volt ‘Banshee’ system replacing the high-performance 6.2-litre supercharged V8 seen in the Hellcat variant.
While a six-cylinder engine will meet or exceed the performance standards of a normally aspirated V8 engine, the Hurricane engine has been developed to improve fuel economy and emissions by up to 15%.
Dodge fans will immediately point to statements made on US site Motor1 earlier this month, following claims from the US that the V8 Challenger and Charger would remain in the new generation.
However, this statement rules out the use of a V8 engine, leaving the door open for a new six-cylinder muscle vehicle on a completely new platform, with an electric alternative.
If this report and the information provided by an engineer are correct, the six-cylinder 2024 Dodge Challenger and Charger will be revealed in production-ready form sometime next year.
Buyers will have until December 2023 to get their hands on the muscle car company’s last V8 engine, when the last-generation Challenger and Charger cars roll off the assembly line.
