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Detroit — The Charger muscle car is getting a Sixpack. Can an eight-pack be far behind?

Dodge celebrated the 10^th annual Roadkill Nights on Woodward on Friday by rolling out the 2026, gas-powered Scat Pack and R/T performance models of its all-wheel-drive Charger. The sleek hot rods boast throaty, high-horsepower, twin-turbocharged, inline 6-cylinder engines built on the same versatile STLA Large platform as the 670-horsepower, electric Dodge Charger Daytona introduced last year.

The so-called “Sixpack” engine is more powerful than the last-generation Charger’s 485-horse 6.4-liter V-8. The Sixpack badge, connoting six cylinders, is a throwback reference to 1970 model engines’ three, two‑barrel carburetors (for a total of six barrels).

But Dodge’s visceral brand was built on legendary V-8s from the 1960s through the Hellcats of the 2020s. Staggered by hundreds of millions of dollars of federal emissions fines for making eight-holers, Charger and Challenger V-8 drivetrains were sunsetted in 2023, enraging Dodge’s passionate fan base, the Brotherhood of Muscle.

With a new EPA sheriff in Washington, D.C., the Brotherhood’s hopes for a V-8 resurgence are on the rise.

“No surprise if it would fit” in the STLA Large platform’s engine bay, Dodge CEO Matt McAlear said cryptically at the Sixpack Charger’s reveal. “With regulatory changes in the industry, we are flexing more into ICE long-term.”

Those ICE (Internal combustion engine) powerplants include the 710-horsepower, supercharged, 6.2-liter and 360-horse, 5.7-liter V-8s stuffed into the 2026 Durango three-row SUV that Dodge also announced Friday.

“Muscle moves our models,” McAlear said of the popular Durango SRT Hellcat, which led the SUV to a 36% sales gain for the first six months of 2025 over a year ago (a No. 7 ranking in JD Power’s Initial Quality test didn’t hurt either).

Until a similar V-8 appears in the Charger, Dodge fans will have an expanded lineup of electric and Sixpack hot hatches to choose from.

Yes, hot hatch.

The new Chargers boast a hatchback boot like a Volkswagen Golf R or Honda Civic Type R, matching performance with utility. As a midsize coupe, the three-door Charger has big cargo space with 37.4 cubic feet under the hatch, though that’s shy of a five-door $87k Audi S7 hatchback’s 49 cubic feet.

“It’s a hidden hatch that delivers SUV-like cargo capacity,” said McAlear. “With the seats down, we’ve got 37% more cargo room than the outgoing vehicles. With all-wheel-drive standard and the SUV-like cargo, this is a daily driver.”

It also has more power than a 444-horse S7.

The Sixpack will debut in Charger’s signature performance trims: Scat Pack and R/T. Customers will have a list of choices, including coupe or sedan (the Scat Pack coupe will debut first this fall) as well as two drivetrains: standard or high-output.

“This is a very accessible muscle car. We’re starting at the higher end with the R/T and the Scat Pack,” McAlear said. “We’re launching with the 550-horsepower, two-door Scat Pack, but very shortly after that, we’ll open for orders on the two-door R/T, and the four-door R/T.”

The R/T puts out 420 horsepower/468 pound feet of torque while the high-output Scat Pack mill ups the game to 550 horsepower/531 torque. The latter targets a 3.9-second 0-60 mph sprint, quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds, and a top speed of 177 mph.

All Chargers are all-wheel-drive to help put all that grunt to the ground and managed by an eight-speed transmission connected to a pistol-grip shifter. Step on the gas and the Sixpack makes a proper ICE growl from its 100-millimeter dual pipes out back.

The interior of the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack Plus gets 64-color, so-called Attitude Adjustment lighting and big digital displays.

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“The twin-turbo inline-6 is going to blow people’s minds when they hear the new exhaust. It sounds great,” said McAlear. He said visitors to Roadkill in Pontiac this weekend will have the first chance to experience the full Charger lineup.

“We’re going to have thrill rides — drifts, donuts, launch — in our all-new Dodge Charger Sixpack. It will be the first time consumers can sit in the right seat and see the excitement and the thrill with a professional driver by the wheel,” he said.

The electric Charger Daytona, introduced for the 2024 model year, replaced V8-powered Hellcat models and has struggled to make an emotional connection to the Brotherhood with its artificial, Fratzonic Chamber exhaust note. Sales have disappointed, even though its performance numbers did not.

With the Charger Sixpack poised to be the volume leader, the Charger Daytona can settle into its role as a $61,490 halo product with 670 horsepower and a 3.3-second zero-60 mph sprint.

Like Ford and the Mustang Mach-E before it, Dodge introduced its electric product to show off the versatility of its ICE-or-EV STLA Large chassis — and gain government credits for future V-8 production. Ford used the Mach-E (and its Ford Lighting EV pickup) to acquire enough credits to keep its V-8-powered Mustang icon burning without paying emissions fines.

Expect similar muscle from Dodge — on an accelerated timeline now that the Trump administration has rolled back anti-ICE regulations and canceled California’s’ exemption to regulate carbon dioxide.

The Sixpacks delivers plenty of punch to justify their prices: $56,490 for the Scat Pack, $51,490 for the R/T. Add $2,000 for the sedan versions when they arrive next year.

The STLA Large platform is 20% stiffer than the aging, last-gen platform, though it tips the scales at a porky 4,816 pounds (the electric Charger is 5,767 pounds). Standard Scat Pack goodies include six-piston Brembo brakes, active exhaust and five drive modes: Auto, Eco, Wet/Snow, Sport and Custom. Features include RWD-only traction, Launch Control and Line Lock (which locks the front tires so you can spin the rears in standing, smoky burnouts).

The roomy interior includes tech like a digital 10.25-inch instrument cluster (optional 16-inch), head-up display and 12.3-inch infotainment display (run by Dodge’s intuitive Uconnect 5 software) with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. Premium seat options include heated Black Nappa leather and Demonic Red Nappa leather seats, with high-backed, fixed headrest seats available on Scat Pack Plus trims.

All this is wrapped in a throwback design to the 1966 Dodge Charger race car that Dodge brought on stage. Eight paint schemes bear signature Dodge names like Green Machine, After Dark, Bludicrous, Diamond Black, Peel Out, Redeye, Triple Nickel and White Knuckle.

The 2026 Charger bears a similar, hooded fascia, fastback and wide stance. While the electric Charger Daytona bears a unique R-wing for better aerodynamics, the Charger Sixpack gets a hood bulge — like the ‘66 Charger V-8 — stamped “SIXPACK” to indicate the power underneath.

Orders for the Scat Pack open Aug. 11 with vehicles rolling off the Brampton Assembly line in Ontario before year’s end.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.