Dodge is getting ready for a summer of Charger. The muscle car name marks its 60th anniversary this year, and part of that celebration will be a new and even more powerful gas version of the car. Surely, this must be the return of the Hemi Charger, yes? Not exactly, but the power upgrade might finally be enough to convince buyers they don’t need eight cylinders. At least, that’s what Dodge is likely hoping for, so it can turn around the slow-selling Charger’s fortunes.
‘Most Powerful Sixpack’ Is Coming
Dodge Charger SixpackDodge
To mark 60 years of Charger, Dodge will be hosting events across the US this summer. The schedule includes launching the paint color Purple Haze at Carlisle, the All-American Cruise-In at the Petersen in Los Angeles, and the Woodward Cruise in Detroit. The big one, though, will be the 11th Roadkill Nights event in Pontiac, Michigan, where Dodge will go drag racing on Woodward and launch “the most powerful Sixpack-powered Charger yet.”
Sixpack is Dodge’s name for Chargers equipped with the 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six. The twin-turbo engine in the eighth-generation Charger makes 420 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque in the standard output version, and 550 hp with 531 lb-ft in the High Output variant found in this car, as well as a handful of other Mopars.
If Dodge is launching something it calls “the most powerful,” it isn’t going to be a new exhaust or some other tiny change that boosts output by a few hp. Dodge is all about extremes, and that means that the engine is likely going to end up with somewhere closer to 600 Hurricane-powered horses under its long hood.
The figure is an educated guess, but we do have a cap on the limit of how much power it could make. The Charger Daytona EV makes 670 hp, and if this one made more, Dodge would have proclaimed that instead of calling it the most powerful Sixpack car.
Can A 600 HP I6 Finally Replace A Hemi V8?
Dodge Charger – Purple HazeDodge
A 600 hp I6 is still not a V8, but who cares when the most powerful standard Hemi engine in the last-generation Charger maxed out at 485 hp? The more common 5.7-liter Hemi made just 370, both figures well under even the current HO Hurricane. If you wanted more power, you had to get a supercharged Hellcat V8, which started at 707 and went up to more than 1,000 depending on how limited of an edition you bought.
At its current 550 hp, the Hurricane I6 is already the most powerful inline-six on the market. Boosting it even higher puts it so far beyond anything else that even AMG’s bonkers 469 hp 2.0-liter four is looking nervous.
It still might not be enough for Charger customers, though. The electric model that launched first didn’t win over many fans, even though it has all kinds of potential for fast and fun antics. In the gas world, sales of the Sixpack are finally starting to pick up now that the entry-level R/T is in the mix. But core Dodge buyers who live and breathe Hemi power are proving to be very stubborn about accepting anything less than a V8.
Plus, Hemi is still likely to come back. Stellantis is V8-crazy right now, and the company’s head of going fast has said the only business case for one in the new Charger would be the Hellcat. Reports suggest that it’s already under development and could arrive next year. This new I6 car will arrive on August 8.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Stellantis Investor Day May 21, 2026Stellantis
Stupidly powerful sedans and coupes were Dodge’s bread and butter for years, but it was all focused around a V8. This new I6 could settle once and for all whether its customers care about power and performance, or just cylinder count. That answer could have wide-ranging repercussions for Dodge and the other Stellantis US brands.
It’s also incredibly impressive to see an American-designed I6 continue to demolish engines from BMW M and AMG for power density and overall output. That’s something Dodge should be waving its flag about.
