With both Dodge and Chevrolet abandoning the V8, is the 6 cylinder the new sport engine?
Okay, so by now, everyone should be aware that the American automotive brand that is essentially the poster child for American Muscle, Dodge, has officially revealed its fully electric “muscle car,” the Dodge Charger Daytona (also codenamed Banshee). Yet, it can still be had with a turbocharged inline 6 engine, but no V8. Why?
So the Dodge Challenger and Charger are essentially now one and the same as the design mirrors the older generation Challenger yet it is called the Charger and it can be built in either a 2-door or 4-door configuration, and either in an all-electric or petrol engine version but it no longer offers the iconic V8 engine.
Moreover, while Dodge did initially reveal that it wasn’t fully pushing for electric vehicles (EVs) and the new Charger (which was the car they announced would be their first electric muscle car) and did say it would retain at least 1 petrol option, but somehow, the V8 was not the option they chose to keep. So what happened here?
Well, the simple answer is that emissions regulations are getting tighter, especially in Europe, so the American muscle car is definitely not the ideal choice for overseas markets and therefore a turbo straight 6 would be easier to market than any V8. However, with the V8 being the definitive muscle engine, this just seems wrong.
On top of that, with the American Government (much like most other global governments) pushing very hard for EV adoption, it would only make sense that a brand like Dodge, which in a way, embodies the opposite of EVs, would have to do something to get rid of that image. Sadly, the iconic Hemi V8 was an unfortunate casualty of this brand revamp.
So now that both Dodge and Chevy have bid farewell to the V8, this leaves Ford (guess they really are built tough) as the sole legacy muscle car brand that retains its V8 engine. This means that the Coyote V8 has officially outlived the Hemi and the LS V8. Let that sink in. It also means that the Ford Mustang (typically classed as a pony car) also outlives the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger (both undoubtedly touted as “real” muscle).
So what do you guys think about this? How long can Ford hold on and keep muscle alive or did it die with Dodge?
