The stuff of muscle car dreams
Dodge is not available in South Africa. For many local American muscle car fans, this is sad. Then again - one can dream. So this piece is for the dreamers.
Powered by the proven supercharged 6.2-litre HEMI Hellcat V8 engine, the 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody boasts a best-in-class 529 kW and delivers a top speed of 315 km/h, maintaining its reign as the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world.
The Widebody Package, standard on the Charger SRT Hellcat and available on the Charger Scat Pack, includes new integrated fender flares that add 3,5 inches of body width, creating an even more aggressive, planted stance.
The flares make room for the wider 20-inch by 11-inch wheels and Pirelli 305/35ZR20 tyres, Brembo six-piston front callipers with two-piece front brake rotors and unique suspension tuning with Bilstein three-mode adaptive damping, all combining to deliver improved performance on the street, strip and road course.
“People say, ‘no one wants cars anymore.’ I would tell you that the 40 000 people who bought a Dodge Charger so far this year would probably agree, because to them, the Charger is not just a car. The Charger’s reach extends beyond body-style practicalities and it cannot be defined by average industry shifts,” said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Cars at Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA in North America.
“Can you buy a vehicle that is dollar-for-dollar more practical than a Charger Widebody? Absolutely, but there are also more than 1 000 flavours of ice cream and vanilla is only one of them. If the ‘average’ person will own six cars in their lifetime, our cars need to connect so strongly that people cannot help but turn around and take a second look before walking away.”
The Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody continues its reign as most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world
The Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody also features an SRT-tuned Bilstein three-mode adaptive damping competition suspension, new electric power steering (EPS), stiffer springs, larger sway bars, retuned shocks, several race-inspired technologies and Brembo brakes, all designed to deliver performance numbers never before seen on a Charger.
For the first time ever, the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody now features standard EPS with selectable steering tuning to better manage increased grip, both improving handling performance and delivering better steering feel and ease of turning at parking lot speeds.
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With EPS and standard SRT Drive Modes accessed via the 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen, drivers can tailor their experience by controlling horsepower, transmission shift speeds, steering, paddle shifters, traction and suspension settings. SRT Drive Modes offer selectable settings for Street (Auto), Sport and Track, while the Custom setting allows the driver to select individual preferences.
Race Cooldown keeps cooling the supercharger/charge air cooler after the engine is shut off by running the intercooler pump and radiator fan. Line Lock engages the front brakes to hold the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody stationary, but leaves the rear wheels free for a burnout to heat up and clean the rear tires.
Launch Control, easily accessed from a switch on the dashboard, manages tire slip while launching the vehicle to allow the driver to achieve consistent straight-line acceleration. Launch Assist uses wheel-speed sensors to watch for driveline-damaging wheel hop at launch and, in milliseconds, modifies the engine torque to regain full grip.
Not only does the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody go fast, it also stops shorter than the vehicle it replaces. For outstanding heat management and longevity, the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody features standard 15,4-inch Brembo two-piece front brake rotors with six-piston front callipers and four-piston rear callipers.
Stopping distance is four feet shorter (107 feet) from 60-0 mph. SRT engineers took this wider, stickier beast to the track to see what it can do. The result: improved performance on the street, strip and road course and the quickest and best-handling production Charger SRT Hellcat ever.
The 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody runs 0-100km/h in 3,6 seconds, has a quarter-mile elapsed time (ET) in 10,96 seconds. It also delivers a road course lap time 2,1 seconds faster than the vehicle it replaces after one lap of a 2,1-mile track. That is equal to 13 car-lengths per lap.
Form follows function
The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody added 3,5 inches of width paired with its wider wheels and tires, creating an aggressive, planted stance unlike any of the other vanilla four-door sedans on the market.
Following on the success of offering the Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody for the 2019 model year, Dodge is also making the Widebody Package available on the Charger Scat Pack for 2020.
This wider Scat Pack is powered by the 392-cubic-inch HEMI V8 engine, with the best-in-class naturally aspirated 361 kW mated to the TorqueFlite 8HP70 eight-speed transmission. It features its own upgraded, specially tuned suspension with Bilstein three-mode adaptive damping, standard EPS with selectable steering tuning, and wider wheels and tires to reach unprecedented levels of lateral grip, acceleration and braking, delivering its best on-road and on-track performance levels ever.
The superb stopping power of the Dodge Charger Scat Pack Widebody comes from the standard SRT-engineered Brembo braking system with two-piece 15,4-inch front brake rotors with six-piston front callipers and four-piston rear callipers. Stopping distance is 107 feet, three feet shorter than the non-Widebody Scat Pack from 100-0 km/h.
Uconnect Technology brings SRT Performance Pages, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to Charger
As America’s only four-door muscle car, the 2020 Dodge Charger is spacious, with plenty of room for a family of five, and loaded with high-tech features that are easily accessible through the available class-exclusive Uconnect 4C system.
SRT Performance Pages bring critical vehicle performance data to the driver’s fingertips, including real-time engine data; such as horsepower, torque, oil pressure and dyno graph; various vehicle dynamics measurements, including a g-force heat map, a wide variety of vehicle gauges and performance driving timers.
The Uconnect 4C system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard on the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody and all Scat Pack models, and includes an 8,4-inch touchscreen display that offers multi-touch gestures, vivid imagery, sharp graphics and support for smartphone integrations and features SRT Performance Pages.
A 7-inch driver information digital cluster display gives instant information on performance, available navigation and plenty of vehicle stats, and is easily customizable with the steering wheel-mounted controls.
From optimized V6 highway fuel economy to class-exclusive all-wheel-drive capability, Dodge Charger is a performance sedan, a family sedan with attitude, a favourite among law enforcement and the only four-door muscle car available.
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