2025 Dodge Charger

How does the Charger drive? By the numbers, the Charger Daytona Scat Pack, which is what we tested, delivers solid performance. At our test track, it sprinted to 60 in just 3.5 seconds and ripped through the quarter mile at 119 mph in just 11.6 seconds. More impressive numbers were its 111-foot stopping distance from 60 mph and the 1.01 g of lateral grip this Track pack-equipped Charger pulled around our skidpad. But its handling was devoid of any feel or real engagement. Neither the stability control nor the all-wheel-drive system is tuned for handling excitement, leaving the big Charger to feel just that — big.

On the street, the Charger Daytona feels underdeveloped for a modern-day EV. The accelerator pedal is way too touchy in Sport and Track modes. Pulling away from or coming to a stop always feels clunky and abrupt, making the Charger frustrating to drive smoothly. Other EVs are simply better to drive.

How comfortable is the Charger? Comfort from the Charger's front seats is lacking. The cushioning is too firm and flat to be comfortable on longer drives. There's not much side bolstering to hold you in place around corners either. Oddly, the Charger's rear seats are actually a little more comfortable than the fronts. On the plus side, the front seats' available heating and ventilation functions work quickly and effectively.

Our test car had the available adaptive suspension. We found the ride quality to be decidedly firm even in its standard mode. Bumping it up to its Sport or Track setting is better suited only for perfectly smooth asphalt or a racetrack since it makes the ride almost exceedingly stiff and bumpy. As a trade-off, there's little to no body roll when driving aggressively.

Other than the Charger Daytona being an EV, the most polarizing aspect of the car is its Fratzonic "exhaust." The start-up and shutdown sound sequences will turn heads, as will the low, spacey rumble emitted by the exterior speakers. Some will love it, and others will hate it.

How’s the interior? In stark contrast to the previous Charger, the Daytona looks and feels thoroughly modern on the inside. Its two digital displays offer countless more features, but they're not as straightforward and self-explanatory to use as before. Getting into a comfortable driving position is also a challenge. Most of our drivers found the seating position to be far too high and the steering wheel to not offer enough adjustment.

Getting into the Charger Daytona (we've only had access to the two-door model so far) is about on par for a coupe with long doors. You'll need plenty of space to swing them open, but because the Charger doesn't sit too low, it's easy to step in and sit down. Rear seat passengers will have a bit of a climb ahead of them, but once situated, the Charger is surprisingly spacious, even for taller people. The optional panoramic roof helps alleviate any sense of claustrophobia you'd normally get from being in the back of a coupe.

How’s the storage? There's a lot of space under that huge hatch, but it is limited in its usefulness. The pinched-off shape of the cargo area means you can only fit short items near the rear bumper. For example, you'll have to shove grocery bags farther back in the cargo area to allow them to fit, which then makes them a lot harder to get out. On the upside, the Charger can easily hold a bicycle if you fold the rear seats down.

Other cars of this size with hatchbacks are rare, but the similarly sized Audi A7 offers 24.9 cubic feet compared to the Charger's 22.7 cubes. If you're looking for a spacious frunk under that big hood, you're out of luck. Not only is it optional, but it's good for holding a charging cable and not much else.

There's a fair amount of interior storage space between the cupholders, charging tray and center console bin. Ironically, the long doors don't have very big door pockets. Assuming you can fit a car seat into the back seat, there should be enough space for it, but we think you should wait for the four-door version of the Charger if you plan on hauling around small kids.

Is the Charger a good value? High-horsepower Chargers have never been inexpensive, but in the world of electrified performance, the Charger Daytona proves to be on the pricey side. While the base R/T starts at around $60K, our test car, a Scat Pack with the Track package, rang in at nearly $86K. That price puts it in the space of the far more luxurious but still equally fast BMW i5 M60 and tens of thousands of dollars more than the smaller yet plenty potent Tesla Model 3 Performance and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.
 
Buyers accustomed to $80K vehicles might balk at the copious amount of plastic used throughout the interior, but the fit and finish is generally good. Warranty coverage is fairly standard with Dodge offering bumper-to-bumper coverage of three years/36,000 miles and eight years/100,000 miles for EV-related components. Roadside assistance lasts for six years/60,000 miles.

Objectively, this new Dodge Charger is superior to the old one in almost every way. It's rapid, better-handling, and far more sophisticated than its predecessor. But subjectively, the new Charger lacks the swagger and presence of the old V8 models in ways that raw performance numbers just can't make up.

The old Chargers had a certain charm that came from their insanity and near-constant drama of ferocious acceleration and didn't need tricks like a drift mode or a spacey, artificial exhaust. The rumble from a V8, as it turns out, is irreplaceable. The new Charger looks cool but otherwise lacks the emotion and fun we expected it would have.