The Dodge Charger is truly a jack of all trades. From being a competent family hauler, to a supercharged track slaying beast in Hellcat guise, the Charger offers something for everyone. But the lone piece that was missing from the puzzle was one that many enthusiasts wanted for a very long time, the Widebody treatment. Dodge is out to finally address this lone omission, and following the recent announcement of a concept, has unveiled the production 2020 Charger Widebody lineup.
Like its two door platform mate the Dodge Challenger, the broader fenders add 3.5 inches of width to the car and also allow the car to be equipped with 11-inch tires. Otherwise, the look does not change much which is a mixed bag for us. On the one hand, we like the Charger’s testoerone fueled formula especially its handsome rear end, but its also hard to deny that it is an aging look that is getting long in the tooth. The bulk of the changes are limited to minor tweaks with the new front fascia adding a tiny slit below the main grille to help maximize cool airflow to the engine, while the redesigned side sills help enhance the look of the wide fenders. A reworked trunk mounted lip spoiler sits on the back, and it helps increase downforce at high speeds. The Widebody treatment also brings an upgraded suspension to the party, with stiffer springs, larger sway bars, and Bilstein three stage adaptive dampers. A new electrically powered steering rack helps sharpen up throttle response, while stronger brakes help handle high speed stopping duties.
The interior of the Charger Widebody comes loaded to the gills with equipment, and features sculpted heated and cooled Laguna leather front sport seats standard. More artistically motivated buyers can choose fron several interior shades including Black, Black with Sepia, and last but not least Black with Demonic Red accents. Like in other SRT models, an optional Carbon & Suede package helps greatly enhance the performance infused ambiance, and it should be a hit with custoners (we certainly liked it in the Durango SRT we reviewed awhile back.) Like other SRT Charger variants, the infotainment system houses a special SRT page that allows buyers to customize a wide range of drive settings, as well as the bundled launch control feature. The interior may be aging, but it is aging very gracefully, and we will give FCA engineers props for finding new ways to make the interior of the Charger feel even more special each time they release a new Charger iteration.
Performance for the Charger Widebody should be very familiar to those that have followed the Challenger variant, with the Charger Hellcat being powered by a 6.2 liter supercharged V8 that sends 707 horsepower to the rear wheels through a beefed up eight speed automatic transmission. That’s enough to help launch the car to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and a final top speed of 196 mph. Dodge claims its the fastest mass produced sedan in the world, and is only eclipsed by far more pricier offerings like the Bentley Flying Spur. As a bonus, it can even scorch the quarter mile in 10.96 seconds which is very impressive. The Widebody package is standard issue on all Hellcat models, but it is an optional extra on the Charger Scat Pack. Like before, the package retains much of the equipment that is found in the fire breathing Hellcat with the Brembo brakes, adaptive dampers, and the revamped electric steering all coming along for the ride. The slightly bigger naturally aspirated 6.4 liter Hemi V8 makes less power than the Hellcat, but 485 horsepower is nothing to sneeze at, and the engine is capable of thrusting the Charger to 60 mph in a still very brisk 4.3 seconds as well as a 12.4 second quarter mile time.
Dodge and SRT did not reveal whether a Redeye version of the Charger Hellcat is coming or not (we suspect it is based on recent rumors trickling out of Auburn Hills) but the Hellcat version of the Widebody benefits from several of the Demon’s hand me downs. For example, the Race Cooldown feature keeps the intercooler pump and the radiator fan running to help cool down the supercharger after repeated runs, while the line lock feature allows the driver to lock the front wheels, so they can easily perform a burnout to warm up the rear tires before a run down the drag strip (or showing off your inner hoonigan to your friends at the local empty parking lot.)
Ordering for both models will open up this fall, with the first examples arriving in dealer lots in early 2020. We are hoping to hear more about pricing in the near future, but we suspect that the pricing ladder will not deviate too much from the pricing seen in the Challenger Widebody lineup. In the meantime Dodge has released a brief video of the Charger Widebody in action which can be seen below.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.