The Dodge brand recently invited a few dozen members of the automotive media to come to Knoxville, Tennessee, to test the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack. Rather than following the pattern of past first drive events, which were based at a race track, Dodge chose the legendary stretch of U.S Route 129 known as the Tail of the Dragon for the testing grounds for the twin turbocharged Charger SIXPACK.
This stretch of road is known as one of the most challenging in the United States, with 318 turns packed into just 11 miles, making it popular with motorcycle and sports car owners. It does not seem like the best place to showcase a brawny muscle car, but at the end of the day, the Tail of the Dragon helped to showcase how well the new Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack performs, despite its size.
Many people looked at the initial dimensions of the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK and immediately discounted it in the performance car world. This new two-door is larger than the 2023 Dodge Charger sedan in every dimension, and due in part to the standard all-wheel-drive system, it is also heavier than the sedan from the previous generation. To be more specific, it has a curb weight of just over 4,800 pounds, so with a full tank of gasoline and an average-sized male driver, the Charger SIXPACK tips the scales at more than 5,000 pounds.
The lack of a V8 engine is also a concern to many of the skeptics, even though the twin turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine packs more horsepower than the outgoing Scat Pack V8, delivering 550 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque. After spending a few hours cruising back and forth on the Tail of the Dragon, the media members behind the wheel found that the extra size and weight doesn’t prevent this from being a great performance car that is a blast to drive on one of America’s toughest roads.
The 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack test cars were fitted with the optional 20×11-inch wheels wrapped in 305/35/20 all-season tires. While the tires aren’t particularly performance minded, the SIXPACK Scat Pack comes standard with high performance Brembo brakes, featuring six piston calipers over 15-inch rotors up front and 14.2-inch rotors out back. The Scat Pack also comes standard with a performance-tuned suspension that prioritizes handling without compromising ride quality, allowing the big two-door to make the most of its 55/45 front-to-rear weight distribution.
To get an idea of how tight the Tail of the Dragon is, there are only a few points during the 11-mile stretch where the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK’s 8-speed automatic will get past fourth gear (when being driven relatively hard). The steering wheel paddles allow the driver to select the ideal gear and, in most of the turns, third gear was the best choice for getting through the corners and accelerating into a short straight.
The high output Hurricane is not exactly laggy when kept at high RPM, but the short spool tire allows the driver to climb into the throttle a bit early when coming out of a corner and when the boost hits, the 2026 Charger SIXPACK will spin all four tires a bit on damp pavement. If the straightaway is long enough, the Charger would build big speed through third and into fourth gear, but with a quick downshift, the Brembo brakes bring the big coupe down to low enough speeds to make the next tight turn.
In those tight turns, the performance suspension does a nice job of preventing body roll and when you get to cutting back and forth through faster turns, the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack is surprisingly balanced for a car of this size. Most importantly, after forty minutes of hard driving – running the Tail of the Dragon hard south and then north – the new Charger performed just as well in the last turn as it did in the first. The Brembo brakes never faded or showed signs of extreme heat and the all-season tires were surprisingly sticky in the turns and when accelerating down the straights.
Finally, there were some open stretches of highway getting to and from the Tail of the Dragon where the new Dodge Charger SIXPACK could really stretch its legs. The brawny muscle car rides like a dream at highway speeds and when you put the hammer down, the new Charger feels controlled and stable at very high speeds.
The high output Hurricane pulls very hard from 50 miles per hour to up near triple digits, with plenty left to go. Aside from the supercharged 6.2-liter engine in the SRT Hellcat, SRT Hellcat Redeye, SRT Demon and SRT Demon 170, this new Charger pulls harder than any stock car to wear the name in history…and it does so with a 3.0-liter inline-six and a hefty dose of boost.
Speaking of pulling hard, while few Dodge Charger SIXPACK owners will take a hard run at the Tail of the Dragon, Charger owners from every generation have been a familiar sight at the drag strip. With that in mind, the Dodge brand reserved Knoxville Dragway for some 8th mile testing.
The test runs were made with an instructor riding in the passenger seat and a full tank of gasoline, so there was at least 250 pounds worth of extra weight in the cars when they hit the track. Even with that extra weight, the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Packs were running in the 7.8-7.9 range with trap speeds a touch north of 91 miles per hour.
Those numbers recorded in testing were being run with the Launch Control system set to 3200 RPM, which is the highest possible setting. Lower launch settings added a few hundredths, so it seems as though 3200 is the best launch point in stock form. On those launches, the new Charger doesn’t come out of the hole particularly hard, but when the boost peaks, the weight of the car transfers hard to the back wheels and it keeps you pinned to the seat through every shift. Those 8th mile times would translate to quarter mile times in the 12.30-12.50 range, so with the extra weight, these cars seem to be right around the Dodge marketing number of 12.2 in the quarter mile.
The last testing opportunity of the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK media first drive event was the most unique. The brand had reserved a large, open parking lot where a pair of their event thrill ride drivers were on hand to teach the folks from the media how to drift the new muscle car. This allowed the brand to show how the rear-whee-drive mode works and with a quick lesson from the pros, even those who had never tried drifting before were doing burnouts on the move. The Hurricane does take a little more throttle input to spin the tires compared to the Hemi V8s, but once you get up into the boost, the 3.0-liter inline-six produces enough power to keep the 305s spinning with ease.
The all-new 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack is here and it is an impressive evolution in the history of the nameplate. With 550 horsepower, 531 lb-ft of torque, standard all-wheel-drive with a rear-drive mode and a quick-shifting 8-speed automatic gearbox, this new Charger will outrun almost any factory Charger before it. Due to the fact that the same floorplan is shared with the four-door sedan, the two-door model offers a tremendous amount of space for the driver and all passengers front and rear, and the level of standard premium technology gives this muscle car a very high tech feel.
The only perceivable downside to the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack (for some people) is that it is powered by a twin turbocharged inline-six and not a Hemi V8. The Charger does have a deeper tone than the Jeep or Ram models with the Hurricane engines, but there is no mistaking the exhaust tone of the I6 compared to the V8. For some people, that exhaust sound is a complete deal breaker, but considering how many 4- and 6-cylinder vehicles Mopar fans have enjoyed over the past half-century, the odds are good that plenty of folks in the community will buy and love the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK Scat Pack.
