• For its 60th birthday, the Dodge Charger is getting an upgraded inline-six engine that Dodge says will make it the most powerful Charger Sixpack yet.
• We don't know specifics, but we expect a decent boost in power. The current Sixpack makes 550 horsepower, and upgrades could bring it closer to 600 hp.
• The new Charger Sixpack will be revealed during the Roadkill Nights event on August 8 in Pontiac, Michigan.

The Dodge Charger is getting more powerful, but not by adding more cylinders. While we're still waiting on the return of the V-8, Dodge says the most powerful Charger Sixpack yet will debut on August 8.

Consider it a birthday gift. The Charger turns 60 this year, and Dodge is celebrating with a summer tour across the United States. It's visiting iconic locations including the Petersen Automotive Museum, Detroit's Woodward Avenue, and the NHRA Great Lakes Nationals drag race. The biggest stop, however, lands in Pontiac, Michigan, where Dodge will reveal this new six-cylinder Charger during the Roadkill Nights festival.

The current gas-powered Charger maxes out at 550 horsepower from a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six in the Scat Pack trim. It's plenty powerful, but muscle car enthusiasts tend to be nostalgic for the Charger's Hemi V-8 glory days. We last saw a Charger equipped with a V-8 in 2023, and Dodge still employs the Hemi beast in the Durango.

So why not bring back the V-8 and unleash the Hellcat? Well, it's still not entirely off the table. Last year, Dodge CEO Matt McAlear made vague comments about the possibility of fitting a V-8 in the current-gen Charger during a press conference. While that was far from a confirmation, it also wasn't a denial.

Then, earlier this year, Tim Kuniskis, who leads the American brands under the Stellantis umbrella, told MotorTrend that a Hemi V-8 Charger wasn't out of the question, but it would require much more work than simply plopping a bigger engine into the Charger's bay. He said the 5.7-liter Hemi would produce significantly less horsepower, so the only option would be the supercharged Hellcat V-8, requiring some engineering miracles.

And the Hurricane is buff in its own right—especially once it gets this mystery upgrade. It already pushes out more horses than every Ford Mustang except the Dark Horse SC, which makes 795 horsepower from a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8, and the $328K, 815-hp Mustang GTD. The standard Mustang Dark Horse, meanwhile, only reaches 500 horsepower from a 5.0-liter V-8. Dodge's Hemi V-8 may be nostalgic, but if the Sixpack is outpacing competitors, it's understandable that Dodge is hesitant to change the formula.

While we don’t know what the Sixpack is getting next month, we can assume it'll be bigger than just a few more horses in the stable in traditional Dodge fashion. It probably won't pass the Charger Daytona EV's 670 hp, but anything could happen. We won't have to wait too long to find out.

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