2013 Dodge Charger

Dodge revived the Super Bee name for a 2013 Charger SRT8 variant built around a 470-horsepower, 6.4-liter Hemi V8 capable of a sub-5-second run to 60 mph. Beyond the straight-line speed, the car pairs Brembo brakes, Bilstein dampers, and a genuinely upscale Nappa leather interior with practical four-door, five-passenger versatility. Read on to find out what else separates the Super Bee from the rest of the Charger lineup.

Some performance cars announce themselves with a name that sounds almost apologetic. This one doesn’t. Dodge revived a nickname from muscle car history for its meanest 2013 Charger, and stuffed a 6.4-liter Hemi under the hood to make sure nobody mistook the badge for a joke. Chrysler’s own marketing line for it promises plenty of sting without leaving a mark, which sounds like corporate spin until you see the sub-5-second run to 60 mph on the spec sheet. So what does it actually take to turn a four-door sedan into something that stings that hard?

Reviving the Super Bee Name

The Super Bee nameplate dates back to Dodge’s original muscle car era, and Chrysler dusted it off for this 2013 Charger SRT8 variant, complete with the decals and badging that made the original famous. The feature car pictured here wears a bold yellow paint scheme that practically demands the attention the badging is asking for, paired with an aggressive, gaping front grille and headlamps that give the whole nose a scowling expression. Around back, chrome exhaust tips and a rear spoiler round out the visual package. Chrysler’s own tagline for the car sums up the intent well: the performance-bolstered seats hold the driver in place, then the technology takes over from there, blending old-school muscle car attitude with a genuinely modern interior.

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Nine Trims, Zero Convertibles

Unlike some of its muscle car ancestors, the 2013 Charger lineup skips the drop-top entirely, offering nine distinct trim levels instead, all built around the same four-door body style. Interior finishes range from frost beige cloth up to a choice of red or black Nappa leather, a material upgrade that turns the cabin from workmanlike to genuinely upscale. Buyers can add heated and ventilated seats along with an 8.4-inch stacked touchscreen that consolidates climate control, stereo functions, and phone integration into a single interface. A flat-bottomed, leather-wrapped steering wheel comes standard across the lineup and noticeably sharpens the car’s handling feel in tight corners, a small detail that makes a real difference once the car is actually being driven hard rather than cruised.

Two Very Different Engines

The 2013 Charger spans a wide performance range depending on which engine buyers choose. The base setup pairs a 300-horsepower V6 with an 8-speed automatic transmission and steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, delivering reasonable performance without the fuel bill of the bigger engine. Step up to the Super Bee, and a 6.4-liter V8 Hemi takes over, rated at 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, mated to a 5-speed automatic with its own set of paddle shifters. That combination is enough to send the Super Bee from 0 to 60 mph in well under 5 seconds, a genuinely quick number for a car that can also seat five and carry a full-size trunk of cargo.

Suspension and Brakes Built for the Job

A 470-horsepower sedan needs hardware to match, and the Super Bee’s chassis reflects that. Firm springs paired with Bilstein dampers keep body motion in check under hard cornering, while large four-piston brake calipers, badged as Brembo units, clamp down on slotted rotors at all four corners. The brake system goes a step further than most factory setups by using sensors to detect skidding conditions, and the calipers themselves include air scoops designed to keep temperatures under control during repeated hard stops. It’s the kind of braking package that matters more on a back road or track day than it ever will in daily commuting, but it’s reassuring to have in reserve regardless.

Fuel Economy Nobody Expects From a Hemi

For a car built around a 6.4-liter V8, the Charger’s highway fuel economy numbers are genuinely surprising, ranging from a low of 23 miles per gallon up to a claimed 31 miles per gallon depending on driving conditions and how the engine happens to be tuned. City driving figures weren’t published alongside the highway numbers, and it’s a safe bet that aggressive throttle use, the kind a car like this practically invites, will pull those numbers down noticeably. Individual driving habits play a real role here too; a Super Bee driven gently to work every day will return very different mileage than one that sees its 6.4-liter Hemi worked hard on weekends.

Where the Super Bee Fits in the Charger Lineup

Pricing on the 2013 Charger starts under $30,000 for base trims and climbs toward $45,000 for the Super Bee and other well-equipped variants, with fully loaded examples pushing that ceiling higher still. That positions the Super Bee as a genuine performance bargain relative to rivals chasing similar horsepower figures, especially once the practicality of a four-door body and real back seat is factored into the equation. Chrysler built this car for buyers who wanted muscle car theater without giving up the ability to carry passengers and cargo on a daily basis, and the Super Bee badge exists specifically to signal that this particular Charger isn’t playing it safe.

A Sedan That Doesn’t Apologize

What makes the 2013 Charger Super Bee memorable isn’t any single spec on its own, it’s how deliberately unsubtle the whole package is. The styling doesn’t hide the performance intent, the Hemi doesn’t apologize for the fuel bill, and the badging makes sure nobody mistakes this Charger for the base V6 model in a parking lot. That combination of daily-driver practicality and genuine straight-line performance is exactly why Super Bee models from this era have held collector interest since, particularly clean examples in bold factory colors that still wear their original decals and badging.

Sixty-Five Safety Features Baked In

Underneath the aggressive styling, the 2013 Charger lineup packs in 65 distinct safety and security features, an unusually high count for a car built around a 470-horsepower Hemi. That includes reinforced crumple zones, a comprehensive multi-stage airbag system, and structural reinforcements engineered to protect occupants in a crash while still keeping curb weight manageable enough for the Super Bee to hit its sub-5-second 0-60 time. Chrysler’s marketing leaned into that combination directly, promising drivers would be about as safe as modern engineering allows even while extracting genuine muscle car performance from a family sedan platform. It’s a detail that separates a modern interpretation of the muscle car formula from the genuinely dangerous, feature-light cars the Super Bee name originally traces back to in the 1960s and 70s.

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