Dodge Cut the Charger’s V8 for Six Cylinders and 550 Horsepower — It Still Weighs 1,000 Pounds More Than the Mustang GT

The 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack Sixpack swapped its V8 for twin turbos and beat the Ford Mustang GT’s horsepower number by 70. Then Edmunds weighed both cars and found out why that number didn’t matter on the track.

Dodge spent decades building the Charger’s reputation on cheap cubic inches and a big V8 rumble. For 2026, the formula flipped completely: the gas-powered Charger Scat Pack Sixpack ditched the V8 for a twin-turbo inline-six, added all-wheel drive, and came out of the factory with 550 horsepower — a full 70 more than the Ford Mustang GT’s naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8. On paper, that should be a rout. In the real world, Edmunds strapped both cars to a test track, and the number that actually decided the fight wasn’t horsepower at all. It was weight — and the Charger is carrying roughly 1,000 extra pounds its rival never had to deal with.

That gap matters because it cuts straight against what the spec sheet promises. More power, standard all-wheel drive for better traction off the line, and a Sixpack name that evokes old-school big-inch muscle should add up to an easy win over a rear-drive V8 coupe. Instead, the comparison exposes exactly why raw horsepower numbers can be misleading once a car’s curb weight balloons past the competition’s by that much.

What the Edmunds Head-to-Head Actually Found

Edmunds’ Brian Wong put the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack Sixpack and the 2026 Ford Mustang GT on the same track for a direct 0-60 mph and quarter-mile comparison, then broke down the driving impressions, interior, and tech on both cars. The video opens with the acceleration runs before walking through the full numbers on both vehicles and finishing with driving impressions from behind the wheel of each.

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The reaction from viewers zeroed in on one thing almost immediately: the Charger’s curb weight. Commenters pointed out that the car’s claimed weight rivals a mid-size SUV, with one noting it weighs about as much as a 1978 Bronco 4×4, and another comparing it unfavorably to a vintage Mopar with a 440 and a Dana 60 rear axle. The sentiment in the comments ran toward disappointment that a modern performance car, built with a smaller displacement engine specifically to save weight and improve efficiency, ended up this heavy.

Why the Charger Gained So Much Weight

The Sixpack name is new, but the Charger nameplate goes back to 1966, and every generation since has leaned on big V8s as its calling card — the 426 Hemi, the 440 Magnum, the 5.7 and 6.4-liter Hemis that powered the outgoing LX/LD-platform cars through 2023. When Dodge retired that generation, buyers worried the next Charger would be EV-only. The gas Sixpack models, including the Scat Pack trim in this test, were built specifically to answer that fear and keep a combustion option on the lot.

To do it, Dodge swapped the V8 for the Hurricane twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six, the same basic engine family already used across Jeep and Ram lineups. In this high-output Scat Pack tune, it makes 550 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque, with peak power arriving at 6,200 rpm and peak torque much lower at 3,500 rpm. Dodge also made all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic standard equipment rather than options, which is where a meaningful chunk of the extra mass comes from. Dodge’s own published curb weight lands at roughly 4,816 pounds, with some dealer spec sheets listing figures closer to 4,865 pounds depending on trim and options.

The Mustang GT, by contrast, kept doing things the old-fashioned way: a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 rated at 480 horsepower and 415 lb-ft, sending power through the rear wheels only, in a car that comes in at roughly 3,800 pounds. That’s close to a 1,000-pound deficit against the Charger before either car turns a wheel.

Horsepower Advantage, Erased by the Scale

Dodge’s own claimed numbers for the Charger Sixpack Scat Pack are a 3.9-second 0-60 mph run, a 12.2-second quarter mile, and a 177 mph top speed. The Mustang GT’s figures vary a bit by source and transmission, but land in a similar neighborhood: roughly 4.1 to 4.3 seconds to 60 mph with the automatic, and a quarter mile in the 12.2 to 12.6-second range. In other words, despite a 70-horsepower deficit, a two-wheel-drive layout, and a naturally aspirated engine instead of twin turbos, the lighter Mustang keeps pace with or gets close to a car that outguns it on paper.

That’s the real story the raw spec sheet never tells. All-wheel drive should theoretically help the Charger put its extra power down more effectively off the line, and the torque curve from twin turbos should feel stronger in the mid-range than a revvy V8. But nearly 1,000 extra pounds is a tax that shows up in every part of a car’s behavior, not just the first few feet of a drag strip — braking distances, cornering, and daily-driving feel all have to work harder to move that much more mass. Several viewers compared the Charger’s weight to full-size SUVs and older body-on-frame trucks rather than to its direct muscle car rivals, which says plenty about how far outside the usual pony-car weight class it’s landed.

The switch away from a V8 wasn’t just an engineering decision for Dodge — it was a culture shift the brand knew would draw scrutiny. The outgoing Hemi-powered Chargers became cult favorites specifically because of their engine lineup, topping out with the supercharged, 797-horsepower Hellcat Redeye. Replacing that formula with a six-cylinder, even a twin-turbo one making more peak horsepower than the old naturally aspirated 5.7-liter Hemi ever did, was always going to be measured against that legacy rather than judged on a clean slate. The Mustang GT, meanwhile, has stuck with a V8 through every redesign since the pony car wars began in the 1960s, which is part of why a comparison like this one gets framed as the six-cylinder newcomer against the V8 holdout, rather than a fight between two equals playing by the same rules.

The video’s chapter breakdown also covers interior and tech for both cars before Edmunds delivers its final verdict. The Charger’s extra size and standard all-wheel-drive hardware translate into a roomier cabin and more cargo space, consistent with carrying nearly 1,000 more pounds than its rival. The Mustang keeps a tighter, more driver-focused layout that leans into the pony-car tradition rather than away from it. Pricing factors into the final take too — commenters on the video noted that both cars, as tested, push close to $70,000, a number that leaves little room to forgive a car that doesn’t clearly out-accelerate a rival it outguns on the spec sheet.

None of that makes the Sixpack a failure — 550 horsepower and all-wheel traction are still a genuinely strong combination, and Dodge’s choice to keep a gas-powered Charger on sale at all answered a question a lot of Mopar fans were nervously asking just a couple of years ago. But the comparison is a useful reminder that in 2026, the old muscle car math of “more cylinders, more power, more win” doesn’t automatically apply once turbochargers, all-wheel-drive hardware, and modern safety structure get added to the recipe.

Watch the full video above and let us know your thoughts in the comments.