A modern-day muscle car for the whole family to enjoy.
Fifty years ago, the Dodge Charger was a muscle car that could be found cruising the streets of America from Van Nuys to Woodward, but today these sedans are more likely to be shuttling families around or even patrolling the streets of America as police cars. For 2020, Dodge shows that it's still catering to enthusiasts with seven variations of the Charger including the newest to the bunch, the wide-body version of the 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack.
Bridging the gap between the hellacious Hellcat and the standard Scat Pack sleeper sedan, Dodge added the all-new Charger Scat Pack Widebody to trickle down the Hellcat's widened track and massive tire contact patch for improved performance and handling. To see just what kind of improvements those fat tires and round fenders can bring, we spent a week with the 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Widebody.
Putting the "wide" in Widebody, the Scat Pack Widebody measures 3.3 inches wider than standard Chargers with a track width that is 1.6 inches wider than the base Scat Pack and a front track that is 2.2 inches wider than the Charger R/T. This wider track is necessary to accommodate the massive 305-series tires, and the wheels alone are an extra 1.5 inches wider (20x11 inches)! The Widebody package was previously only available as an option on the Hellcat, and now for 2020, this body design is standard for the supercharged 707-horsepower model and it's a $6,000 option on this Scat Pack bringing a unique front fascia with a mail-slot grille, wider rocker panel extensions, decklid spoiler and a unique rear bumper with aero vents. What really made this Charger a hit wherever it went – from a Mopar car show to a grocery store parking lot – was the flashy Go Mango paint job, which was just one of the flashback high-impact colors that Dodge offers.
The wide body sure looks cool, but this added width is far more than an appearance package. These wider tires allow for over a foot of contact patch at all four corners, and that helps improve traction off the line and in the corners. According to Dodge, the Scat Pack Widebody can hit 0-60 mph in 4.3 seconds, it can run the quarter mile in 12.4 seconds and it has .98 g lateral grip. Along with that, bigger brakes help bring this Charger get from 60-0 mph in 107 feet, and the improvements made to the acceleration, handling and braking allow the Charger Widebody to shave 1.3 seconds off the lap time around an unnamed 2.1-mile road course. Those are incredible performance figures for a 4,373-pound sedan that is essentially 15 years old, and it's made even more fun thanks to features such as launch control and line lock. Pirelli P Zero 305/35ZR20 all-season tires are standard on the Widebody, but this tester added a little extra grip with three-season performance tires.
Sadly, we didn't have the opportunity to get this car out on the track, but the Charger Widebody feels incredibly planted handling cloverleaf ramps like a champ and it delivers neck-snapping acceleration off the line. Under the hood, the R/T Scat Pack gets the 6.4-liter (392 CID) Hemi V8 laying down 485 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque, which is a big step up from the 370-horsepower 5.7-liter Hemi used in the standard R/T. It might not be a true SRT model, but popping the hood reveals "Powered by SRT" script on the engine cover. The only disappointment about the Charger Scat Pack is that you can't get it (or any other Charger model) with a manual transmission, while the Challenger Scat Pack comes standard with a manual gearbox. That means instead of an old-school pistol grip shifter, the Charger only has its stubby electronic shifter, but paddle shifters do make the manual driving mode more entertaining.
Other than the lack of a manual shifter, the inside of the Charger R/T Scat Pack is fit for a sport sedan. The all-black interior has heavily bolstered seats that keep you in place during tight corners and hard takeoffs, and the optional Plus Package adds a little more style with a mix of Nappa leather and Alcantara on the seats with the Scat Pack logo embroidered on the front seats. The Scat Pack comes standard with a leather-wrapped, flat-bottom steering wheel and a 180-mph speedometer, and it also benefits from configurable drive modes and the SRT Performance Pages found on the Hellcat. Unlike the old-school Chargers, today's Charger is a big sedan, which means cruising around and embarrassing Mustangs and Camaros can be a family affair.
Mopar purists blew a gasket when the Charger name was resurrected as a sedan in 2006, but Dodge has made up for this by delivering one of the best American sport sedans of all time. The 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Widebody has the looks and performance that make it a future collector car, and, more importantly, the Scat Pack is a reasonably priced, family-friendly muscle car with a starting price of just under $40,000. This moderately optioned up Scat Pack Widebody was priced at just over $50,000, which is still a lot of performance for the money considering that's about $20,000 less than the Charger Hellcat.
Related Articles...
Amie Williams
Jeffrey N. Ross
