Does electrification mean the end of the muscle car? We pit the new electric Dodge Charger Daytona against the V-8-powered Ford Mustang Dark Horse to find out.
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00:00Are you going to nag me the whole time?
00:14Yeah.
00:15That's the whole idea.
00:16I'm going to make you regret you ever took this decision.
00:17Do you want to wait until later?
00:18Wait until what?
00:19You're trying to drown me out.
00:20I was going to say, do you want to wait until we're on the main road?
00:27What is a muscle car?
00:29Some people think it's anything with a V8 rear-wheel drive, others think it's got to
00:32be an intermediate body.
00:33Aaron, what are you doing?
00:34That's my frat-sonic chambered exhaust, baby.
00:39Speak under your bumper.
00:40Yes, but Dodd says this is the future of the muscle car, 670 electric horsepower and all
00:46the noise and all the fury and all the glory of a classic V8 muscle car.
00:50It doesn't have a V8.
00:51No, it doesn't actually have a V8.
00:53This is true.
00:54You know it has a V8.
00:55That?
00:56This Ford Mustang Dark Horse, the iconic Mustang, five liters, 500 horsepower.
01:01What else do you need?
01:02All right, so here's what we're going to do.
01:03We're going to head off into the desert, and we're going to figure out which of these two
01:06is the better muscle car.
01:07Let's do it.
01:08You drive first.
01:11So we're in the Mustang.
01:12Now, this is a Dark Horse, so it's not exactly the muscle Mustang.
01:16Just Ford couldn't schedule us in a GT.
01:19This is more the track-ready Mustang.
01:21Ford's answer to BMW's M, et cetera.
01:23Yes.
01:24And the funny thing about it is, even though it's a track-focused car, I think this still
01:27does everything I expect of a modern muscle car, right?
01:29Oh, absolutely.
01:30It's got the V8, it's got the launch motor, it's got an electrical line locker.
01:33It does that.
01:34There's a lot of people who will say, oh, it's a pony car.
01:37And we would agree.
01:38A pony car is different.
01:39Well, I would agree.
01:40You would agree.
01:41I mean, granted, so the muscle cars I grew up with were box bodies.
01:45They were SN95 Mustangs, new-edge Mustangs.
01:49Those were all we had.
01:51We didn't have chargers.
01:52We didn't have GTOs.
01:53And the GTO was a Holden.
01:56That's because you didn't live in the golden age.
01:58I mean, granted, I was still crawling when the last Challengers were going away.
02:03But there was a time when muscle cars were just, I mean, let's be honest, big and stupid.
02:08And that's what made them so great.
02:09Yeah.
02:10I mean, I grew up with stories of my dad talking about his 72 Chevelle SS 454 plowing through
02:15cornfields when they'd go off-road.
02:16And it was just like, A, how did you survive?
02:20But B, like, that does sound pretty awesome.
02:22And having driven some of those old classics, like, there's just something so special about,
02:26like, you know, a 68 GTO, for instance.
02:29So even though this might not be a proper muscle car, I think we can agree that it plays
02:33the part of a muscle car on TV.
02:35Absolutely.
02:38All right, this is the perfect strip.
02:41Let's do our simulated stoplight rally.
02:43You're playing your Lou Gramm as the guy next to you in a GTO.
02:47Light is red.
02:48Light is red.
02:50There's 60.
02:53If you're used to, like, a 60s muscle car, by that standard, this thing is just amazingly
03:00fast.
03:01Right.
03:02Spins the tires, makes all the noise.
03:03It's dramatic.
03:04It's dramatic, but also we're a little hard to impress.
03:07Very hard to impress.
03:08Because we've driven stuff that goes 0 to 60 in, like, you know, two seconds and change.
03:11Actually, under two seconds for that Tesla.
03:13Yeah.
03:14And even so, this thing, listen, by 60 muscle car standards, this thing is just top of the
03:17roost.
03:18Way the hell faster than any of those old cars can go.
03:21Definitely going to put a big grin on your face.
03:23But the thing is, even though our comparison is more about the muscle car elements of it,
03:27I just, every time I drive this car on a curvy road, I'm like, damn, this thing's good.
03:32I will say, like, this is arguably the peak of the internal combustion muscle car right
03:36here.
03:37You know, maybe you can argue, and I probably would, the old Shelby GT3 would be without
03:41it.
03:43The old Shelby GT3 would be without that flat plate crank beating.
03:46It just got no better than that.
03:48But, like, these muscle cars now can go fast in a straight line.
03:51They can handle just as well.
03:53They can brake.
03:54So it's really an all-around awesome driving machine.
03:57You don't have to make any apologies for it.
03:59It does everything you want to embarrass others and just put a smile on your face.
04:02It's really the whole point of the segment.
04:07I get excited when I see, like, sanctioned racing events, you know, like the Rolex 24
04:11or the car they ran at Le Mans.
04:12And I see a Mustang that's out there really duking it out with these serious performance
04:17cars, but knowing that the soul of the American muscle car is still there.
04:23It's a point of pride in all honesty.
04:25Just like British people, you know, start crying when you talk about roadsters.
04:28This is what we're known for.
04:30Let's give Ford credit.
04:31GM did the same thing.
04:32They did some amazing Camaros.
04:33Oh, my God.
04:34Let's give the American engineers credit that they engineered a chassis where we could have
04:39a really good handling car and we didn't have to lose that giant lump of iron up front.
04:44Again, no compromises.
04:45Setting aside the CA Corvette.
04:46Setting aside the CA Corvette, yes.
04:48Yes.
04:49Really is no compromises.
04:50I mean, I would put this dark horse up against the best of any sports car.
04:54I mean, it really is.
04:55We've driven it on the track.
04:56I mean, when I drove this on the track, I did think it felt like it was going to do
05:00funky things.
05:01You have to know you can trust the car.
05:03And maybe the element of trust has to be higher and more immediately assumed than it would
05:08in a Porsche.
05:09But my goodness, what this thing will do.
05:10Yeah.
05:11Fantastic.
05:12Quite an amazing accomplishment.
05:13I think we are going to agree that even though this may not be the most representative muscle
05:17car, the Charger is going to have to hit a very, very high bar for us to say it is a
05:22proper muscle car.
05:23Especially considering all the traditional muscle car aspects it does away with.
05:26Like the V8.
05:27Like the V8.
05:28You know, the rear wheel drive, at least in this electric version.
05:31Yeah.
05:32If the Charger can stand up to the performance this Mustang can give, then it's going to
05:35be a real credit to Solantis.
05:36Absolutely.
05:37I think now that we're in the beautiful town of Mojave, you should pull over, we should
05:40eat lunch, and then we should get into the Charger and see what it does.
05:43What's up at McDonald's?
05:44Nothing more American.
05:53You ready?
05:54Let's do it.
05:59It's really dark.
06:00I know, but like, it's awesome, right?
06:03I mean, is it any less impressive than the Mustang?
06:07So, let's talk about what a muscle car has to do.
06:10Okay?
06:11First of all, sound and theory.
06:13Yes.
06:14Now, it's fake, which admittedly is a little cheesy, but it is convincing, is it not?
06:20It is.
06:21You get that sound context that you miss in other electric vehicles.
06:24Okay, well, here's the real test.
06:27First thing, we talked about noise, but really, the most important thing about a muscle car
06:31is acceleration.
06:32I'm not even going to use any of the fancy launch mode.
06:34We're sitting next to your Mustang right now.
06:36You can't hear when your Mustang's out there.
06:37Blah, blah, blah.
06:38Light turns green.
06:42I mean, that's sub-cheesy.
06:43That's, I mean, we were just fake going like that.
06:47We were shoved back in our seats.
06:49So, acceleration check, zero to 60.
06:52Dodge is saying 3.3 seconds.
06:55They lied, because we tested it at Motor Trend, and it did it in 3.2.
06:593.2 seconds to 60.
07:01Quarter mile, 11 and a half seconds.
07:06Now, that's, I mean, back in the day, even the fire-breathing Hemi Charger from the mid
07:11and the late 60s, I mean, one of those things could do 14 seconds in the quarter.
07:15That was pretty amazing.
07:1613, you were really, really hauling the mail.
07:1911 and a half seconds, I mean, you couldn't do that with a second Hemi engine and, like,
07:23another truckload of carburetors strapped onto the thing.
07:26You just couldn't do it.
07:27This has some advantages built into it being an EV, though.
07:30Yes, that is true, because it can put power down to the ground in a way that a rear-wheel
07:35drive V8-powered car just can't.
07:37Now, I have to say, this is probably one of the nicest interiors that we've seen out of
07:42Stellantis in a very long time.
07:44It is genuinely gorgeous.
07:45Yeah, I love it, with this red light reflected up in the dash, which, of course, you can't see.
07:49You know, for a short guy like me, everything's in touch, because that's important.
07:52Because I don't know if you know, statistically, muscle car owners are two inches shorter than
07:57everybody else.
07:58About trucks.
07:59Yeah, I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.
08:02It might have been in the Reader's Digest.
08:05No, I really like the ergonomics.
08:07It has the fury.
08:08It has the sound.
08:09What else does a muscle car have to do?
08:11Well, it has to look cool.
08:12It does look so cool.
08:15Oh, I've got to go before this guy can pick up.
08:21Okay, I don't care how many Chryslers, how many cars you own, how many 454s you own.
08:26That's impressive.
08:27It is objectively impressive.
08:29And, you know, the size.
08:30You were talking about how this thing has a practical back seat.
08:33It's a hatchback, so it's got a nice big trunk.
08:34I mean, that actually attracts, because a lot of the muscle cars were really big cars.
08:39You know, they were intermediates.
08:40Yeah.
08:41I'm, by the way, I'm with you.
08:42You mentioned the old Chargers.
08:43I think the 1968 Dodge Charger is one of the most beautiful cars ever created.
08:48Certainly one of the most beautiful Chryslers ever created.
08:51And the way they've imitated the way the flanks of the car go up over the fenders.
08:56And you can actually see that line in the side view mirror.
08:59Aside from the fact the mirrors are big and usable.
09:02You know, the Charger had these little mirrors.
09:03But looking out over my shoulder, it's, you can almost convince yourself that there is a 1968 Charger out behind it.
09:09In all honesty, I think it's the best design that's come out of Scalantis as of late.
09:13Of course, the biggest shortcoming of this car is the range, of which there is not much.
09:20So, if you drive, I mean, this car, what's the EPA rating on this?
09:23This one with the, this has the super sticky tires at about 220, give or take a few miles.
09:28And we found that if we were, after our performance testing, when we've been, you know, kind of driving it for all it's worth, that would drop to under 200.
09:34But, you know, the Mustang, after 200 miles of the Mustang, you need to fuel it up as well.
09:39So the range is about the same.
09:40The problem is, it is obviously a lot easier to fuel up the Mustang than it is to charge up the Charger.
09:46I think part of that problem is the fact that Dodge went high performance on the motors.
09:51But they did not go high performance with the voltage system.
09:54There's 400 volts instead of 800 volts or more, but you're staying on Hyundai, Kia, etc.
09:59Yeah, when we charged this thing before our video shoot, we were jealous of the guy in the Kia EV9, who was like in and out of there in 15 minutes.
10:07No one in a muscle car, electric or gasoline powered, should be ever jealous of a Kia.
10:13That's not a good look.
10:14We both felt some tram lining, you know, with these great big sticky tires kind of grab the road and go hither and thither a little bit.
10:21You know what, this thing rides comfortably.
10:22It's reasonably quiet.
10:24I can't say this is as much fun as the Mustang.
10:26It's nowhere near as much fun on a curvy road.
10:28It is surprisingly confident.
10:30But, you know, the long distance comfort is something that I really admire.
10:34And again, if you think about it, all those classic muscle cars were generally built on the intermediates.
10:39You know, they were fairly comfortable riding cars.
10:41But it just amazes me how much this car meets the bar that was set by the Mustang.
10:47But we have to contemplate, with the fake noise, with the electric motor, with all the software advances, is it even a muscle car, period?
10:58I will never get tired of that.
11:06I do like the fact that you used a turbine car.
11:08That's pretty cool.
11:09That is pretty cool.
11:11I've got to be honest.
11:12As much as I love the Dodge, I really thought the Mustang was going to drive away with this one.
11:15But the Charger is pretty impressive.
11:17Yeah, I came in here thinking there's no way the Mustang is going to be beat, but the Charger is fantastic.
11:20You know what, the Charger does so many traditional muscle car things.
11:23It's ridiculously fast, faster than the Mustang.
11:25It's got the noise.
11:26It's got the fury.
11:27It looks good.
11:28It's shock and awe, you know.
11:30There's one important thing every muscle car needs to be able to do.
11:33Oh, I was hoping you wouldn't come up with this.
11:35We've got to see if we can do a burnout.
11:36A burnout.
11:37Let's go try it.
11:38Let's try it.
11:39Let's go try it.
11:40Let's try it.
12:09Charger can't do a burnout.
12:12Charger really can't do a burnout, can it?
12:15I turned the volume up on your little speaker.
12:18Oh, you're funny.
12:19But you know the thing is, like, Dodge could program it to do a burnout.
12:22They could program it in a line lock.
12:24They could program more power to the rear end.
12:26So maybe someday it'll be able to do a burnout.
12:28Someday.
12:29Yeah.
12:30No.
12:31No.
12:32So for now, I think we can both agree, the best muscle car you can get, this baby.
12:35For a Mustang.
12:36It's the Mustang.
12:38For more about these fantastic cars and all things automotive, visit us on the web at
12:42Motortrend.com.
12:46Hey, I'm doing a video.
12:47Don't talk to me.
12:48I'm doing a video over here.
12:49I told this guy, I said, I said the Charger's a decent muscle car.
12:52Guy looks at me like I got tree heads.
12:55Who cares?
12:56Who cares?
12:57Who wants an electric f***ing muscle car?
12:58What the f*** is that?
13:00I says, a muscle car without a V8?
13:02Why don't you have a pizza without the cheese?
13:05I says, get the f*** out of here.
13:07That's what I says to the guy.
13:08I says.