Previous Next 1 of 10 The 2019 Dodge Charger is one of the automotive world’s senior citizens. Dodge’s big sedan got its last major update for the 2015 model year and the design dates back even further than that. But Dodge keeps finding ways to tweak and update the Charger, and that process continues for 2019. The Charger SRT Hellcat returns with a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8. While the Charger’s two-door Challenger SRT Hellcat sibling now makes 717 horsepower and 656 pound-feet of torque, the four-door Hellcat produces the same 707 hp and 650 pound-feet of torque as before. The Charger Hellcat does get new launch assist and line lock features for drag racing, the latter locking the front brakes for easy burnouts. Also on deck are Torque Reserve, which builds up the supercharger’s boost while the car is staged for a quarter-mile run, and the After-Run Chiller, which keeps cooling the supercharger and charge-air cooler after the engine is shut off to get things back to the proper temperature. All of these features are borrowed from the discontinued Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. The Charger R/T Scat Pack model also returns for 2019, sitting below the Hellcat in the lineup. The Scat Pack has a 6.4-liter naturally aspirated Hemi V8 making 485 hp and 475 pounds-feet of torque. For 2019, it gets the launch assist and line lock features, plus some styling updates. One rung down from the Scat Pack is the Charger R/T, which uses a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 making 370 hp and 395 pound-feet. All-wheel drive returns for 2019, but only on the base Charger SXT model with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6; all other Chargers are rear-wheel drive. A new V6 Charger GT model sits between the SXT and the V8 Chargers, with a higher level of equipment than other V6 models. The Pentastar V6 makes 292 hp and 260 pound-feet in the rear-wheel drive SXT, and 300 hp and 264 pound-feet in the all-wheel drive SXT and GT. The 2019 Dodge Charger hits showrooms later this year. Pricing for the full lineup will be revealed closer to that time. Updates to both the Charger and its Challenger sibling buy the two cars some time, but it’s unclear what Dodge parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’s long-term plans for them are. Editors' Recommendations<doc-sep>No joke—the 2019 Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car packs over 10,000 horsepower says our insiders. The Mopar-powered Funny Car version of the Hellcat makes its competition debut at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado this weekend. "Our job at Mopar is to put the best race car underneath our drivers and keep them winning. We know this new body, developed in collaboration with the Dodge//SRT brand and Don Schumacher Racing, will do just that," said Pietro Gorlier, FCA parts and service head in a statement. "The changes made to this new Funny Car body will improve on-track performance and help us carry on the Mopar brand's long tradition of success at the dragstrip." Driver Matt Hagan of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) will have the pleasure of screaming down the track at the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Powered by Mopar. "This new Funny Car body is something that Mopar and Dodge//SRT have put a lot of work and support behind, from R&D to wind tunnel testing," said Hagan. "We improved on the body design. It was already a great design, a great body. But now, we're going to have a little more downforce, a little more traction on these racetracks and it will be a huge performance advantage. We will be able to press harder with more downforce on the nose, which translates into huge amounts of downforce on the run." See all 16 photos See all 16 photos The car can hit 330-plus mph and covers 1,000 ft. in less than four seconds according to Dodge. Up front, a new carbon fiber and Kevlar splitter generates gobs of downforce to plant the rocket ride to the track. "We made four good, solid runs in testing at Norwalk," said Hagan. "We put the body through a lot of different things and were really, really pleased with it. I really think it's going to translate over to performance on the race track, and hopefully more win lights in the future." A production Charger SRT Hellcat was used for inspiration to create the front end graphics and other killer bits we are told. "We are really excited to run the new Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat body in competition, both in qualifying and the race itself at Denver," said Don Schumacher, DSR owner in a release. "It's been a great project, working together with Mopar, Dodge//SRT, DSR and DSM to get the whole project finished and done in this period of time. We are really looking forward to how it's going to change our program." The hellish funny car will debut at Bandimere on July 20-22.<doc-sep>
Good news for fans of all things rear-wheel-drive and powerful: the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat has been refreshed for the 2019 model year -- as we'd seen in a teaser photo -- and it's got even more features to help you go as fast as possible. The visual upgrade for the SRT Hellcat is not exactly transformative, but you will spot a new grille with two new air inlets that are designed to help funnel cool air to the big 6.2-liter supercharged V8 (as before, it makes 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque). A satin-black hood is now an option, as are "Brass Monkey" 20-inch wheels and an Alcantara interior package. The new grille design is also applied to the Charger R/T Scat Pack, which has a 485-hp 6.4-liter V8 engine. Dodge What's even more exciting, though, is that the 2019 Charger Hellcat gets several new performance tricks learned from its rambunctious cousin, the Challenger SRT Demon. Those include an After-Run Chiller, which keeps pumping coolant through the charger air cooler to bring down supercharger temperatures and thus increase horsepower, and Torque Reserve, which works with the launch control to precharge the supercharger by closing its bypass valve and deliberately misfiring the engine. The 2019 Charger Hellcat also adds electronic line lock, which locks the front brakes. That's great, because heretofore it was so very difficult to do a burnout in a 707-hp, rear-wheel-drive car. Line lock is also offered on the Demon, as well as cars like the Ford Mustang. In addition, Launch Assist is an enhancement to the car's launch and traction controls that aims to prevent axle hop by proactively adjusting engine output. The charger R/T Scat Pack also adds line lock and Launch Assist as standard. The rest of the Dodge Charger lineup continues with fewer changes for 2019, albeit with a handful of minor trim and equipment updates. The Charger R/T continues to use a 5.7-liter V8 with 370 horsepower, the GT has a 300-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 and the base Charger SXT continues with a 292-horsepower version of that engine. There is, however, one slight change to the lineup: all-wheel-drive will now be offered only on the Charger SXT, whereas previously it was exclusive to the GT. Order books for the 2019 Dodge Charger are open now, with the first cars scheduled to hit showrooms in the third quarter of this year.