Over the course of the past 15 years, I have been fortunate to have tested every trim level of the modern Dodge Charger. Growing up a Dodge drag racer and diehard fan of the brand, the most exciting aspect of writing new vehicle reviews was that I might get to drive the latest and greatest Mopar performance vehicles. In 2010, that became a reality when the media fleet company dropped off a brand new Dodge Charger SRT8 at my house for a week of testing.
Although I had scores of test vehicles prior to getting the bright red Charger, I had never been so excited to test a vehicle as I was for that first SRT8 vehicle. After all, it had 425 horsepower! That was serious power back then, and for that week of testing that Dodge sedan, I had a glorious time making 0-60 pulls in the low-5-second range that led to mid-13-second quarter mile times. As my first high performance Dodge test car, I will never forget it.
Fast forward to 2023…the modern Dodge Charger is in its final model year and to commemorate the final model year of the Hemi-powered Charger, the brand issued a handful of special edition models. One of those was the King Daytona and that was actually my last modern Hemi-powered Charger, but for the sake of even comparison in this piece, I will discuss the Indigo Blue Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak that I had a short time earlier. That car packed 807 horsepower and 707 lb-ft of torque, allowing it to blast from a stop to 60 in 3.5 seconds and run quarter mile times in the mid-10s.
Compared to the SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak, it is almost an awkward comparison for the 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8, but looking at the two side-by-side shows how far the modern high performance sedan – the bestselling large sedan in the US market – evolved over the life of the LX/LD platform.
Drivetrain Comparison
The 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 is powered by a naturally aspirated 6.1-liter Hemi V8 that delivers 425 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. That power is sent towards the rear wheels by means of a 5-speed automatic transmission and a 3.06 rear gear set. With the help of 245/45ZR20 three-season Goodyear F1 Supercar tires wrapped around 20-by-9-inch wheels, this car accelerates from 0-60 in the 5.2-5.3-second range and it can run the quarter mile in the 13.5 range. Reported top speeds online indicate that the 2010 Charger SRT8 can reach a top speed of somewhere between 165 and 170 miles per hour.
The 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak is powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 that delivers 807 horsepower and 707 lb-ft of torque. This newer sedan uses an 8-speed automatic transmission and a 2.62 rear gear, along with substantially wider wheels and tires – 305/35ZR20 three-season Pirelli P Zero tires on 20-by-11-inch wheels. The Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak will rocket from 0-60 in just 3.5 seconds en route to a top speed of 203 miles per hour, while running the quarter mile in the 10.60 range.
Aside from the obvious increase in power, the change from the older 5-speed automatic to the quick-shifting ZF 8HP90 8-speed transmission played a huge role in improving the performance and drivability of the highest-powered Dodge Charger.
Chassis Comparison
Next up, we have the other key mechanical bits of the 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 and the 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak.
The 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 came standard with SRT Tuned Bilstein monotube shocks and the stiffest springs of the Charger lineup, yielding better handling than the non-SRT LX Chargers. Even back in 2010, the SRT Charger came standard with Brembo brakes, with 14.2-inch rotors up front, 13.8-inch rotors out back and four piston calipers at all four corners. As mentioned above, the 2010 SRT8 came fitted with 20-by-9-inch wheels and 245/45ZR20 three-season Goodyear F1 Supercar tires.
The 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak came standard with the adaptive SRT-tuned Bilstein three-mode suspension with settings for Street, Sport and Track- with the Track setting offering the best cornering ability of any modern Charger. The most recent SRT Charger came with bigger Brembo brakes, with 15.7-inch, two-piece, vented and slotted rotors under six-piston calipers up front and 13.8-inch vented rotors under four-piston calipers out back. The widebody package that was standard on all supercharged 2023 Chargers allowed the team to go with 11-inch-wide wheels at all four corners with massive 305/35ZR20 three-season Pirelli P Zero tires.
The wider tires help with launching at the drag strip, but they also work with the adaptive Bilstein dampers and the huge Brembo brakes to afford the 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye some of the greatest handling capabilities of any full sized sedan, ever.
Interior Comparison
The Dodge Charger has gotten quicker, faster and vastly more powerful over the years, but it has also become substantially more luxurious and high tech on the inside.
The 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 came with heated leather front sport seats (above, left) with 4-way power adjust, a leather rear bench seat a 7-inch infotainment screen running UConnect 3, a performance timing system in the gauge cluster, a 13-speaker Kicker sound system and a 180mph speedometer.
The 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak came with heated and cooled leather front sport seats (above right) with 8-way power adjust, a heated leather rear bench seat, an 8.4-inch infotainment touchscreen running UConnect 4, the vastly improved SRT Pages app on the infotainment screen and in the gauge cluster, a 19-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and a 220mph speedometer.
The 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak offered far more tech across the dashboard, greater temperature control across all of the seats, a much sharper and more functional infotainment screen and a considerably better sound system – offering far more of a premium feel than the 2010 models. Really, the features and technology in the 2023 SRT Hellcat Redeye can rival the layout of many modern luxury cars, highlighting another area where the Dodge Charger has evolved a great deal over the life of the LX/LD chassis.
The 2010 Dodge Charger SRT8 was incredible for its time – giving Mopar lovers like myself a large sedan that would hang with the likes of the Ford Mustang GT.
The 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye is a legend that will never fade from automotive history – giving Mopar lovers a large sedan that would hang with the likes of the Lamborghini Aventador.
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