Dodge teases a Charger Widebody with a new concept
New fenders could hide wider wheels and tires.
Is the Dodge Charger due to get the same Widebody treatment as its Challenger two-door sibling? That's certainly the implication of a new concept that Dodge showed over the weekend at the Spring Fest 14 car show in Pomona, California.
The Dodge Charger "design concept" may be slathered in graphics and stripes, but it's immediately clear it wears the same fender flares as the Challenger Widebody. Dodge shared only one photo of the car, head-on, but Mark Trostle, FCA's head of performance, passenger car and utility vehicle design, was kind enough to divulge a few others on his Instagram account. Officially, Dodge said only that it showed off the concept to the SF14 show to "gauge feedback from the huge Dodge Charger, Challenger and Chrysler 300 enthusiast base that attends the event each year."
The Widebody treatment not only looks menacing but also adds genuine performance. Because cars so equipped can wear wider wheels and tires, they accelerate faster and grip better, making them faster on the track. Compared with a standard model, for instance, Dodge says the Challenger Hellcat Widebody is 0.1 second quicker to 60 miles per hour, 0.3 second quicker through the quarter mile and about 2 seconds quicker per lap on a 1.7-mile circuit. Moreover, the Widebody is said to offer 0.97 g of cornering grip to the standard Hellcat's 0.93 g.
Though first introduced for the Hellcat and Demon, the Widebody option is now also offered on the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack and the Hellcat Redeye. Of course, going Widebody isn't cheap; adding the option bumps the car's cost by $6,000, but you might think that's a small price to pay for improved performance.
Given that the Widebody has been rolled out to several different versions of the Challengers, we wouldn't be at all surprised to see Dodge turn this Charger concept into reality. Stay tuned to see if and when the Dodge Charger officially adds the Widebody option.
