Fender flares, when done correctly, are such a universally good car modification that they could probably make a beige Toyota Camry look good. (A few rally lights don’t hurt either.) But a wide-bodied Dodge Charger is finally here, and it sure was the perfect candidate for a little extra bulk.
Fiat Chrysler announced on Thursday that, come the 2020 model year, every supercharged, 707-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat will get the wide-body treatment. On the Scat Pack version of the car, which only puts out a mere 485 HP from its naturally aspirated Hemi V8, it’ll be optional.
The fender flares will make the Charger 3.5 inches wider, just like they do on the wide-body Challengers. That allows for wider tires, and that’s just what Dodge will provide: Charger Hellcats will now go from a standard wheel measuring 20 inches by 9.5 inches to one that measures 20 inches by 11 inches, and those who pay more for a wide-body Scat Pack will go up to that size as well.
On both versions of the Charger, the bigger tires make for more grip and shorter stopping distances, with Dodge claiming that the new Hellcat will be able to go from 60 mph to a dead stop in 107 feet—four feet shorter than the outgoing car. The Scat Pack can also do it in 107 feet, Dodge said, down from 110.
Both cars will still have an eight-speed automatic, with Dodge claiming that the new Hellcat will be able to do a quarter-mile run in 10.96 seconds while the Scat Pack does it in 12.4. Pricing wasn’t announced on either, but Dodge’s wide-body packages on the Challenger performance models run about $6,000, and orders are expected to open in the fall for early 2020 arrival dates.
Dodge, which continues to add new options and looks to its old muscle cars, has personally teased us with the idea of a Charger Widebody for a few months now. There was the wide-body concept from March, and then, just this week, a teaser video that ended just before showing off the Charger’s new flare(s).
The video ended with the message that something big was “Coming soon,” and, well, soon is now—or a few months from now, if we’re getting technical. But no matter when it comes, a wide-body Charger looks to have been worth the wait.