LIKES
- Retro cool
- Muscle car meat with supercar power
- All the V-8 options
- Get it while you can
DISLIKES
- Inefficient
- No standard active safety features
- Endangered species
- Oldie but goodie
BUYING TIP
- The R/T Scat Pack packs big V-8 power without a gut-punching price.
The 2022 Dodge Challenger honors the V-8 past and present before it gets let out to pasture.
What kind of vehicle is the 2022 Dodge Challenger? What does it compare to?
The Dodge Challenger is a two-door muscle car flexing into Herculean proportions with SRT Hellcat and Super Stock models. It still fights its half-century-old battle with the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro, but Dodge stocks it with super-sized engines.
Is the 2022 Dodge Challenger a good car?
There’s nothing else like it. It’s a modern classic with retro style that clings to the V-8 engine like a lifebuoy in a sea of progress. It earns a TCC Rating of 6.0 out of 10.
What's new for the 2022 Dodge Challenger?
Not much except for a Jailbreak option with more color options and a top speed of 203 mph on the Hellcat Redeye Widebody.
The 2022 Challenger lineup starts with the 303-hp V-6-powered SXT and GT models, then all the V-8s, including R/T, R/T Scat Pack, SRT Hellcat, SRT Hellcat Redeye, SRT Super Stock and three Widebody variants. The V-6 models come with an 8-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive or available all-wheel drive; the V-8 options come with rear-wheel drive and a standard 6-speed manual.
The V-8s grumble from a 375-hp 5.7-liter V-8 in the R/T up to the howling and wailing 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 Hellcat. Tuned to its highest potential, it makes 807 hp in the SRT Super Stock.
Related to the four-door Dodge Charger, the Challenger is the roomiest muscle car, with enough back seat space for the kids and a trunk larger than most sedans. Comfy front bucket seats wrapped in houndstooth or available leather give the Challenger modern touches that extend to the touchscreen infotainment systems.
It does not apply to active driver safety features, though the Challenger has electronic stability control, which had not yet been mandated when this iteration of the Challenger first bowed back in 2008. It has mixed crash-test results but automatic emergency braking isn’t even an option.
How much does the 2022 Dodge Challenger cost?
The 2022 Dodge Challenger offers four engines in four core models spanning 11 variants. The entry-level SXT and its 3.6-liter V-6 costs $31,275, including $1,595 in destination charges, and comes with a 7.0-inch touchscreen with smartphone compatibility, a leather steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, and a power driver seat.
The Challenger R/T Scat Pack and its 485-hp 6.4-liter V-8 offers the best bang for our buck at $43,600. The 807-hp SRT Super Stock super stokes the price to $83,575.
The American muscle car is made in Ontario, Canada.
Styling
The Dodge Challenger has the automotive equivalent of a dad bod.
Is the Dodge Challenger a good-looking car?
It hasn’t changed much since it launched in 2008 and it’s still a great-looking car that honors a legendary time of American automotive daring that can be appreciated now by several generations. It earns two points outside and one inside, with a cabin equipped with modern tech and conveniences. It’s an 8.
Studded with a hood scoop, the Challenger’s long nose hangs over a wide grille with throwback quad headlights that can be rimmed orange. It’s low, long, and wide, and can be fitted with 18-inch or 20-inch wheels, racing stripes, graphics, eye-popping colors, and all the packages. It exudes cool, even before you crank it up.
Performance
Dodge works wonders with the Challenger.
The Challenger’s throwback style takes on a different dimension when considering the magic Dodge’s SRT performance arm has squeezed out of another throwback, the V-8 engine. Our rating system applies to the volume model, which in this case is the 5.7-liter V-8 that earns two points for its prodigious output, and we add another point for its physics-defying handling.
Is the Dodge Challenger 4WD?
The Challenger is a proper rear-wheel-drive sports coupe but Dodge offers all-wheel drive on entry-level SXT and GT models for $3,000 more. Those models come standard with an 8-speed automatic transmission.
The tried-and-true 3.6-liter V-6 on SXT and GT models makes 303 hp and 268 lb-ft of torque. It goes from 0-60 mph in an estimated 6.3 seconds. It hustles, especially for a vehicle weighing 3,858 lb, and would be impressive enough if it weren’t for its brawnier siblings.
Those siblings are hard to resist. The R/T Scat Pack uses a rip-roaring 6.4-liter V-8 to the tune of 485 hp and 475 lb-ft. A meaty 6-speed manual comes standard, and the big shifter gives way to a smooth gate and a progressive clutch pedal that perfectly matches the car’s character. The 8-speed automatic is quicker (costlier, too, with a $1,595 upcharge), and hits 60 mph in the low four seconds. The adaptive Bilstein shocks let drivers customize the ride settings for the conditions, so even with all the added performance bits you can still have a comfy cruiser for road tripping or caravaning. It’s all the Challenger we need.
But wants brought us here. The SRT models add at least $20,000, or about 50% more than the R/T Scat Pack, for a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 with whirring hellfire unlike anything else on the road. In Hellcat form, it makes 717 hp and 656 lb-ft with a top speed of 199 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds. Why would Dodge stop there? To shave one-tenth off the 60 mph time, there’s the Redeye, tuned to 797 hp and 707 lb-ft.
Braking and handling
A performance car is only as good as its brakes. Scat Pack and Hellcat models get 6-piston Brembo calipers up front and 4-pistons in back with large vented brakes (on the Redeye) that clamp on heavy metal 15.4-inch rotors up front. Bring backup pads on track day.
Even with the Bilsteins, the Challenger can’t overcome its dimensions. It moves like it's big and heavy because it is, and requires extra effort and skill to tame it on anything but a straight line. One reason we like the R/T Scat Pack is that it can thrill on the track but still provide everyday comfort and discretion.
Widebody models available on Scat Pack, Hellcat, and Redeye models add a 2.5-inch wider track and wider 20x11-inch alloy wheels wrapped in fat slicks in the form of low-profile Pirelli P Zeros sized 305/35ZR20.
Comfort & Quality
The Challenger is the only muscle car that can reasonably fit rear passengers.
The muscle coupe sacrifices space for style, but it’s roomier inside than other muscle cars. Still, four adults would be hard pressed to fit inside, costing it a point. On the other hand, contoured front seats with power adjustment and the spacious trunk earn it a point each for a 6 total.
In keeping with its retro style, the front seats are big and roomy, and hug big bodies best. There’s no bench seat, but cloth upholstery gives way to leather on top trims. The front buckets feel durable, and the overall fit and finish follows suit, even if it lacks the polish of newer cars at these prices.
With a wheelbase of more than 116 inches, the Challenger is more than half a foot longer inside than the competition. It’s possible, though we can’t say it’s recommended, to fit up to three passengers in the rear seat for a joy ride or to show off at the local car show. Kids and grandkids would love it. With 33.1 inches of rear leg room, there’s far more space back there than the Mustang or Camaro, and the 60/40-split rear seats fold down to expand the generous 16.2 cubic feet of trunk space. If space is a big concern, however, consider the related four-door Dodge Charger.
Safety
Crash-test results are mixed on the Challenger.
How safe is the Dodge Challenger?
The Challenger has not been able to keep up with ever-increasing safety milestones. It earned a five-star crash rating from the NHTSA, which earns it a point on our scale, but the IIHS faulted its results in tests that simulate head-on collisions on the driver’s side. That cancels the point it earned from the NHTSA rating. It has features like stability control and optional forward-collision warnings but lacks automatic emergency braking, even as an option. That costs it a point to a 4.
The outward vision is much better than the Camaro, but thick rear pillars obstruct side and rear vision. The Challenger weighs between about 3,900 to 4,500 lb, depending on the model; that’s heavy for a muscle car, but should help occupants in the event of a crash.
Features
The Challenger prioritizes what’s under the hood, but what’s in the cabin makes for a pretty good deal.
Dodge sells the Challenger in SXT, GT, R/T, R/T Scat Pack, SRT Hellcat, SRT Hellcat Redeye, SRT Super Stock, and SRT Jailbreak Edition new this year. The amount of customization from the factory puts the Challenger on par with a full-size truck in the sheer number of configurations. The endless options and good infotainment system on any trim earn it two points to a 7.
The base SXT includes a 7.0-inch touchscreen with smartphone compatibility, keyless start, dual-zone climate control, a power driver’s seat and a leather-wrapped steering wheel for $31,000.It has a basic 3-year/36,000-mile new car warranty.
Which Dodge Challenger should I buy?
How much is a fully loaded Dodge Challenger?
Coming in under $84,000, the SRT Super Stock and its 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 lists as the Challenger’s top contender. It rides on 18x11-inch wheels with standard drag tires, a custom suspension with adaptive dampers, active exhaust and other performance upgrades.
Fuel Economy
With great power comes great inefficiency in the 2022 Dodge Challenger.
Is the Dodge Challenger good on gas?
Is a dog good at impulse control? No. The smallest V-8 is the most popular and gets an EPA-rated 16 mpg city, 25 highway, 19 combined with the 8-speed automatic and mid-grade gas. That’s a 3 on our scale.
The most efficient dog in the Challenger’s kennel is the 3.6-liter V-6 with rear-wheel drive at 19/30/23 mpg; AWD takes it down to 18/27/21 mpg.
The Hellcats breathe fire at a rate of 13/22/16 mpg, and a Super Stock gets 1 mpg combined less.
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