The Dodge Charger Daytona Edition returns to take on the Mustang GT in a muscle car drag race.
The Charger Daytona has returned to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway against a challenger that it has a reasonable chance of defeating. Last time it took on a Challenger Hellcat Redeye, with the results being pretty much exactly what you’d expect. With almost twice as much power as the Charger, the Hellcat Redeye made the Daytona Edition eat its proverbial dust. Or literal dust--Las Vegas is in the desert, after all.
In case you haven't heard, the Daytona 392 is a special edition of the Charger that pays tribute to the famous 1969 Charger Daytona. But instead of giving it an enormous wing and a pointed nose, they just give it some different transmission shift points for optimal drag race performance.
Under the hood is the same 392 cubic-inch HEMI V8 pumping out 485 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque, with zero to sixty measured in just 4.2 seconds. Top speed is 182 mph, and quarter-mile time should be in the mid-12 second range. At least, if there's an attentive driver behind the wheel.
Which this driver doesn’t appear to be. In the first race against a modern Mustang GT, the Daytona driver seems to miss the light entirely and lets the Mustang get an enormous lead. Now, we’re not going to say the Mustang is a slow car, because it’s not. It has 460 hp and a good 700 lb weight advantage over the four-door Charger. But there’s no reason for a Mustang GT to beat a Charger so soundly off the line.
Even though the driver seemed to be asleep at the wheel, the Daytona was able to almost catch the Mustang, finishing in 13.85 seconds compared to the Mustang’s 13.51 seconds.
Things are a little better in the second race against a previous-gen Mustang with a huge, bulging hood. We’re less impressed by the custom hood and more impressed by the drag radials this car is wearing that should really help it kick off the line.
Check out the video above to see how the Charger fares in a few more races.