Experienced by Adrian McQueen
Photography by Adrenaline Lifestyles
The 2026 Dodge Charger R/T Plus is bringing American muscle back to the market. The Charger is stylish enough for a cruise but built to handle business at the track if needed. We were able to get the Charger R/T Plus for a week and really get some good seat time with it. This is definitely an attention grabber and ignites the conversation on how Dodge is stepping back into gas powered vehicle industry.
The first Dodge Charger was a show car in 1964, a concept version in 1965 Charger II concept car, then the production version in 1966. Since the 1960’s, Dodge has used the R/T moniker that stands for Road/Track and is known as the performance model. R/T vehicles will have the R/T badging and a combination of upgraded performance parts.
Upon first look you notice the wide front end, modified hood and LED headlights with rear LED light bar. The Charger that we reviewed came in a White Knuckle hue. R/T badging is placed along the vehicle that stands out as much as the liftback/hatchback body style. Sitting on 20” black noise alloy wheels, the Brembo brakes really make a statement. To top it all off, the glass roof is a nice touch.
The interior is spacious and nice premium leatherette and suede performance seats that feature 12-way power adjustment, with heating and ventilation in the front row. The rear seats have the same soft-touch leatherette and suede materials that are heated as well. The Charger seats up to five people and has a soft vinyl-wrapped heated steering wheel. I really enjoyed the 64-color customizable Attitude Adjustment ambient cabin lighting. The Charger’s cabin offers a lot of leg room along with wide door openings to get in and out easily.
This Charger was outfitted with the 18-speaker Alpine high-performance system that comes with a subwoofer and a 900-watt amplifier. The Charger also has a 16-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch touchscreen running Uconnect 5 with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a Head-Up Display.
The 2026 Dodge Charger R/T Plus is a gas-powered, all-wheel-drive muscle liftback sports car. It comes equipped with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane standard-output inline-six engine, that puts out 420 horsepower and 468 lb-ft of torque. This engine is also known as the SixPack. There is not much lag in the 8-speed 880RE TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The R/T Plus 4-Door model that we tested weighs about 4,800 lbs but it packs a punch when you hit the gas pedal.
The gas mileage in the Charger is about average. EPA lists the Charger with 17 mpg in the city, 26 mpg on the highway and 20 mpg combined. The Charger handled well in the city and on rural roads. The steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters use small click-buttons instead of the traditional paddles. It is great for cruising around town and pushing the limits when available.
The Charger comes equipped with safety systems such as standard forward collision warning with active braking, blind-spot monitoring with cross path detection, and ParkSense front/rear park assist, available active lane management, adaptive cruise control with stop, a 360-degree camera system and more.
The 2026 Dodge Charger R/T Plus has a competitive warranty. The 2026 Charger has a 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty and a 5-year/60,000-mile gas powertrain warranty. Roadside assistance and corrosion coverage are also included for 5 years/100,000 miles.
In its’ class, the 2026 Dodge Charger R/T Plus goes up against Ford Mustang GT / Dark Horse, Genesis G80, BMW 340i / 540 and the Dodge Charger Daytona (EV). Overall, the 2026 Dodge Charger R/T Plus is a fun sports car that should easily be in the running on any consumers list that would like to ride around in style. The model that we tested came in at $67,160 but dealerships are already offering discounts to get them moving quickly from the lot to the street. A always, we make sure to showcase the press fleet vehicles at our Cars and Coffee events and this one drove the MOPAR crowd wild. Listening to the feedback on it centered around the throwback body style that screamed American Muscle. Please enjoy the photo gallery.
