Dodge Is Still Figuring out the Charger Daytona EV's Exhaust Note
Photo: Stellantis
Back in August, Stellantis revealed the (deep breath) Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Banshee Concept. The car carries an absurd number of names, but somehow that wasn’t the most maligned part of its reveal. No, that honor went to something else: the car’s sound.
I should know, of course. I was one of those early detractors, because to my ears, the car’s “Fratzonic” exhaust just sounded like missed opportunities. All mids and highs, no chest-shaking bass, and most importantly, nothing new or unique. It sounded like it couldn’t decide whether to replicate a Hemi or go full-on future, and decided to half-ass both.
Dodge Charger Daytona EV: Awesome or Awful? | Debate
It seems I’m not alone in disliking the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee Concept’s exhaust note. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis spoke with Motor Trend
earlier this week and brought the car’s sound up as something that the company is “still working on.” To hear him tell it, the Fratzonic tone we all heard at launch is neither the first nor the last sound to exit that electrified body: “We have changed the sound of that car 1,000 times, and we will continue to.”
The question then becomes, what will it sound like next? Kuniskis talked about the car’s “idle,” and how happy the company is with its V8-like tone. If that’s in a good place, then it seems Dodge is likely focusing on the CDSRTBC’s exhaust note as it revs out — smart thinking, given that its high-RPM tone brought much of the audial disdain.
With years until any electrified Charger hits the market, Dodge has time to determine exactly what exhaust note will best suit the car. Maybe, while the company is at it, it can find room for a couple more names on that trunk lid. Surely no one’s using “Superbird,” right?
