2006 Dodge Charger Daytona - Hopping Up The New Hemi

We at Mopar Muscle have a great appreciation for Chrysler's new line of automobiles. we are mainly old school around here, and when we do a smoky burnout we expect the smoke to roll from the rear tires, not the front. We also remember the days when the only rear-wheel-drive vehicles Mopar made were trucks, which were also the only vehicles that could be had with a V-8 engine. So while we did question naming a four-door Dodge a Charger, it is nice to finally have a front-engine, rear-drive, V-8-equipped car available from Chrysler.

Alan Allard, proprietor of AAR Quality Fiberglass of Cocoa, Florida, just happened to have an '06 Charger Daytona that he wanted to hop-up. Alan is a die-hard Mopar nut and has several classic Mopars in addition to his new Charger. Those of you who have done business with Alan know that his company produces the best fiberglass body components on the market and has always catered to Mopar enthusiasts with pieces that aren't available anywhere else. You'll note the hood on this particular Daytona Charger is not the factory unit, rather the piece that's only available on SRT models. You can find this hood and other high-quality fiberglass components for both modern and classic Mopars in AAR's catalog or on their web site.

So what does Alan have planned for his new Charger Daytona? The same thing we'd do if it was 37 years earlier and we had a '69 Charger Daytona-hop it up and drive the wheels off it! Fortunately, the new Charger, just like those of old, responds well to standard, bolt-on components that improve performance. If you've modified V-8 cars in the past then you know the routine: headers, a free-flowing exhaust, and induction modifications are fairly easy ways to dramatically improve the performance of these cars. Electronics can also help the process in the new computer-controlled vehicles, but the more air and fuel that can move through the engine, the more power it will produce. For this reason, we chose to begin the modifications to the Charger by improving exhaust flow.

There are many options when it comes to exhaust for the new Charger, but we chose to stick with two manufacturers that have been around for a while: Flowmaster and Hedman. Flowmaster has long been known for its throaty, free-flowing mufflers that just make a V-8 sound great. When we found out Flowmaster offers a complete exhaust system for the '06 Charger, we had to order it. This kit includes everything aft of the catalytic converters and features 211/42-inch-diameter tubing and mandrel bends. In addition to the classic Flowmaster mufflers, our kit included rear resonators and chrome tips for a factory-appearing look, though with far better performance. True to form, the Flowmaster kit was an easy installation, only requiring standard hand tools and taking less than an hour to complete with the use of a lift. The headers, however, were a different story.

Hedman headers have been a staple of the performance market since the inception of hot-rodding. Their short-tube headers offer greatly improved flow over the factory exhaust manifolds and are true "bolt-in" replacements for the cast-iron units. These headers offer a thick flange and are coated for enduring good looks. The best feature of these headers is they bolt directly to the factory exhaust flanges, which we will be keeping in place along with the factory high-flow cats. While the exhaust system was a quick and easy installation, the headers required a little more finesse. At first glance, it seemed there was really no way to get the manifolds out and the headers in within the confines of the Charger's engine bay. However, once we started removing the numerous heat shields from the motor mounts, exhaust flanges, and manifolds, we seemed to have just enough room to complete the job. It really helped to have a lift when installing the headers, and creative use of socket extensions and universals made the job a little easier, but it still took the better part of three hours to get the headers in place. This is not a function of the design of the headers, rather a by-product of the limited space around the Charger's engine.

Before we began our work, we strapped the Charger to our Mustang dyno for some preliminary numbers. Peak power at the rear wheels was just over 241 hp at slightly above 5,000 rpm with torque coming in at the mid-290s at just under 3,000 rpm. Pretty respectable rear-wheel numbers and in line with what we'd expect from a stock Hemi. Remember, merely installing headers and a free-flowing exhaust may not dramatically change the rear-wheel horsepower numbers, but will definitely help performance when future electronic and induction modifications are performed.