Dodge Charger Tuning mods

"Tuning the Dodge Charger and best Charger performance parts."

We look at Charger tuning and outline the optimum modifications. Dodge Chargers are popular cars and with carefully chosen performance upgrades you can greatly maximize your driving fun of this awesome muscle car. (It's only muscular with the right engine choices and right mods though!)

  • 1964 Dodge Charger (original concept): Dodge created a roadster-style show car based on the Dodge Polara
  • 1965 Dodge Charger 273: a limited production option package for the Dart GT
  • 1966–70 Dodge Charger (B-body): a rear wheel drive coupe aimed at the luxury car sector.
  • 1970–74 Dodge Charger: Brazilian version based on the Dodge Dart, fitted with a higher-compression 318 V8 engine. There were 6 options with varying visual styling differences. Similar to previous model with different headlamps.
  • 1974-78 The 4th generation came out further showing Dodges determination to push this car into the luxury sector.
  • 1983–87 Dodge Charger (L-body): a FWD subcompact hatchback there was an interesting turbo engine producing 150hp in 1984.
  • 1999 Dodge Charger (concept): a rear wheel drive concept car was released and was very well received.
  • 2006–2010: Dodge Charger (LX): This nods back to the original muscle car status of the original and there were many versions offered of this RWD sedan. We love the Charger SRT8 equipped with a 6.1 L Hemi engine mated to a 5-speed auto which was not produced in 2011. AWD options were added in 2012 but not on the SRT8.
  • 2011-present. Dodge Charger (LD) The Pentastar 3.6 250bhp engine was used, and mated to a 5 speed A580 auto replaced the earlier 4 speed. Engine power started at 250bhp on the V6 model in 2012 where the SRT-8 was reintroduced and AWD became an option on the other models in the range. There were revisions in 2015 where exterior styling was revised and all new suspension and brakes.

We have seen some awesome Charger tuning projects and there seems to be quite a loyal fan base of Charger owners. If you do your homework then you can create an awesome Charger but don't be fooled there are lots of performance parts out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

 

Improving the handling should be your first priority in your Charger tuning project. We suggest that you fit uprated suspension and lower the car by 30-35mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with sports suspension.

Our aim in Charger engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end.

Following our guidance for modding your Charger you will attain a practical sporty car that will potentially out perform bigger cars.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Tuning modifications.

These are the mods that are usually performed by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you get started.

Getting the correct grade of mods for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 (competition) mods just don't work well on the road difficult in stop start traffic.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best Engine Mods for your car

  1. Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings,  aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
  2. Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
  3. Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
  4. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
  5. Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.
  6. Typical stage 1 mods often include:
    Panel air filter,Lighter flywheel,Alloy wheels,Sports exhaust,Remap,Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm).

    Typical stage 2 mods often include:
    Power clutch,Fast road cam,Ported and polished head,Fuel injector & fuel pump upgrades,.

    Typical stage 3 mods often include:
    Competition cam,Sports gearbox,Engine balancing,Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves),Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

    Peak power is all well and good but for a daily driven car you need a wide torque band and perhaps extending the rev range.

    In this article we shall give a little insight into the world to the best modifications for your charger, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance part.

    Fast road cams offer one of the biggest performance gains for your money as far as a bolt on part goes on a NA (naturally aspirated) engine.

    It improves the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. We'd also caution you not to go with a motorsport cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

    Don't forget to uprate the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

    If you find you have flat spots and surges after your mods you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well.

    Uprated injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine. Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned Chargers uprated injectors.

    charger-tuning

    Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

    The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Please note that WE DO NOT RECOMMEND INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car extensively and are finding that the standard air intake has become a restriction.

    For most smaller Charger engines TorqueCars would suggest you just go with a washable panel air filter. On heavily tuned engines and turbo vehicles an induction kit will help release the power providing you address the problem of supplying cold air.

    The air feeds fitted by Dodge are actually quite good and not restrictive at all unless you are hitting very high power figures.

    Do not go with the biggest exhaust you can buy this will reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 2 to 3 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

    Getting a professionally ported and polished head with larger valves can fully release the engines power.

    When you start tuning your Charger you will usally see that the standard clutch starts to slip so get an uprated clutch. Remaps offer significant power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NA (naturally aspirated) engines the benefits are doubtful. However a tune/remap on a NA (naturally aspirated) engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

    We've also come across some owners toying with twin charging conversions and making some impressively high power figures.

    Adding forced induction will see massive power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective.

    It is usually cheaper to bolt on a supercharger than it is to fit a working turbo.

    Turbos increase power in increasing proportion to rising engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

    The nice proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

    Alloy wheel upgrades.

    As alloys are lighter they improve performance and they will help to cool the brake disks.

    We should point out that although they can look cool on the Charger big alloys will actually decrease your performance.

    The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

    Due to this fact we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 18 inches, although we know some of our members have installed larger rims with no problems.

    If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our car forums where you can discuss Charger options in more detail with our Charger owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Dodge tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

    Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below. We love hearing about our website visitors projects, especially the mods done and which work best for you on your car. Which helps us keep our guides and tips up to date helping others with their modified car projects. Your feedback and comments are used to keep this page up to date, and help improve the accuracy of these articles which are kept updated and constantly revised.

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