Dodge Charger GT Copies Its Brother, Dons AWD

For a model seemingly older than the domestication of plants and animals, the Dodge Charger manages to foist new things at its intended audience every year. Same goes for its two-door sibling, the Challenger.

For 2020, the Charger offers something the Challenger debuted for the 2018 model year: a GT model with four-wheel grip.

Hardly earth-shaking Charger news, sure, but one day, perhaps early in the new decade, there might actually be an LX-platform announcement of greater potency. In the meantime, we can look at what a Charger GT AWD gets you — the answer to that question being “not much,” aside from upgraded looks and a loftier sticker price.

While Challenger adopted all-wheel drive on its GT model two years ago, Dodge saw fit to relegate the system to its base Charger SXT. Like Challenger, GT sits one rung up the trim ladder from SXT, sharing the same 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and eight-speed automatic as the entry-level car. Power amounts to 300 horses and 264 lb-ft of torque.

Truth be told, the GT does improve upon the SXT’s inherent visual muscularity in a number of ways. The front fascia is revised to look meaner. LED foglamps appear, as do side sills. The hood is a performance covering. A tastefully low-profile spoiler appears out back, though 19-inch aluminum wheels still fill the wells with 235/55 all-season performance rubber (RWD GTs offer 20-inch wheels as standard).

Inside, you’ll find a performance wheel and seats with additional bolstering — the latter coming in handy should you choose to enter the vehicle in a winter rally. Slipping the vehicle into Sport mode ensures that the AWD system won’t have to wait until it detects front-end slip before sending power forward.

And yes, you can fully defeat the system and its associated electronic nannies for messy parking lot snow donuts.

The 2020 Charger GT AWD carries an after-destination starting price of $36,490, which is a not-too-insignificant jump from the RWD GT’s opening bid of $33,390. However, contrast it with the SXT AWD and the difference is more than halved. That model starts at $35,090.

Orders open for Charger GT AWDs in January, with deliveries expected before the end of March.

[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]