2022 Charger Redeye vs AMG E 63 S Drag Race Is USA vs Germany at Its Purest

That starts to hold even more water when the car you're racing it against is a 2022 Dodge Charger Redeye with its 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine and a discreet widebody kit. That car is born for the drag strip meaning it'll easily walk over all assortments of sports cars, so what chance can a station wagon possibly have?

Well, thanks to the Germans, we actually have two that could give the Redeye a run for its money. They are the Audi RS 6 Avant, arguably the pioneer of the very-niche hot wagon segment, and the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S T-Modell, the newcomer that went straight for the top spot (even though whether it managed to claim it or not is still up for debate).

The two German cars share a pretty similar architecture for their powertrains, but we'll focus on the Merc since it is the one representing its segment against the Charger. It too has a V8 engine, but in classic European style, its displacement is far inferior to that of the American machine at just four liters.

It also replaces the supercharger with a pair of turbochargers that combine to give the AMG power wagon a total output of just over 600 hp. Normally, that's more than any car could ever need, but given the Redeye has nearly 200 hp more, it places the E 63 S at a disadvantage. The torque value is also inferior to its opponent’s, and it weighs slightly more, leaving its all-wheel-drive system to fill the only spot on the redeeming features list.

These cars do a very great job of embodying the performance car culture of their respective countries of origin. On the one hand, you have the American with its supercharged V8 delivering all its power to the rear wheels because at the drag strip, which is where it'll use, it'll have all the traction it needs thanks to the prepped surface; on the other, you have the Germans who build their cars so they'll deliver their full potential on any type of paved surface in what feels like a silent tribute to the Autobahn.

With the races you are about to see taking place on regular tarmac, the organizers deemed fit to stick primarily to rolling starts. The truth is that, while it undeniably favors the Dodge, it does at least level the playing field and avoids a complete steamroll.

Setting up a roll race, however, is very difficult and the slightest inequalities can have a great impact on the result. You can see that very easily by comparing how the first two races went - in the first one, the Charger had a much better start, so it disappeared into the distance almost instantly. In the second, the AMG wagon put on a better fight but was overwhelmed by the sheer brute force of the Dodge in the end.

And then there are the third and fourth races where it looks as though the Dodge driver is giving the AMG the move, but in reality, he claims he just lost traction trying to deploy the full 800+ hp of that Hellcat V8. That might be down to the relatively low speed they chose - 30 mph or 50 km/h. For a Redeye, that's almost like launching from a dig.

Speaking of that, they saved the classic drag race for the end and, judging by how relatively close the rolling races were despite the Charger's clear advantage, this one could only have one victor.