You don’t need to be Einstein to realise that a lot has changed socially, philosophically and economically in the nearly 60 years since Dodge first launched the Super Bee. The Super Bee was supposed to be a low-cost high-performance sibling to the very successful Plymouth Road Runner – it was all about bright colours, big engines and limited accessories.

Dodge reintroduced the name back in 2006 as part of the Charger line-up, featuring bright yellow paint and 6.1-litre Hemi V8s. Since then, every few years they’ve released a new limited edition Super Bee, with each version having a V8 engine with slightly more power than the last, but it’s the latest version which has the fans up in arms, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s got a bloody six cylinder in it!

Now don’t get us wrong, we don’t mind a bit of six pot power – the Ford Barra, the Chrysler Hemi six and even the mighty 202 have all earned a place in our hearts. Hell, even we acknowledge the Toyota 2JZ is an amazing donk, and the bloody Nissan RB26 won at Bathurst – twice! But when Dodge unveiled the new 2027 Dodge Charger Super Bee Launch Edition (that’s a mouthful) at Roadkill Nights recently, and proceeded to do a burnout that sounded like a dying giraffe; that’s when the internet collectively put their heads in their hands and screamed into the void.

On paper it should be a good thing, the new Chargers are available as both coupes or sedans, and this Super Bee Launch Edition is packing 600hp thanks to a pair of larger 56mm Garrett turbos and a smidge more boost. The basic Dodge Hurricane 3-litre twin-cam six is a bit of a powerhouse and we’ve seen a few Down Under over the last couple years, and even in the Dodge Ram it’s got some get up and go.

Swap the Hurricane into something lighter, put some real turbos on it, and it’s a beast, as some YouTubers have discovered; with internally stock engines running eights in older Dodge pick-ups. But they need to do something about the sound – and we don’t mean adding some speakers like they did with the all electric Dodge Daytona, which is selling so well that people are literally getting them for half the sticker price.

Although it’s not all bad, the new Launch Edition is supposed to run 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds and do the standing quarter mile in 11.8, but the exhaust note makes a naturally aspirated Barra sound like a symphony in comparison. It’s unlikely we’ll see the new Super Bee Launch Edition in Australia with every brand in the country fighting a losing battle against the onslaught of the Chinese EV invasion, and while that may be good for our ears, it’s probably not as good for our souls. Because as bad as the new Super Bee sounds, at least Dodge is building internal combustion engines, but they probably should have just gone with a bigger, badder Hellcat instead.