Lucas Bell 
There is an old adage among muscle car enthusiasts that states “Mopar or no car”. Unfortunately for a ton of Dodge muscle car owners as of late, the saying “Mopar then no car” may actually be more accurate. That is because both the Dodge Charger and Challenger have been stolen more than any other type of car in recent years. According to the Highway Loss Data Institute, Hemi-powered variants of these cars are stolen five times more often than the average ride in 2019. More than 1,000 of these Dodge muscle cars were stolen in Detroit alone last year, which is just insane. Now though, it appears that Stellantis is officially working on some software changes that might help bring an end to this theft issue. Here’s what you need to know.
According to a report from CarScoops, Stellantis plans to roll out some updated software during the second quarter of this year that will make it harder to steal Dodge muscle cars. The software will work by adding a new Security Mode into the Uconnect infotainment system, which will require a four-digit code to access the engine’s full power. If this code is not applied, the engine powering the muscle car will be limited to just a mere 675 rpm, and will produce a hilarious 3 horsepower. This software update will be free, and will simply require a trip to your local Dodge dealer.
This double verification system is currently only slated to be offered on a select number of the Hemi-powered Dodge muscle cars. More specifically, it will be rolled out for the 2015-2021 SRT and 2019-2021 Scat Pack variants of the Dodge Challenger and Charger models. More specifically, the update will be applied to vehicles powered by the 6.4L Apache V8 and the supercharged 6.2L Hellcat V8 engine. Sorry 5.7L Hemi owners, but your vehicle won’t be covered by this upcoming security update. But hey, at least your ride isn’t as likely to be stolen as those other offerings.
While one can certainly argue that it has taken Stellantis way too long to address this issue, we’re glad that something is finally being done. These Dodge muscle cars are some of the most enjoyable performance cars on the market, and owners shouldn’t have to constantly be concerned about thieves jacking their ride. Of course one could say that these thefts happen because of how awesome these things are, but we aren’t sure owners want to hear that.
