Dodge Saves the Manuals One Last Time With Final Challenger Hellcat Release
If you’re looking at the state of the auto industry and thinking that the days to buy a rowdy sports car with a manual transmission are numbered, you’re correct. It’s exceedingly difficult to find a new car with a manual option, let alone a supercharged V8-powered sports car with one. Dodge is here to save the day, at least for a year, with a manual transmission option for the Challenger SRT Hellcat.
The 2023 model year is the last ride for the Challenger and Charger, and Dodge has gone to great lengths to send them out in style. The automaker created several special editions of the cars for 2023, but the big story for most people will be the return of the manual transmission option for the last model year.
Dodge cut the option last year but didn’t give any indication of why it left or when it’d be back. The eight-speed automatic was the only choice for most of 2022, but the manual let buyers shred the tires at any time, all the way through the first few gears if desired, making driving the car a far more engaging experience.
As is the case with many cars, the manual transmission makes the Challenger notably slower than its counterparts with an automatic box, but the fun here is with the sensation of shifting gears with more than 700 horsepower flowing through your hands. The manual is also cheaper than the automatic, so it’s the responsible buyer’s choice.
[Image: Dodge]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Link to the new 2024 EV Charger https://www.caranddriver.com/dodge/charger
Link to both the new 2024 Charger & Challengerhttps://www.drive.com.au/news/dodge-challenger-charger-six-cylinder-rumour/
Great muscle car! Not a sports car.
Loss of traction is a bug, not a feature.
Source: Grumpy old men in 2022, and many Serious Car Enthusiasts in The Future
I'd love to have one if I had money to burn. But it would be frustrating like so many other high powered cars not having a way to use that power daily without killing myself / others or losing my license. Thus, once again, Miata Is Always The Answer. Lots of fun and you can drive it like you stole it and not get killed or arrested (probably :)