The manual-transmission Dodge Challenger Hellcat is quite the experience, and it’s one that probably won’t exist for too many more years. But between now and the time Dodge rolls out its electric muscle-car successors, that three-pedal goodness is still available — or, at least, it was. But it should be coming back.
Road and Track noticed that the online configurator for the 2022 Dodge Challenger did not allow customers to select a manual transmission for the Challenger Hellcat variant, and pointed out that online Challenger forums observed the omission a while back. A Dodge spokesperson confirmed to R&T that the manual option left the configurator in late 2021 as part of a “temporary situation” while Dodge revises its powertrain calibration.
That’s all well and good — after all, a car with a transmission that doesn’t feel quite right can really detract from the experience. But the new question is when it will become available again. Dodge did not give R&T an answer to that query, and automaker representatives did not immediately return Roadshow’s request for comment.
2021 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock is an 807-hp dragstrip terror
1/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow The 2021 Challenger SRT Super Stock is kind of like a Demon-lite. 2/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow It makes a little less power, is a little slower in the quarter-mile but will still blow the doors off basically any production car. 3/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow The Super Stock makes 807 horsepower from the venerable 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8. 4/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow It also comes standard with Nitto NT05R drag radials and lightweight wheels. 5/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow These, in combination with special transmission and suspension tuning, make it insanely quick. 6/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow How quick? Try 3.2 seconds to 60 mph and 10.25 seconds in the quarter-mile. 7/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow SRT’s Tim Kuniskis promised that there would never be another Demon and that’s likely to be true. 8/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow This Super Stock will get you 90% of the way there though — and that’s impressive. 9/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow Unlike the Demon, this won’t be a strictly limited model. 10/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow So you can order as many as you’d like when those order books open later this year. 11/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 12/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 13/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 14/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 15/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 16/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 17/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 18/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 19/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 20/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 21/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 22/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 23/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 24/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 25/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 26/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 27/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 28/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 29/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 30/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 31/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 32/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 33/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 34/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow 35/35 SLIDES © Provided by Roadshow
The Challenger is currently the only Dodge vehicle that can be paired with a manual transmission. For reasons allegedly involving floor pan engineering, the automaker was never able to mate its six-speed stick to the Charger sedan, but the eight-speed automatic transmission tucked under the body has always provided ample responsiveness and keeps the fun factor plenty high. Customers still hot for rowing their own can opt for the R/T model with its 375-hp V8, as well as the 485-hp Scat Pack variant. However, if you want the stonkin’ 717-hp Hemi, the slushbox is all that’s available for the time being.
There’s something even wilder on the horizon, though. At some point in 2022, Dodge will show off its first electric muscle-car concept, which will preview a new generation of Dodge vehicles promising pavement-twisting good times with electricity powering the whole affair. For those on the fence about electrification, a Dodge-branded plug-in hybrid vehicle is set to launch in the near future, with the three-row Durango SUV acting as the likely destination for this powertrain.
This was originally published on Roadshow.
Keyword: Manual-Transmission Dodge Challenger Hellcats Currently on Pause