- The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat will once again be available with a six-speed manual transmission for 2023.
- Dodge quietly (and temporarily) dropped the manual option at some point last year.
- The 2023 model year will be the last for the Challenger and Charger.
Just about a year ago, Dodge ruined everyone's holidays by announcing that the Tremec six-speed manual transmission was no longer available on the Challenger SRT Hellcat. The six-speed remained the default transmission for the naturally aspirated 5.7-liter R/T and 6.4-liter R/T Scat Pack models, but drivers looking to dump the clutch on 717 supercharged horsepower were cruelly abandoned. It was, in the immortal words of Counting Crows, a long December.
However, thanks to our diligent investigative reporting (screwing around on the Dodge media site to see what kind of ludicrous retina-melting colors are available on the 2023 Challenger) we discovered that the manual Hellcat is back. And Dodge confirmed as much, telling us to pass the word that everyone and their favorite grandma should order a 2023 Challenger with a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 and a six-speed stick. It'll catch rubber in second gear. And third. And possibly the rest of the gears too.
Dodge always maintained that the manual's absence was temporary and had something to do with powertrain calibrations, but we've heard that sort of thing before. Temporary cancellations have a way of becoming indefinite, but true to its word, Dodge brought back the third pedal for the Hellcat. Which makes sense, since Dodge told us in 2018 that 35 percent of Challenger Hellcat buyers opt for the stick.
In our most recent test of a manual Challenger Hellcat, it hit 60 mph in 4.0 seconds and cleared the quarter-mile in 12.4 seconds at 120 mph. Those numbers are well in arrears of the automatic car, but who cares? For 2022, the eight-speed automatic was a mandatory $2995 option, so presumably the manual 2023 model will save you some money to put toward premium unleaded and a few racks of rear tires.
Oh, and about those colors: Plum Crazy is back for 2023 too. It would look great on a manual Challenger Hellcat. Truly, this is a December to remember.
Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He's now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.
