Manual Returns for Final Shift on Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

The Dodge Challenger, along with its related Charger, will disappear after the 2023 model year, but a manual transmission will once again be offered in the Challenger SRT Hellcat in time for its final year.

The manual was discontinued from the Challenger SRT Hellcat for the entire 2022 model year. The reason, a spokesperson said when the news was first reported in late 2021, was that a calibration revision was being developed.

The spokesperson said the manual will eventually return, and Car and Driver reported Wednesday that the return is happening for the 2023 model year.

The manual is Tremec's 6-speed. It continued in other Challenger variants, including the R/T and R/T Scat Pack with 5.7- and 6.4-liter V-8 engines, respectively; the SRT Hellcat, powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 with 717 hp, will return in 2018 According to Dodge in 2018, about 35% of all orders are manual.

Dodge is making more changes for 2023, the final year of production for the Challenger and Charger muscle cars; all Challengers and Chargers built for the 2023 model year will be equipped with special goodies to mark them as the last . Popular color options such as B5 Blue, Plum Crazy, and Sublime will also return. Color options will also return.

Dodge will also offer seven limited-production special editions that reference classic Challenger and Charger models. The first six are the Challenger Shakedown, Charger Super Bee, Challenger and Charger Scat Pack Swinger, Charger King Daytona, and Challenger Black Ghost. The seventh and final Challenger-based special will be unveiled in the near future after missing its November debut at the 2022 SEMA Show. The reason for the delay? Dodge is exploding engines during development.

Further down the road, Dodge plans to switch to electric power, a future already teased in the Charger Daytona SRT concept unveiled in August, with a production version expected in 2024. in November, the concept, named Banshee was unveiled as a high-performance version of the Banshee.