Manual-Transmission Dodge Challenger Hellcats Currently on Pause
Nobody's quite sure when the three-pedal Hellcat will return, but Dodge is saying it will.
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.
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.