Rejoice, for the Guide Hellcat Is Again for 2023

• The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat will as soon as once more be out there with a six-speed handbook transmission for 2023.
• Dodge quietly (and briefly) dropped the handbook possibility in some unspecified time in the future final yr.
• The 2023 mannequin yr would be the final for the Challenger and Charger.

Nearly a yr in the past, Dodge ruined everybody’s holidays by saying that the Tremec six-speed handbook transmission was not out there 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 fashions, however drivers seeking to dump the clutch on 717 supercharged horsepower have been cruelly deserted. It was, within the immortal phrases of Counting Crows, an extended December.

Nonetheless, due to our diligent investigative reporting (screwing round on the Dodge media web site to see what sort of ludicrous retina-melting colours can be found on the 2023 Challenger) we have found that the handbook Hellcat is again. And Dodge confirmed as a lot, telling us to go the phrase that everybody and their favourite grandma ought to order a 2023 Challenger with a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 and a six-speed stick. It’s going to catch rubber in second gear. And third. And presumably the remainder of the gears, too.

Dodge at all times maintained that the handbook’s absence was short-term and had one thing to do with powertrain calibrations, however we have heard that form of factor earlier than. Non permanent cancellations have a means of changing into indefinite, however true to its phrase, Dodge introduced again the third pedal for the Hellcat. Which is sensible, since Dodge advised us in 2018 that 35 % of Challenger Hellcat consumers go for the stick.

In our most up-to-date take a look at of a handbook Challenger Hellcat, it hit 60 mph in 4.0 seconds and cleared the quarter-mile in 12.4 seconds at 120 mph. These numbers are effectively in arrears of the automated automotive, however who cares? For 2022, the eight-speed automated was a compulsory $2995 possibility, so presumably the handbook 2023 mannequin will prevent some cash to place towards premium unleaded and some racks of rear tires.

Oh, and about these colours: Plum Loopy is again for 2023, too. It could look nice on a handbook Challenger Hellcat. Actually, it is a December to recollect.