Challenger SRT Hellcat

Make
Dodge
Segment
Coupe

Despite being built on a very, very similar platform as the Dodge Challenger, the Charger has never been offered with a six-speed manual gearbox. This trend, sadly, will continue with the arrival of the Charger SRT Hellcat. The Challenger Hellcat, as we all know by now, will offer buyers the choice of either a six-speed manual or a fast-shifting eight-speed automatic. So how come that if both cars share a platform and engine, the Charger Hellcat is denied the six-speed?

An Oppositelock participant managed to reach out to a friend who works for Dodge and was involved with the Hellcat engine's development. The simple reason is that the manual gearbox "is a significant tear up to the floor pan (body) of the Charger. To do an MTX (manual) in the Charger would require a full impact and crash safety certification effort for the program. This is big bucks, and the product strategy folks pin the take rate for a Charger MTX in the low single digits." To make up for this, engineers were determined to calibrate the eight-speed to be the best it could possibly be.