So i'm reading the dodge website on the challenger, and I'm thinking "gawd what a beautiful car", and I'm looking at the sub-20k base model, and thinking about my credit rating... and then I see its an automatic. So I look for the clicky to change the equipment to the base manual transmission... but its not there. And my little fantasy of buying a new challenger comes to an abrupt halt.

Apparently, all models come standard with an automatic tranny. 4spd auto in base, 5spd auto in higher trim models, and then, if you want to spend 'extra' you can get a 6spd stick in the top models only.

Am I the only one who feels that sports cars are truly meant to be sticks? The fact that you can get a $40,000 version with hemi & optional 6spd stick is well and nice, but for those who really love sports cars, but are more in that 20,000 base model price range, the lack of an entry level 5spd stick is going to be a big issue for manual transmission lovers. Well it would be an issue for me anyway.

No way I would buy an automatic sports car. Not even one as beautiful as the challenger is. Some people would, probably a lot of people, good for them. But I'm certainly not the only person who's "stick or nothing" when it comes to sports cars. And with almost any other sports car, you can get an entry level model with a manual transmission.

I just don't get what they were thinking.

*goes back to modding her neon*

 

I dont want to make v6 owners PO'd at me but is the v6 really a sports car at the challenger's weight? Actully I think dodge wanted the challenger to be a muscle car, is it a muscle car with a v6? Also I do not think dodge has a v6 gear box. I'm actully enjoying these being a bit overpriced, you dont see one evey 5 feet like a mustang...Either with a v6 or 6.1 they are pretty cool cars, I would give up the stick if that was the price point I was at. However, have to tell you the stick is pretty nice in the srt8.

 

well the v6 makes 250hp, which is nothing to sneeze at. I'm not sure what the car weighs, but I would guess it to be in the 3000-3500lbs range. That's a power-to-weight ratio comparable to quite a few camaros & mustangs made in the last 40 years. Its not blazing but its in sports car territory, more-so if it had a stick. Its not even in the same class as a 6.1 Hemi, but a sports car doesn't have to be able to set fire to its tires to be fun, ya know?

you may be right though that they may not have an 'off the shelf' manual gearbox for the larger v6. I'm trying to think of a model which has that combo but i can't think of one. Might be one in a dakota, i dunno. Still, its a bizarre philosophy at chrysler I think. You can see similar strange thinking in the PT cruiser, the regular 2.4L comes in auto or manual, and the sporty 2.4L turbo comes in automatic only. its just some alien logic that I don't understand.

IMO, base model engines should be offered in manual to either A) save gas, or B) make up for having a weaker engine performance-wise. Meanwhile sportier models of car should come with a manual so that they can 'be all they can be'. The only model I could see skipping a manual transmission on is if you had 3 engines, there could be an argument for making the middle engine auto-only "for the masses" so to speak... sorta. or if we're talking about a full size passenger sedan, then auto-only makes sense there, since the owner is likely not concerned with either economics or performance.

A 5-spd stick v6 challenger would be a 'fun to drive' car for about a thousand less than the auto version, more fun to drive than the auto anyway, and it would get pretty respectable gas mileage and offer great long term reliability. and less expensive/economical/reliable are things most people *need* in order to rationally justify a new car purchase. Meanwhile 'fun to drive' is a requirement on the *want* side of things. the automatic v6 kinda comes up short on both sides of this equation.

But then most people can't drive a stick, and so probably don't know what i'm talking about.

Come to think of it, I'm not especially fond of the 'ESP' feature either... its very soccer-mom, what's it doing in a challenger? and again, you have to get the srt-8 to get rid of it... do i sense a pattern? they're probably trying to push people who like performance cars (not just pretty cars) towards anteing up for an srt-8 instead of a cheaper model. but for anyone in my tax bracket who likes performance (not just pretty) cars, they're only pushing us away from buying a new challenger. Granted some people (whistles innocently) would buy the v6 with a stick and slap an aftermarket turbo on it, and get 425 hp pretty cheaply... but that's still another car sold, and the srt-8 owners could still brag about having no turbo lag, 6 gears, etc.

 

You make some great points. The SRT8 still has the annoying ESP. However if you hold the ESP button in for more then 5 seconds it turns off completly, puhing the buttom once doesnt actully disable the entire system. I was thinking about the 6 speen in the DAK but I'm sure the gearing would be wildly off. Either way, drive the challenger with the stick, maybe you will still love it

 

hehe, i'm certain that if i had a challenger srt-8 that I would love it to death and I'm not dis'in challengers at all, I think the challenger (and the latest version of corvette) are the prettiest cars I have seen in a couple decades. and the srt-8 (and the 5.7L too) seem to be true blooded muscle cars.

I'm just annoyed that the base model can't be had with a manual transmission or an ESP that can be turned off. Since it kinda pushes me away from ever actually owning a challenger

It wouldn't be hard to machine up some new gears for a dakota transmission for the v-6 challenger. I mean for dodge to do it. For a customer it'd be a huge expense to do it as a one-off custom job.

How about a challenger v-6 ACR version, cheaper than the current base model, with no ESP, and a regeared dakota stickshift? *pokes dodge*

 

Kath, the problem is that the challenger is heavier than you estimated. It's more like 4000 lbs. 250 hp with that kind of weight is really only average these days. It's easy to forget that in the late 80's, a tpi 350 camaro or firebird made about that much power-things have come a long way power wise. Nevertheless, I agree with you that they ought to make a manual trans available (and NOT at extra cost) in all trim levels. Hell, you can get a honda civic or even accord with a manual, but not a v6 challenger? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.