ok, my understanding is that the trans in the charger can act purely as an auto, and that you can change gears manually. my question is, is there anyway to have to shift gears manually, and not have it act as an auto. thanks.

 

Operating it in "slap stick" mode gives you some control over the shift points, i.e., you can hold it in gear, shift when you want, and down shift. BUT, the engine has a rev limiter and even if you "pull" it into first gear and hammer the throttle, it will still up shift on its own once it has reached it's rev limiter. It also appears that this holds true for down shifting, i.e., it won't down shift until the engine has reached its "safe zone", then it will down shift. So, the quick answer to your question is yes, with some exceptions.

Hope this helps.

dave

 

ok, that's really cool. time to test drive one.

 

so is operating it in 'slap stick' mode really any different then auto? i mean will you be able to hold a gear any longer? In Auto, would the tranny shift before the rev limiter?

 

It will shift in slap stick mode before it over-revs and possibly hurting the engine. However, with the tuner I'm getting, I'm probably going to start out setting the shift points at 6000, with the rev limiter set about 6200. I've heard that the RAMs with the Hemi are able to safely do this.

The advantage of slap stick is that you can hold it in any gear unless you exceed the rev limits. So, if you're cruising and that guy in that Mustang looks like he wants to run, you can get a rolling start in first gear if you want. You can also down shift, again, as long as the engine doesn't exceed the rev limiter if it down shifts when you wanted it too. It's all to protect the engine from over reving.

dave

 

I understand that the Daytona package doesn't have the rev limiter.

 

Can't say for sure if it does or doesn't have a rev limiter. I would think that it does, but perhaps at a higher rpm level. It's only got 10 more hp over the stock R/T. Some are saying, however, that on the Daytona, if you hold the button that turns off the traction control for 5-6 seconds, that it will turn off 90% or so of the traction control, but you can only get about 80% or so to turn off on regular R/Ts.

dave

 

Yea, the Daytona has the 5500 rev limiters.. and.. a hold or simple depress of the eps doesn't seem to make the least difference to the performance.

As for milage, I'm doing the best with manual and maintaining an average 2000-2400 rpm at my shift points. 6900 miles and I'm averaging 18.3 with a moderately controlled foot, 16.8 with my foot in the motor.. and 22.6 tank to tank on a highway trip @ an average of 75mph.

 

Daytona RT,

YOu getting better mileage w/ the auto stick than automatic? I was thinking the same thing. You're getting 18+mpg in the city? Thats pretty good. Let me know.

Kevin

 

Where are you guys located? I'm in New Mexico at about a mile high in altitude. I'm getting significantly better mileage, but I would think it would be less considering the thin air here.

dave