Can some of you Magnum owners tell me if you have manually shifted your Mag. I watched a show on speed where they were test driving the Chargers. They were banging them gears up and down on that track. I have hesitated trying it, afraid I'll mess up my tranny. Can the 5.7 Magnum take the abuse?

 

I assume you are referring to the auto (slap) stick? I use mine quite often (mostly from 5th down to 3rd) when i'm looking for some freeway speed punch.
I'm no expert but i would have to assume that it does add more wear and tear on your tranny over the long haul, especially if your hammering it all the time.

 

Hemi Nuts,
That's why they have Warranties... I rarely leave my Magnum in 'D', as I like decelerating by using the Transmission to down shift rather to use the brakes. Also, this will help 'Program' your computer to a better performance from stock, telling it you want to go fast all the time. I rented a 300 recently and laughed how sluggish it was. It drove much better after 2 days of driving the **** out of it. Higher RPM's at shift points etc... Computer retarding is a funny thing... Not to mention it is way funner to drive around using the Auto-Stick feature... Drop it in first and don't shift... The computer will do the shifting for you at the maximum Rev Limit for RPM's... Too fun... This transmission is a Mercedes Transmission and is much better than the old Dodge Transmissions. Besides a computer wiring harness issue, I have not had any problems with the Transmission at 34,000 miles and going... I am not sure what Car, but I have read that Mercedes uses the same Transmission in a 500 HP Model... Plus, I believe they use the same Transmission in the SRT-8 Models... (I could be wrong) So, use the **** out of this thing, drive it like you stole it, but be sure to take it in for regular service at the Dodge Dealer... They are cracking down on Warranties and we cannot service the Transmission ourselves... (they got us on that one...)

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Thanks for the info! Good information. I'll start using the slapstick, and then have it in for it's next service too see if everything is okay!

 

I use mine too. I never use ' D ' except on freeways. With built in safety, you cant put it in a gear that will do any damage. In a race, I leave mine in ' 1 ' and let the computer shift it. You can even go down the freeway and put it in 1st and it will only go down to a gear that will take the current rpms.