How difficult is a stick-shift Challenger?

[Dadstoy]

Originally Posted by noz34me

Ha! My 2 cents: No offense taken, the auto is faster IMHO because of the launch. You can stand on the brake AND push the gas at the same time, making for a quick launch. The stick, if you get too excited will sit there spinning and hopping.

That all said, any car with this much torque is very forgiving when it comes to starting out and shifting. Rowing through the gears on these cars just seems right to me. Of course, we have 6 vehicles and all of them are stick except the Lexus. It wasn't offered.

love stick cars and love shifting on a track and having fun trying not to miss a gear going down the 1/4 mile. nothing better. but if you want consistant times an auto is hard to beat.

[ND RAM]

For someone used to driving a mechanical clutch rather than a hydraulic clutch it is sometimes hard to drive a 6-spd Challenger easy. Anyone can drive it hard since you're not trying to ease out of the clutch but the light pedal and high engagement gives my Dad fits. I'm better at driving his car easy than he is (though he has gotten much better than when he first drove it) but it's because I'm not so used to one certain clutch/trans.

[jblues]

I had driven a dodge stratus manual for about 1 year during which I taught myself to drive a manual. About 5 years later bought the challenger r/t 6 spd. I test drove it with my wife, only stalled it once. lol. The day I bought it, it was raining and lots of traffic. I got it home safe and I had very little confidence in my shifting abilities. If I can do it so can you.... It is my daily driver, I took it out every day at first, stayed on the back-roads and learned to drive it. I now have 25,000 miles on it, and am still on the original clutch. so far so good.

I agree with everyone else, pay the $20 and buy the Skip shift eliminator, way to dangerous not to.

As for the size 13 shoe thing. Buy a flexible shoe. I had hiking shoes, and had to change to a sneaker style cross-trainer shoe that had more flex to them. It lets you feel the shift point in the clutch better.

[super8man]

I couldn't help posting a picture so that we are all on the same page. Ha! I love this car as a six speed.

[Brent60]

Does anyone else have a minor buzzing/rattle on acceleration coming from under the shifter? If so I could use a picture on what bolt I need to tighten. Other then that I love my Six Speed. Much better then the five I had in my 08 Mustang GT

Sent from my HTC Rezound with the AutoGuide App.

[W30post]

Originally Posted by jblues

I agree with everyone else, pay the $20 and buy the Skip shift eliminator, way to dangerous not to.

I haven't drove a stick regularly in 8 years. I went and test drove a couple Challengers and was sold. Pesonally, if you live and drive on mostly flat ground I would turn off the hill start assist, as I have done. It was confusing to try to back into my driveway as it felt like the brake was applied, and it pretty much is.

As for this skip shift eliminator, why are you guys so bent on it being a bad thing? I have only had it come on for me one time when I was trying to see what the complaint was. Rolling light throttle up to +20 MPH with a 3.92 rear gear on the 20s feels like I should have shifted much earlier. If I'm light footing it, I'm shifting earlier anyway. To each his own though.

[prowler]

Why is the auto faster in the quarter?
Once you get off the line and it's foot to the floor. you can "auto-stick" shifts.
With a stick. How many people can or are willing to shift with your foot to the floor? One mistake and it could be the end of your 6-sp.
There's just far less effort and less shifting skills to get the auto to out perform the stick.
Now in saying that. I'm still a believer in that if you are a someone that can slam your manual with foot to the floor and once you've gotten your shifting dialed in, then you should be able to match or skightly better the auto's.

[BEIST]

Get the 6-Speed!!!! Real Easy! You will master driving it very quickly!

[gooney0]

I agree. The 6 speed R/T I test drove was very easy. The pedal is easy to depress, and the shifter is easy to move.

The V8 has enough torque that you don't need to worry too much about what gear you're in. This means you don't have to downshift as often in regular driving, and can skip shifts if you're lazy.

That said, I bought an automatic since I drive in traffic 90% of the time. The manual is more fun, but it still sucks in bumper to bumper traffic.

[Isaac-1]

The reason the 1-4 skip shift is dangerous is that it when it comes on it instantly turns your car into an under performing econo box. There is no warning it is about to happen, until the light comes on just a set of conditions that are easy to meet when you may be in stressful traffic conditions, think being in heavy traffic trying to merge with traffic in a much faster lane. Your driving a car that can do 0-60 in under 5 seconds, so you think no problem when you want to go from the 15mph slow lane to the 60 mph fast lane. Your watching traffic and not closely looking at the accelerator, then try to shift to second just as you pull out into the small gap in and "1-4 skip shift" hits, and your sub 5 second 0-60 car instantly becomes a 14 second 0-60 car. You can imagine the rest.