Finally a 6-speed manual Hellokitty review courtesy of Edmunds. The six-speed Hellcat proved much more, well, challenging to launch. The Tremec transmission in the test car needed mighty heaves to find its gears, and it was particularly easy to blow the 1-2 upshift. The clutch is heavy and unforgiving, only fully engaging at the very top of the pedal's long travel. You can literally feel the tendons in your legs tightening as you strain against the clutch pedal. And your left leg can tire in regular traffic.
Using the Launch program with the manual transmission is practically as straightforward as with the automatic — and the process is practically identical. But there's simply no way to shift manually as efficiently and cleanly as the automatic does. So there's more tire smoke, less instant rocketry and, yes, less raw acceleration.
A 12.8-second blast down the quarter-mile with a spectacular 118.4-mph trap speed with the traction control on is nowhere near slow. And zero to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds with a slight blue-gray haze accompanying the car is still quick. But it's simply not as quick as the automatic car felt and self-reported up in Oregon. And it may be that another manual-equipped Hellcat with a fresher clutch and transmission may be easier to manage on a drag strip.
Edmunds: 0-60, 4.8sec; 1/4mile 12.5 @ 118.8mph; 4454lbs
Let's see how that compares to Edmunds reviews of the GT500 and ZL1 equipped with manual transmissions.
GT500: 0-60, 3.9sec, 1/4mile 12.1 @ 120.6mph
ZL1: 0-60, 4.1sec, 1/4mile 12.4 @ 116.0mph
Failcat:0-60, 4.8sec; 1/4mile 12.5 @ 118.8mph
Hmmmmmmmm...