Naming the new compact Dodge the Dart was brilliant. Many potential customers young and old know the ultra-reliable, cheap and cheerful mid-'60s slant-six models and the late '60s GT with the V-8 better than the overstyled early '60s full-size cars or the mediocre mid-'70s blandmobiles. (Every American car was mediocre by the mid-'70s.)
The new Dart carries its own, pre-installed baggage as the car mandated by the Obama administration. Remember, Fiat Auto earned another 5 percent of Chrysler Group by agreeing to build a 40-mpg (EPA unadjusted) car in America using the Italian company's technology by 2012.
Mandate or no, the result is very positive. We get a handsome, well-designed compact that enters a crowded segment full of good cars, including suddenly competent domestic compacts. The segment is desperately in search of a standout, though, and the new Dart may be it.
"This car didn't even exist on paper in June of 2009," Marchionne told Steve Kroft on CBS's "60 Minutes" days before the first press drive in Healdsburg, California. Dodge didn't have any dual-clutch or 2.4-liter R/T versions to sample, just the 1.4-liter turbo and 2.0-liter, some with the six speed automatic, some with the Honda-slick six-speed manual.
"It's got a little Italian flair," Kroft noted.
"Yeah. Just enough to make it interesting, and it avoids the pitfalls of being Italian," Marchionne replied.
So, mechanically, it's sorted.
Three years is a short time to bring a new car to market, even if it starts with the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. By now you've read about most of the changes, including 1.2-inch-wider tracks, a longer wheelbase, and 12 inches more overall length than the hatchback Giulietta. Chrysler tweaked suspension geometry for rougher roads in the U.S. to include a dual-rate rear in the Dart, firm in one direction and multi-rate in the other. It has 68-percent hot-stamped high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel, and active grille shutters in the lower front fascia.
The base 2.0-liter is part of a family of engines Chrysler originally designed with Mercedes and Hyundai, but with a refined balance shaft, widened bore and shorter stroke, and other tweaks for improved noise, vibration, and harshness. It also gets the new engine family name, Tigershark.
Fiat's 1.4-liter turbocharged MultiAir four will give Dodge the 40-mpg version of the Dart, and it may turn out to be the enthusiasts' choice, even with the 2.4-liter naturally aspirated Tigershark coming in the fourth quarter with the R/T version. The 2.4-liter Tigershark gets Fiat's MultiAir II technology, which, like the 1.4 MultiAir I, means electro-mechanical input control of the intake ports, for cylinder-by-cylinder timing.
If three engine options seems like a lot, they are. The Dart also comes with three transmission options: a six-speed manual, a six-speed dry dual-clutch transmission, and a six-speed automatic that helps Chrysler avoid the pitfalls Ford faced in its latest Focus with a dual dry-clutch six-speed and no torque converter.
The 2.0 Tigershark and 1.4-liter MultiAir are optional on the base SE, the volume SXT, the funky-sporty Rallye, and the cushy Limited. The dual-clutch comes optional on the 1.4 MultiAir only, late in the third quarter, and that will count as the 40-mpg model. Yes, the Dodge boys and girls are talking among themselves about a Dart SRT-4. We can guess it would come with a turbocharged 2.4. It's too early for an official decision.
Early enough in Dart's short development period, Dodge knew it had a highly appealing design. With five trim levels, three engines, and three transmission choices, Dodge is pulling a Mini Cooper, with myriad factory options, 46 dealer accessories, and colorful colors inside and out, leaving the gray-and-beige look to the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.
The Dart stands out in a segment desperate for a standout. The once-cool Civic has given way to the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, and Hyundai Elantra, competent cars with best-in-class interior design and materials.
Dodge Dart has that same level of interior, Cruze-like in quality, but with stylish splashes of color. Most of these options and accessories are available as stand-alones, with no bundling, though that means your sticker price could quickly escalate if you walk into your Dodge dealer like a drunken Snooki. The Dart SE's base price is $16,790, and while that includes power windows, it comes with flat black door handles and without air conditioning.
Another $2K gets you out of Alaskan rental car territory and into the volume $18,790 SXT, with better appointments and standard a/c. Add one large for the sporty Rallye, and another one large beyond that for the very premium Limited, and you're still where the competition has priced its deluxe compacts. The R/T, with its 2.4-liter Tigershark, on sale in the fourth quarter, jumps to $23,290.
The much-ballyhooed LED racetrack taillamps are optional a few months after launch. The trunklid lights are unlit red plastic if you don't pay for the option, and your dealer can activate them any time. The racetrack theme continues in the dash bezel surround, though this press drive took place during the day, so we didn't get the full effect. An 8.4-inch multimedia screen and 7-inch reconfigurable dash cluster are optional. I preferred the standard analog gauges, because the tachometer was more prominent and easy to read.
Walk into your dealership like Senator Paul Ryan, but with a Turinese sense of style, and you'll drive home with a cool, affordable car. Or you can order your own and drive something more distinctive in 45-60 days.
Skip the 2.0-liter Tigershark. It's a decent engine for mainstream compact buyers, and probably is quieter and smoother at idle than most of the competition. It needs a bit more low-end torque, which Dodge hints will come with the final calibration. The six-speed automatic shifts smoothly and in the right places. The car has a bit more road noise than the Chevy Cruze, but it's reasonably quiet overall.
The breakout Dart is a 1.4 MultiAir Rallye, fabulous fun on California's Highway One. With more torque than the R/T's 2.4, it pulls nicely out of second- and third-gear corners. One senses the 2.4 will be worth whatever extra money it will cost only if you live for straight-line performance. The 1.4 is that well-balanced for this kind of road.
Same with its chassis. The Rallye doesn't need to try hard to carve up this road. The electrically assisted power steering offers sharp, precise inputs compared with much of the competitions' EPAS, and understeer is minimal. In curves or on crummy roads, the Dart's chassis feels firm, not stiff, and the well-damped ride adds to the fun. Steering is unobtrusive with good weight and feedback, and doesn't need the constant corrections common to other compacts. The turbo four makes a rorty rumble through dual exhausts from outside, and a nice, high-pitched roar from inside.
This adds up to a standout compact. Even before the "big engine" model, there's a version that will satisfy people who like to drive. There's enough goodness in the more mainstream versions (read, "base engine, automatic transmission") to satisfy the drive-while-you're-on-the-phone crowd.
Marchionne told "60 Minutes" Kroft that with Chrysler Group out of the woods, he can afford just one failure of execution. "One car," he said. Marchionne doesn't have to worry about this one.
Read more:
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1204_2013_dodge_dart_first_drive/#ixzz1tJc4y5Rp
