I understand that Chrysler management would rather not frame the Dart as a referendum on Chrysler's bailout. And yet the question is almost unavoidable: Was it all worth it?
Absolutely.
The Dart—the name had been moldering nicely in Chrysler's backyard for some time—is a front-drive, five-seat sedan somewhere between compact and midsize, priced from about $16,000 to more than $25,000 when the R/T edition appears at year's end. This segment is as competitive and as mass-market as it gets.
In this compact-sedan beauty pageant, the Dart easily scores with clean, sophisticated exterior styling, penned with a restraint unusual for the often-cartoonish Dodge (c.f., the hideous Charger). This is a nice-looking car. Here and there, segment imperatives over-affected design. The car is fully a foot longer and 1.2 inches wider than the Giulietta—thus sacrificing the Giulietta's svelte presence for more cubes of cabin space. Likewise, the Dart's rear end is a tallish lump, a prominent bustle of sheet metal required to enclose the largest-in-class trunk.
The interior design is also satisfying: uncluttered and rewardingly rich, with soft-touch dash and door materials and two notably comfortable and supportive front chairs. Replacing the conventional analog gauges of an instrument panel with a programmable graphics display, the Dart brings thin-film transistor readouts to the masses. An optional 8.4-inch touch screen for navigation/audio/phone and SiriusXM Travel Link—local gas prices, real-time weather and traffic, sports scores, etc.—lives in the center stack. The designers enclosed both panels with a single organic pinstripe of LED lighting that glows pleasingly when you start the car.
Now, the truth is, all of the Dart's segment competitors are good, and some are great. And while the Dart is solidly competitive across all categories, its marketing argument comes down to this: the most gadgets in its class. In addition to the standard graphical IP, four-wheel disc brakes and 10 air bags, the Dart offers a slew of optional electronic safety systems and cabin amenities: smart high-intensity headlamps; blind-spot monitoring; rear backup camera; and "rear cross-path detection," which is a simple radar-based system that alerts drivers to crossing traffic when they are backing out of a parking spot.
The Dart offers a choice of three engines: the 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo (160 horsepower/184 pound-feet of torque); a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four (160/148); and, with the forthcoming R/T edition, a 2.4-liter four (184/171). These can be paired with a six-speed manual, a six-speed automatic or even a dual-clutch automated manual (mated to the turbo engine). These output numbers mean the Dart has the most torque in its class and more horsepower than all but the iron-block VW Jetta (170).
How's it drive? The Giulietta is one of my favorite front-drive cars, and while the Dart-ifying takes some of the crisp responsiveness out of the platform, and adds size and weight, the Dart nonetheless handles quite well. The electric steering is direct and authoritative. The suspension nicely compromises between road-holding and ride comfort. With the big-wheel-and-tire package, the car is actually pretty athletic.
As for the powertrain, well, there's a problem, but it's easily avoided by not opting for the six-speed manual transmission. The first of these cars I drove—with the six-speed manual and the turbo 1.4 engine—was gallingly lazy at low rpm, almost to the point of being dangerous. I had to very deliberately whip the revs up to a shout in order to get the thing to accelerate, and a couple of times—turning left, finding an open spot in opposing traffic—the car absolutely abandoned me. Yeesh. Awful.
I'm happy to report that with the six-speed automatic transmission, the Dart, with either engine, is vastly more responsive. If I'm spending my own money, I'd prefer the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter with the automatic. It has less torque than the turbo, but it doesn't have the turbo's maddening lag. Plus, the MultiAir engine's injectors clatter noisily, almost like a diesel.
So, some stitches still show. The Dart isn't a perfect car, but it's certainly a lot of car for the money, and it so wildly exceeds the circumstances of its birth it's practically Dickensian. You have to root for it.
Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal
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