Road Test: 2013 Dodge Dart Rallye 1.4 MultiAir Turbo

Text and photos by  John LeBlanc Don’t be fooled by this new Dodge compact’s American name. Unlike the Dart from the sixties and seventies your grandparents may have driven, the new 2013 version’s flavour is more like a pizza from Naples than a hot dog from Coney Island. When it came time to come up with a new small car to take on the likes of rival compacts like the Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze (not too mention a gaggle of import models), the Dodge brand’s new caretakers at Italy’s Fiat decided to use a longer and wider version of the current European-market Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s front-wheel-drive platform for its new Dart. And with the Italian automaker’s continuing delays of bringing back the Alfa Romeo brand to Canada, the new 2013 Dart is about as close as you can come to owning a car from that storied brand. Effectively a replacement for Dodge’s last compact entry, the much-unloved 2007 to 2012 Caliber four-door hatchback, the 2013 Dart four-door sedan is more reminiscent of the better received Neon, last seen in 2006. Neither of those former Dodge compacts would be considered “class leaders” in their time. But this time around, Dodge is aiming for the top with its new Dart, and its pricing reflects the brand’s ambitions. While rivals offer two-door coupes and four-door hatchbacks, the Dart only comes as a four-door sedan. But Dodge’s product planners seem to be making up for the lack of Dart bodystyles with a trio of four-cylinder gas engines, three transmissions and six trim levels. So far. And despite Dodge’s previous lack of success in the highly competitive Canadian compact car segment, the Dart is priced right along with its more established competitors. Pricing ranges between the base $15,995 Dart SE to the yet-to-arrive $23,495 R/T. My tester was the mid-range $19,295 Dart Rallye with the optional turbocharged four-cylinder, which, among its domestic rivals, competes against the $18,699 Ford Focus Sedan SE and a $19,335 Chevrolet Cruze LT Turbo. Of course, that’s the Dodge’s “base” price. In addition, my Dart Rallye came with a confusing mix of options. For instance, I found $295 worth of illuminated cupholders combined with a tire-pressure monitoring system on the list. Hmm … And instead of packaging up a full-on multimedia system, the $1,000 touchscreen infotainment center is mated with the back-up rearview camera. But if you want a navigation system, that will cost you $450, with automatic headlights included. And it costs an additional $350 for voice command. Stranger, fog lights, black exterior trim, “premium” cloth seats, a trip computer and various other bits are packaged together for another $1,500. Oh, and I almost forgot, satellite radio is an extra $295. With $300 17-inch alloys and $100 metallic paint, my Dart Rallye came to $23,585. While the Dart can’t be had with the European Giulietta’s more practical hatchback body, at least it’s one of the roomier sedans in its class; an important feature for Canadian buyers who can only afford one vehicle in their laneway. Both front and rear Dart passengers get plenty of elbow and headroom. And as long as no NBA types are residing up front, rear legroom is decent too. It looks like, though, cargo capacity took a hit. With 370 litres available in its trunk, the Dodge offers less family stuff room than either the Ford or Chevrolet compacts. There’s not a lot of Italian flare inside the American-made Dodge. But I found its interior functioned well. Ergonomically, the Dart’s steering wheel tilts and telescopes. The Dart’s dash layout is very straightforward — much more intuitive than the overly designed Focus. Driver instrumentation is clear, and the climate and audio controls are separated in distinctive pods. Dodge designers seemed particularly sensitive to the often-heard critique about hard plastics usually found in low-priced cars. The material on the dash top, armrests is as soft as Greek yoghurt. The Rallye model adds a thick, leather-clad tiller, with red trim dotted throughout the cabin. You’ll want to try the front seats before signing on the dotted line, though. I could not get comfortable, and felt they were too soft. You can buy the sporty-looking Dart Rallye for $17,999. But it comes with a woeful, 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four, rated at 160 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque. However, for an extra $1,300, the 1.4-litre turbocharged four is money well spent. As found in the Fiat 500 Abarth, the wee mill makes the same horsepower as the 2.0 unit, but at 900 rpm lower. But the biggest advantage is its 184 pond-foot torque rating — 38 and 36 more than its respective Focus SE and Cruze LT Turbo rivals. And when equipped with the six-speed manual transmission, as my tester was, the Dodge also beats the Ford and Chevy in Transport Canada fuel economy estimates with a 7.4 L/100 km city number and a 4.9 L highway score. Unfortunately, those estimates become mythical when the Dart Rallye is driven as advertised. Showing its Italian heritage, the Dart’s 1.4 turbo likes to rev, and needs about 3,000 rpm on the tach for the turbo to kick in. If you don’t nail the Dodge’s throttle, one of those electric-scooters may get the jump on you at a stoplight. Anything other than flat roads require changing down a cog or two in the six-speed gearbox, which in my example, required long throws. My result was a less-than-advertised 10.8 L/100 km fuel economy average. And because the Dart is one of the heavier cars in its segment, its 8.5 seconds 0-100 km/h time ends up as average. Speed demons may want to wait for the Dart R/T and its 184-hp 2.4-litre four, coming next spring. Once up-to-speed, the Dart Rallye starts to shine. In fact, the best quality of the small Dodge may be its refined steering, ride and handling portfolio. Compared to the Focus and Cruze, the Dart’s steering is very linear; the weight builds gradually the more you turn into corners. You can’t turn off the Dodge’s stability control completely, but you can dial it back to allow a bit of fun. Just don’t expect anything other than understeer, though, when pressing on. And while the Dart Rallye isn’t as agile or willing to change directions as the more fun-to-drive Focus SE, it corners relatively flat and calm. For longer, less enthusiastically-driven trips, the Dart Rallye makes for a good highway companion. I still think the Cruze is the best car in its class for driving cross-country, but the new Dart is a close runner-up. The Dodge’s roomy cabin is mated to a chassis that tracks on the highway like a car twice its size. I also like its suspension tuning. Big dips are held off with confidence, yet the ride never gets busy, and both wind and road noise is noticeably absent. I now understand the name change. The new 2013 Dart is everything the discontinued Caliber wasn’t. Poorly made, noisy, and uglier than freezing rain on a Monday morning commute, no one is missing the Caliber in Dodge showrooms. That said, the Dart Rallye’s 1.4 turbo’s need to rev may get tiring for some drivers. And its real-world fuel economy can be filed under “disappointing”. And I’d like to see the option packages better organized. But the new 2013 Dodge Dart is refined both on the road and inside its roomy and well-made cabin, has the latest in infotainment and is the closest thing to buying a new Alfa Romeo Canadians can get. Road Test: 2013 Dodge Dart Rallye 1.4 MultiAir Turbo WHAT I LIKED: Roomy and easy-to-use interior; refined steering, ride and handling; lots of available infotainment features. WHAT I DIDN'T: Turbo-four needs lots of revs; not-as-advertised fuel-economy; confusing and complicated option packaging. Base price/as-tested: $17,995/$27,295 Type of vehicle: FWD, compact sedan Engines: 1.4L turbocharged I4 Power: 160 hp Torque: 184 lb-ft. Transmission: Six-speed manual Fuel consumption L/100 km: 7.4 city; 4.9 hwy; 10.8 as-tested Competition: Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Mazda3, Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Jetta

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