2013 Dodge Dart Limited 1.4T

[JeepZJ4.0]

Well, my wife and I decided that we should have a fun little car to have around the house. In the process, we sold her Nissan Rogue to her parents as they needed a second car. I find myself driving more and more these days and the Hemi Grand Cherokee wasn't exactly helping my wallet in any way, shape or form.

Pics:

Y'ALL READY FOR THIS?! (Look at the radio)

Common complaints I've read about:
Turbo Lag
MPG
"Dead Pedal" due to drive-by-wire tuning

I will just say this... I haven't had a problem with any of that. It's a 1.4L Turbocharged engine. If you select too high of a gear for the speed, of course the car isn't going to move. Only an issue when slowing to 10mph... 1st gear is too low, 2nd gear is too high sometimes, unless I blip the throttle a little more than generously before releasing the clutch.

Turbo power comes on nicely and I know exactly when it kicks in. I love the split personality, but I know some do not.

Overall... I like this car a lot. It's extremely underrated in my opinion.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Congrats! Seats look comfy. Mopar's current infotainment systems are among the best in the industry in my opinion (in terms of ease of use, pairing Bluetooth devices, etc).

 

[Eosyn]

Very nice! I love the way the head and tail lights look!

Looks like it's loaded with features. Congratz and glad you're enjoying it.

 

[eljefino]

Looks like the A-pillar blind spot isn't too bad compared to the bigger dodges. I'm looking forward to checking one out, presuming I can rent one.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Where was your car manufactured? Which plant?

 

[dishdude]

Beautiful car! I love it in white. I think this is a great car and I love all the technology that is available. The really looks like a premium offering - you could easily cross shop it with Verano and ILX. That huge Chrysler display is excellent.

I see you have the TFT gauge cluster, what do you think of it?

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Where was your car manufactured? Which plant?


Darts are built at Belvedere - outside of Rockford, IL.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Originally Posted By: Eosyn
Very nice! I love the way the head and tail lights look!

Looks like it's loaded with features. Congratz and glad you're enjoying it.


Thanks! It's pretty much a loaded vehicle. We love it! One side note: I'm 5'8"... if you're taller than say 5'10", skip the sunroof option.

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Looks like the A-pillar blind spot isn't too bad compared to the bigger dodges. I'm looking forward to checking one out, presuming I can rent one.


Blind spots really don't exist. Viability is great... but since the keyless-n-go is bundled with a group, we also have blind spot monitoring.

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Where was your car manufactured? Which plant?


Belvidere, IL.

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Beautiful car! I love it in white. I think this is a great car and I love all the technology that is available. The really looks like a premium offering - you could easily cross shop it with Verano and ILX. That huge Chrysler display is excellent.

I see you have the TFT gauge cluster, what do you think of it?


The vehicle looks much better in person. I could say you could cross shop with those vehicles, but a selling point for us... the plucky little turbo engine and exhaust note, as well as being unique. We also wanted to stay well south of 30K. Verano Turbo with Nav is $$$, especially compared to it's Cobalt LTZ sibling. I liked the Cobalt, especially with the RS package. The Verano has a much tighter rear seat than I expected.

The ILX with a manual does not have a navigation option. Also, I couldn't live with the fact that it was a rebadged Civic Si.

I can live with the fact that the Dart is a wider, longer Alfa Romeo Guiletta.

 

[bigt61]

My son has a Dart Rallye with the 2.0L automatic and loves it. He's had it since January and almost has 7,000 miles on it. Still the FF 0W-20 oil - OLM hasn't told him to change it yet.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Ohh... the TFT cluster is great. Lots of information, clear to read, even when the sunroof is open. I wish it had turbo pressure as a optional read out.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Glad to see they've gone with some good oils for these cars. I'll probably be ordering a case of Amsoil for this car soon.

I never drove a 2.0. From what I can tell, they are still fun vehicles.

 

[badtlc]

is this the 41 MPG setup?

 

[redhat]

This sure isn't the Dodge we saw in the late 90's early-mid 2000's.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
is this the 41 MPG setup?


No, it's not. That's the Aero model. Key differences I believe are gearing, lightened suspension components, 205 width vs 225 width tires and special steel wheels.

All turbo models do come with the "aerodynamic underbody treatment and active grill shutters."

Originally Posted By: redhat
This sure isn't the Dodge we saw in the late 90's early-mid 2000's.


Nope!!!

 

[javacontour]

As usual, Dodge produces another beautiful car.

The Dart is tempting. If they hold up, it may be on my list of used cars for a daily beater in a few years.

But I'll let others test out the love-child of Chrysler and Fiat before I consider one for my ride.

However, I wish you best of luck with it. Here is hoping it's not super-model beautiful on the outside and super-model crazy on the inside

 

[Danh]

The very low first gear is typical of dual-clutch transmissions to make up for the lack of a torque converter and make life easier on the 1-3-5 clutch. This usually leads to a pretty big gearing gap between first and second.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

My boss has one of these - says it's a lot of fun. But even when driven easy on the freeway at the speed limit, it gets low 20s.


Originally Posted By: Danh
The very low first gear is typical of dual-clutch transmissions to make up for the lack of a torque converter and make life easier on the 1-3-5 clutch. This usually leads to a pretty big gearing gap between first and second.


It's a manual trans

 

[ARCOgraphite]

This is the "borrowed" Alfa Romeo platform? Nice car, though at this price, class and weight I would really want a 17 or 2.0L turbo not a 1.4.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
This is the "borrowed" Alfa Romeo platform? Nice car, though at this price, class and weight I would really want a 17 or 2.0L turbo not a 1.4.


Eh.... I agree to a certain extent. The 1.4T really does a good job of moving this vehicle around. 160hp/184ftlbs is decent and better than most in it's class.

 

[javacontour]

Having driven on the Autostrada, having a 1.4L or even a 1.25L engine really doesn't prevent one from exceeding the 130KPH speed limit there. Even with the A/C running in July.