Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Dodge have bought something a little different to our people mover market with their seven-seater Journey - but is this Journey worth a trip to your local Dodge dealer to check one out?

Yes, if you are a people-mover buyer who values, space, versatility, and distinctive styling that breaks the conservative norms that largely rule this market segment.

The Journey is one of range of new models aimed to pull Chrysler-Dodge out the financial mire it found itself in when the recession hit nearly three years ago, although prior to this, the company’s bottom line had been bleeding plenty of red ink.

Journey is an important building block in Dodge’s bid to broaden the appeal of its line up in this part of the world and offers buyers the choice of petrol and diesel engines. Three variants are offered for our market starting with the entry level SXT petrol V6 priced at $44990. In range topping R/T form the V6 costs $49,995 while the 2.0 litre turbo diesel sells for $54995, a steep $5,000 price premium over the petrol motor. Served up for this road test was the SXT V6 that has the best “Value for money” credentials of the three models on offer.

Powering the Journey is a 2.7 litre 136kw V6 that has been an adequate performer in a in a variety of Dodge and Chrysler models over the last few years. If you want more under bonnet action, it comes at a price with the 2.0 litre turbo diesel, that has 360 Nm of torque at 2,000 rpm to help it along the path to providing owners with more satisfying performance. While the V6 is no dynamo it cruises smoothly enough at open road speeds and noise levels are well subdued. Throttle response is not as strong and decisive as you would expect from a six-cylinder motor. While a six-speed dual -clutch transmission has helped energized this engine it has not been enough to provide genuinely snappy acceleration to nip past slower moving traffic.

Volkswagen, were one of the first manufacturers to pioneer dual-clutch automatic transmissions that use one clutch to drive the odd numbered gears and reverse, with the other clutch driving the even numbered gears. Dodge appear to have mastered this odd and even numbers approach to marshalling the gear changes, to create an automatic with smoother and crisper transfers between ratios that you will find in most conventional automatics. In tandem with a stronger motor that the less than emphatic 2.7 V6 currently used in the Journey this gearbox could really show case its undoubted talents.

While a motor that delivers convincing performance is desirable, it seems many in the people mover brigade are happy to settle for something on the adequate side of the performance continuum and place a higher value on load carrying versatility, flexibility and comfort. There is no question that the Journey delivers in fairly full measures on all these counts.

Some really smart approaches have been used in the vehicles design to achieve this. A good “For example” is the Flip ’N Stow in-seat storage - a Flip N good idea. The front-passenger seat cushion is hinged and, when flipped forward, reveals a sizeable bin big enough to store a purse, umbrella, PDA or MP3 Player with the seat cushion down. Dodge haven’t called it quits at that idea and rested on their laurels. Located in the floor behind the front-row seats are two standard storage bins that are designed to hold drinks plus ice or other items, conveniently out of sight. The bins feature latching lids and removable, washable liners, so they are easy to clean.

Visually the Journey is unmistakably Dodge with lashings of chrome, a fair chunk of it used in the front grille area where the company’s signature Ram head badge takes centre stage. The grille is flanked by modern quad halogen headlamps. Sculpted wheel arches create an athletic appearance that flatters to deceive thanks to a V6 motor devoid of genuine power and athleticism.

The suspension does a solid enough job of holding the vehicle upright with out to much body lean through moderate corners, but does have tendency to run up the white flag earlier than I would have liked, when the handling heat goes on over twisty roads. To be fair, ride comfort rather than tenacious road holding is going to be a higher priority for those in the market for this type of vehicle. At both around town and open road speeds, bumps and other vagaries in road surfaces are dealt to swiftly, minimising the amount of suspension noise that penetrated into the cabin of the test vehicle.

What is the verdict? A cheap and versatile people-mover but its performance and driving dynamics are decidedly average.