Dodge Journey SXT V6 and R/T CRD 2008 Review

In VFACTS 'reality', the Dodge Journey is positioned against peoplemovers such as the Kia Carnival and the Toyota Tarago. Given the Journey's price range (starting from $36,990 and topping out at $46,990), it's likely to be cross-shopped against a whole raft of SUVs and peoplemovers above and below it in price.

Dodge has introduced a three-model range for Journey.

The base-grade Journey SXT kicks things off and is priced at $36,990. It features the 2.7-litre V6 from the Avenger, driving through a six-speed automatic transmission.

The second variant, in ascending order is the Journey R/T, fitted with the same drivetrain combination as in the Journey SXT and priced at $41,990. Finally, for $5000 more ($46,990), buyers can opt for a diesel-powered variant, the Journey R/T CRD, fitted with a VW-sourced 2.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder, coupled to a six-speed 'DCT' transmission.

For the comfort and convenience of passengers, all variants of the Journey are fitted with standard features such as: three-zone climate control (two zones in front, one in the rear), cruise control, electro-chromatic mirror, electrically-adjustable exterior mirrors (heated), electric windows, six-disc MP3-compatible audio system with input jack, remote central locking, six-way electric adjustment for driver's seat, flat-folding front passenger's seat with 'Flip 'n' Stow' in-seat storage and reach and rake-adjustable steering.

Features fitted to the high-grade Journey R/T include: leather seat trim, leather gearshift knob, front-seat heating, a full-length premium centre armrest for driver and front-seat passenger, bright-finish exterior door handles, Electronic Vehicle Information Centre, premium instrument cluster with bright-finish bezel, swivelling front and rear LED map lights, LED footwell lamps, bright-finish roof-mounted side rails and 19-inch alloy wheels (over the 17-inch alloys fitted to the SXT).

The MyGIG entertainment system (now 30gig HDD-equipped) is available as an extra-cost option for $3250 and includes the ParkView reversing camera, satellite navigation, UConnect hands-free Bluetooth connectivity and an upgraded audio system.

Rear park assist is a $400 option, a power sunroof will set buyers back $2000 and a video screen for the second-row seating is priced at $1500.

Dodge offers a selection of eight exterior colours for the Journey, comprising seven prestige paints (optional at $300) and one solid colour (Stone White). The metallics are: Bright Silver, Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl, Deep Water Blue Pearl, Inferno Red Crystal Pearl, Light Sandstone, Melbourne Green Pearl and Silver Steel.

Journey's 2.7-litre petrol V6 develops 136kW of power at 5500rpm and 256Nm of torque at 4000rpm. Combined-cycle fuel economy is 10.3L/100km, according to ADR81/01, and the CO2 emissions are 246g/km.

Fitted to the Journey R/T CRD, the 2.0-litre pumpe duse VW Group turbodiesel develops 103kW at 4000rpm. Peak torque of 310Nm of torque arrives at 1750 and remains at that level through to 2500rpm. Fuel consumption is 7.0L/100km and CO2 emissions are 186g/km.

The V6 drives through a six-speed epicyclic automatic transmission to the front wheels. During downchanges, a secondary kickdown ratio provides faster acceleration in fourth gear. This facility is not available during upchanges.

This transmission is based on a similar unit fitted to the 2.7-litre Avenger, but with a higher ratio sixth gear for improved open-road economy and a lower ratio first, to aid acceleration from a standing start.

German transmission manufacturer, Getrag, has developed the twin-clutch transmission for the Journey R/T CRD in partnership with Chrysler. This box is Chrysler's version of the Volkswagen DSG transmission and employs two clutches to pre-select a gear in advance of a gear change, facilitating faster and smoother gear changes, without wasting as much fuel as vehicles with conventional automatic transmissions.

Suspension for the Journey comprises MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link IRS set-up at the rear. Dodge has specified four-wheel disc brakes and power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering.

The Journey's footprint is larger than its SUV looks suggest. At 4888mm overall length and riding on a 2890mm wheelbase, the Journey is marginally longer (by 32mm) than Ford's Territory and has the goods on the Ford for wheelbase also (a difference in favour of the Dodge of 58mm). The Ford is 20mm wider, however, and taller by 23mm.

The Journey is well clear of Holden's Captiva, which measures over 200mm shorter (4637mm), but the Holden is closer in width at 1849mm (versus 1878mm for the Journey.

It might be useful to think of the Journey as a 7/8ths scale version of its Voyager stablemate. At 5143mm in length, 1954mm in width, 1750mm in height and on a wheelbase of 307mm, the Voyager is comprehensively larger than the Journey.

For its size, the Journey is not especially commodious, particularly in the third-row seat. This may be why Chrysler wants you to compare the Dodge with SUVs, rather than front-drive peoplemovers.

Despite the fact that the Journey measures up well in respect of headroom, the legroom suffers from what we suspect is a compromised platform that has to accommodate rear underfloor drivetrain mechanicals -- even though we don't see all-wheel-drive variants in Australia. That's in spite of Dodge modifying the Avenger platform for the underfloor storage...

With the driver's seat set to a comfortable legroom length from the wheels and pedals -- and enough legroom for adult occupants in the third row -- there's inadequate knee room in the second row seats, so a full complement of adult passengers will stretch the Journey's capacity to its limits and beyond. Unlike the front-wheel-drive Honda Odyssey (which will be replaced soon) or indeed the Voyager, the Journey struggles with accommodating seven adults.

At least, unlike some SUVs, the second-row seat will slide fore and aft, so there's the option to configure the Journey to suit the varying spatial requirements of the passengers.

Also to the Journey's credit, the lock-out function for the rear climate-control zone is a good feature to have, especially with kids in the back. No more fighting over the temperature controls.

The interior styling was attractive, the fit and finish met the necessary standard and the soft materials (cloth in SXT and leather in R/T), including the dash padding, were supple and relatively prestigious. This car is a step forwards for Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge in terms of fit and finish - that said, it's still no VW.

There's a refrigerated upper glovebox that will hold a standard-sized wine bottle or a couple of drink cans and keep them at a temperature of four degrees C. In addition to that, storage bins in the floor feature removable waterproof liners, for the storage of ice and cold drinks, among other things. These can accommodate dry goods as well.

With the exception of the driver's seat, all seats fold flat, for a long and practical loadspace -- about 2.9 metres, according to Chrysler -- and the front passenger seat also features an additional 4.8 litres of storage in the seat squab; what Chrysler terms 'Flip 'n' Stow'.

Lower-grade SXT variants are trimmed in a combination of Bamboo and Racine cloth, but the Journey R/T features Bristol leather and Bristol vinyl.

As far as SUVs go, the Journey is well equipped for the safety of its occupants. Even placed up against some European peoplemovers, the safety arsenal in the Journey takes some beating.

As standard, the Journey is equipped with dual front airbags, seat-mounted (front) side-impact airbags, side curtains for all three rows of seats, driver's seatbelt reminder, ABS, stability control, brake assist, traction control, Electronic Roll Mitigation, Trailer Sway Control and tyre pressure monitoring.

With the exception of doubling up on rear side bags and perhaps a knee bag or two, there's not much more to add. As the car will be sold in Europe, it's likely it will be NCAP tested but this is still to take place.

Competitors

Is it an SUV? Is it a peoplemover? What you, the buyer, decide will inform your view of the vehicles that rival the Journey in the marketplace.

Chrysler believes that the Journey will take sales from SUVs -- and specifically Medium SUVs (in terms of VFACTs - not dimenions) such as the Ford Territory and Toyota Kluger. That means though, that the Journey is also up against a bunch of very capable vehicles including Holden's Captiva.

The Holden, now also available in a front-wheel-drive 2.0-litre turbodiesel version is not a million miles away from the Journey in respect of interior room, but lacks the sliding second-row seat.

We can't help feeling that while buyers might trade in their Territory for a Journey -- and love the fuel economy -- they might quickly miss the Ford's torque also.

In the peoplemover camp, the volume-selling vehicles, such as the Kia Carnival, Toyota Tarago and Honda Odyssey would offer buyers some packaging advantages over the Journey.

Chrysler arranged for us to whisk the Journey away on a brief drive to the west of Melbourne, from the airport out to Daylesford and back. That drive, not especially demanding in itself, highlighted the performance shortfall in the Journey, especially when powered by the petrol V6.

The V6 engine proved a little too peaky for the vehicle's weight and gearing. There's relatively little torque available below 3000rpm and frankly there needs to be more in this sort of package.

If people are expected to confuse the Journey with an SUV, the Dodge should go like an SUV as well. Extracting the most from the V6 Journey required taking the engine into the higher rev-range, where it made its presence felt by being louder than preferable.

In its defence, the V6's partner six-speed auto transmission was generally smooth, but sixth gear was too high for anything bar cruising. The V6 Journey maintained momentum on shallow inclines, but not much else.

At the other end of the scale, Dodge tells us that first gear is lower than its counterpart in the Avenger -- for improved acceleration -- but it still wasn't enough in the Journey.

The diesel Journey R/T with DCT was undeniably the pick of the bunch. Fuel economy recorded by the trip computer during the drive program was 12.1L/100km for the petrol V6 SXT, but an impressive 8.1L/100km for the diesel-engined R/T CRD.

With the diesel, the Journey's performance was not substantially better than for the petrol variant's, but the torque was in the right place for it to be a lot easier to extract optimum acceleration.

Other than allowing the Journey to roll back a little on hills, the DCT transmission felt more like an epicyclic box than a twin-clutch manual and was smoother overall than the last DSG box we experienced in a Volkswagen driven recently.

Ride quality was very good and we would say that's the Journey's forte. It's well controlled but generally pretty compliant over lumpy and corrugated bitumen, to provide one example.

Steering offered decent feedback and the steering response was good by the standards of this type of vehicle (either SUV or peoplemover). Riding on a suspension set up to suit European tastes, according to Chrysler, the Journey moves to a stance approaching neutral around the apex of fast bends and typically, you'll find yourself winding off lock.

The driving position was not entirely ideal. There was no footrest for the driver, the handbrake was positioned left of the cupholders and the minor instruments (including tacho) were badly obscured by the steering wheel rim, when reach and rake were adjusted to a comfortable position.

LEDs in the centre console were rendered invisible in direct sunlight, but the instruments and controls were fairly intuitive to use. Most importantly, the seats were flat and not especially supportive in corners.

All that said, some buyers will undoubtedly turn a blind eye to these niggles, since the Journey is most likely to work around the suburbs and, pulling up in front of the kids' school, it looks stylish and will pamper the driver's ego.

The guys at Chrysler have long memories and will recall taking market leadership away from the Toyota Tarago with the then new-to-market Voyager -- and that was due to the Voyager being different from the Tarago as much as anything else. Perhaps lightning can strike twice?

Overall rating: 2.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.5/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 2.5/5.0
X-factor: 2.0/5.0