GTP Cool Wall: Dodge Dart GT

OK, Screwed up the first attempt, let's try this.

Well, this is a compact that in theory will be taking on the sportier cars in class, namely the Golf, Focus, and Cruze. The problem is that no matter how much you put into a car, that HP number is a big deterrent. On that, though, I guarantee you that if it was being sold as a Fiat, no one would care.

Anyway, COOLNESS! It looks good, I like it more than the Focus. From all the add-ons I've seen, GT is appropriate but it just doesn't stand close enough to the edge to be sub zero. Cool.

I'm going with a "meh" it's not a bad car by any means but it's still an economy car to haul you around cheaply and effectively. The power just isn't there so it's not fun to drive like other cars in its class and it has some weird handling characteristics. Considering how good the Neon was, this really shows that Dodge forgot how to make a small car, although they probably all went stupid working on the Caliber.

Really the only thing that keeps it from dipping into uncool is that is pisses off ignorant "muscle" car guys because they think it somehow tarnished the name...even though the original Dart was nothing more than an economy car to haul you around cheaply and effectively. Anytime something can piss off a large group of ignorant people it bumps up its cool factor for me.

I'm not sure.

Well first off, the redesigned car was designed to compete with several other target cars as mentioned above and failed to do so. The car has sold exceptionally poor, much less than expected. That in itself is uncool.

The car has an agressive design in the front but the back just doesn't hold up well to the front, much in the way I see '09 era Focuses. That is something I don't like...the car just doesn't have good cues except for the front clip. I've seen them around and they all just don't look good in the flesh. I can't comment on the interior and physical size as I've never been in one, but I'd imagine it is similar to the Focus I own. This car just doesn't do it for me.

As for the name, even know the original was also meant to be an economy car, it had a big V8 and it was RWD, so they basically killed it off and just recycled the name which I intensly dislike.

That said, I'm going to vote "meh". The car could have been so much more, and it just isn't. I agree with Joey on this one, it seems Dodge forgot how to make a small car. The Neon was amazing in it's own right.

Not an uncool car, but not cool either. Meh.

It's destined to become another Neon. That's my take on the dart...uncool !

Beeblebrox237

Not an uncool car, but not cool either. Meh.

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My view exactly.

Ugly as sin, an embarrassment to the Dart nameplate. Just shows you how they'll take a well known name and put it on some :censored:box car to make a buck these days. Uncool, seriously.

Cool, because it's an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Leonidae@MFT

Cool, because it's an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

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Rebaged....therefore uncool.

Rebadging only makes it uncool if it's GM.

Slashfan

Rebaged....therefore uncool.

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Um...

Not rebadged.

Antonisbob

Ugly as sin, an embarrassment to the Dart nameplate. Just shows you how they'll take a well known name and put it on some :censored:box car to make a buck these days.

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Joey D

Really the only thing that keeps it from dipping into uncool is that is pisses off ignorant "muscle" car guys because they think it somehow tarnished the name...even though the original Dart was nothing more than an economy car to haul you around cheaply and effectively.

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Tornado

Um...

Not rebadged.

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Besides the front and some other small differences the body lines are close enough and the engines are the same you might as well call it one.

Slashfan

Besides the front and some other small differences the body lines are close enough and the engines are the same you might as well call it one.

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Other than the foot longer wheelbase, completely different body style, completely different interior, completely different styling, and, outside of the Multiair, completely different engines, sure.


Just like this:

And this:

Are rebadges of each other.

Leonidae@MFT

Cool, because it's an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

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I think it's uncool for the same reason.

This car is so uninteresting that I can barely be bothered to vote "meh."

Slashfan

Besides the front and some other small differences the body lines are close enough and the engines are the same you might as well call it one.

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One's a four-door sedan and the other is a three-door hatchback. The only thing similar between the two are the underpinnings and the engine. Every automotive company uses their chassis for multiple cars, otherwise every car would cost an insane amount of money.

Zenith

This car is so uninteresting that I can barely be bothered to vote "meh."

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This, only seriously uncool because it is so uninteresting.

Unremarkable front wheel drive, small/mid-sized saloon. Uncool.

I always vote on these, but I haven't written anything, so here goes.

I like this car. It looks fantastic, it comes with a manual transmission (which most cars don't come with nowadays), the 184hp seems perfectly fine to me (but not to anyone else, I guess ).

I just wish Dodge would make a hatchback version of this. And also, I agree 100% with Joey. The original Dodge Dart was just a small car, and so is the new one. Just like the original Chevrolet Impala was just a large family car, just like the modern ones.

xXKingJoshXx

I always vote on these, but I haven't written anything, so here goes.

I like this car. It looks fantastic, it comes with a manual transmission (which most cars don't come with nowadays), the 184hp seems perfectly fine to me (but not to anyone else, I guess ).

I just wish Dodge would make a hatchback version of this. And also, I agree 100% with Joey. The original Dodge Dart was just a small car, and so is the new one. Just like the original Chevrolet Impala was just a large family car, just like the modern ones.

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I beg to differ, it definitely was not a small vehicle:

Uncool, the design already looks dated. Really, the only thing keeping from seriously uncool is that it adds variety to the usual Corolla's and Civic's I see.

Up:

-From some angles it might look sorta good, I guess?
-At least it's not the 1.4 liter + hamsterwheel (I mean turbo) base engine
-At least it's a notchback and not a hatchback

Down:

-From most angles, it's ugly as all get out
-Still an inline 4. Research has proven, or come close to proving, that four cylinders in an inline arrangement = girly car. I'm not making this up.
-Because a four-door Charger, a bloated, overweight Challenger, and making the Viper an SRT instead of a Dodge weren't bad enough, Chrysler Corporation made the Dart into a I4/FWD snoozer. What's next, a 3-door hatchback version called the SRT Duster? (Actually, Plymouth already made a FWD Duster as a version of the old Sundance, so that crime has already been comitted once). As hideous as the Chevrolet Cruze is, they at least didn't try to call it a Nova.

Voting anything other than Seriously Uncool is wrong. That's an indisputable fact.

White & Nerdy

Up:
What's next, a 3-door hatchback version called the SRT Duster?

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Oh please don't give them any ideas.

White & Nerdy

-At least it's not the 1.4 liter + hamsterwheel (I mean turbo) base engine

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Yeah. It's just the crappy engine from the Caliber that doesn't make it appreciably faster but gets considerably worse mileage.

White & Nerdy

As hideous as the Chevrolet Cruze is, they at least didn't try to call it a Nova.

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The original Nova wasn't any less of an entry level economy car than the Dart was. Also, they already did that in the 80s.

Tornado

Yeah. It's just the crappy engine from the Caliber that doesn't make it appreciably faster but gets considerably worse mileage.

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The definition of "appreciably" might vary a bit. I find it hard to believe it wouldn't be "appreciably" faster, seeing as how it has, what, 20 more horsepower or something? I don't remember.

The original Nova wasn't any less of an entry level economy car than the Dart was. Also, they already did that in the 80s.

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But it did have the epic SS350 and SS396 variants which were genuinely quick, not just quick for the time but quick period. And you could work with them becasue there was (and still is) a great quantity of aftermarket speed equipment available for them, and even larger engines could easily fit.

But now we have CAFE, the EPA, ludicrous gas prices, and a whiny, spoiled populace that prefers comfort and refinement to speed. So instead of V8/RWD compacts, we have these hopeless I4/FWD heaps. Mods? Not many, because the import/small displacement tuning scene is stuck on Hondas and doesn't even realize these engines exist. And really, how much speed are you going to get out of an engine that size while still being able to run reliably on pump gas? Probably not much. Nitrous? You'll probably backfire catastrophically on anything more than a 30 shot. Engine swap? Good luck!

See, that's the problem with these kinds of cars. Not only are they slow, they have very little potential.

Just out of curiosity, those who consider this ugly, what did you think of the Caliber it replaces?

BKGlover

Just out of curiosity, those who consider this ugly, what did you think of the Caliber it replaces?

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You don't want to hear my thoughts on that car. And the fact it's a nightmare to work on.