2013 Dodge Dart Road Test Review

by Tim Healey

We were bombing away at speeds well north of the speed limit in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin (we'll decline to name the speeds, since the statute of limitations has yet to expire) in a 2013 Dodge Dart when a road runner darted (pun fully intended) across the road in front of us. Before we could even think about braking or swerving, the bird was already safely on the other side of the road, leaving us feeling like Wile E. Coyote.

We mention this because the late Plymouth brand once sold a car dubbed the Road Runner, and another Chrysler name from that era--the Dart--has been resurrected by Dodge. So even though the original Dart and Road Runner were different animals, the coincidence was not lost on us. It seemed a fitting moment for our time behind the wheel of the latest car to use an old name.

Like the original Dart, the 2013 iteration is a compact. Unlike the original, it has foreign roots, based off the Alfa Romeo Giuletta platform. This makes the Dart the first Dodge to dig so deeply from Fiat's well (Chrysler and Fiat partnered up in 2009 as part of the former's federally managed bankruptcy). More importantly, Dodge needs a competitive entry in the compact class--to say the late Caliber compact was unloved is kind of like saying that the Titanic had sprung a small leak--to keep up with its foreign and domestic competitors. That's especially true now that rising fuel prices and shrinking household budgets have driven more Americans into smaller cars. To continue the review, click here.