New Dodge Dart, a pretty nice car.

[Les / Vipers Rule]

A co-worker of mine just bought a 2015 Dodge Dart Aero. I got to see it and get inside the vehicle. She bought the 6 speed dual clutch model but the Aero has the 1.4L multi-air turbo. Sure it has all the fancy doodads inside (some I don't care much for) with the fancy TFT enhanced instrument panel plus the 8.4 inch U-connect display. All in all very nice inside with quality look and feel for what is still an "affordable" sedan. Nice seats, nice trim. The dash has a red glowing racetrack strip lighting that is cool. The car looks better in real life than in photos and I like that a 4 door sedan can look sporty.

Being made off an extended Alfa Romeo Julietta platform and independent suspension all around it's a nice handling car. The 1.4L turbo has ample power for a car in this class. I'd have preferred the 6 speed manual though. I like the race track LED lights in back too.

All in all being a Chryco / MOPAR fan. I could easily see me buying this model of car in a few years when the used market really fills in. Sorry, short of winning a lottery I don't buy new cars anymore. But since I am a Mopar fan and a fan of manuals, there really are only TWO newer cars in the Chryco stable that fits this, the Hemi powered, Dodge Challenger and the Dodge Dart. Challengers are still pretty pricy even for '09 used Hemi's here at about $25,000.00+. So when the time comes to change cars for me, I will put the Dart on my short list. I'd probably look at an SXT/Rallye or the Blacktop editions though. These come with the 2.4 L multi-air and bigger, sportier wheels and tires to name two cool things.

But IMO for a $15,000-$25,000 or so sporty sedan, the Dodge Dart is a Hell of a car.

[Turbojett]

Yeah it's a pretty nice car on paper at least; haven't driven or ridden in one, but I'm sure it's a nice little car. Looks pretty cool, too so that's a plus.
There's an orange one running around here whose license plate says "NRF DART". Thought that was pretty neat.

[JaysonAych]

You all remember how amped I was for the Dart. I've always been more of a Mopar person myself, and I wanted to keep the Dodge thing going, and this looked like Chrysler's first serious try at a small car. I will say that it looks mighty sharp on the outside, and the interior is pretty nice in certain trims. But I didn't care for the handling. It felt like the Stratus, and while I liked how the Stratus felt given the size, I wanted something better in the Dart. The Focus definitely handles better. I test drove a slushbox 2.0 Dart so I don't know how the manual 1.4 feels, but magazines seem to put the Dart Aero manual at a half-second or more slower than the manual Focus to 60 MPH. The Focus definitely seems quicker and more nimble. YMMV, but if you liked the Dart, and you're open to other brands, put the Focus on your short list as well.