FrontColumn-2

The Journey R/T: Chrysler’s Take on the Crossover

Full sized SUV’s are out, smaller more efficient vehicles are in. Dodge takes a stab at a crossover with the Journey

By CANDICE MERRILL
Published: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 | 1:59 AM

It’s a sign of the times, those gas guzzling, road hogging SUVs are history. But Americans still want to travel in relative comfort; enter the crossover. I’m sure you’ve heard of many of them like the Honda CRV, Hyundai Santa Fe and Chevy Traverse. Chrysler has thrown its hat into the ring with the Dodge Journey. This one because of its size, barely manages to qualify as a crossover, however.

It’s a bit bigger than the Toyota RAV4 or Ford Edge, but smaller than the Ford Flex. The base model provides a 173-horsepower four-banger. Ours was a ramped-up version equipped with seating for 7, a peppy six-cylinder engine, back up camera, drink chill zone, sunroof and DVD player.

The six-cylinder engine allowed us to zip to our destinations, but the resulting gas mileage of 16 mpg/city, 23mpg/highway was somewhat disappointing. On our road trip, it averaged about 20 mpg, and with gas up to $3 a gallon this is not good news. This is an SUV in crossover clothing.

Suspension-wise, it was better than traveling in a truck, but tended to bounce when hit with sudden road dips. The interior is relatively quiet if you aren’t climbing mountains or stepping on the gas, then the engine noise is noticeable.

What the Journey is very good at is storing things. There are two glove compartments, one of which has an air-conditioning vent for cooling drinks. There are big pockets in the doors and a large tray under the center console. The armrest is also equipped with a deep bin. When the passenger seat is flipped up there is another bin. Under the second row floor there are two removable waterproof bins. Fold the third row seat down, and there is plenty of rear cargo space (though almost none when the seats are up) and even more when the second row is down.

Our model was equipped with great electronics and sound including six Infinity speakers with a subwoofer and a second-row overhead 8” video screen.

The all-around visibility from inside the cab was dismal, and I was glad to have the back-up camera to compensate for the large blind spot but even that didn’t help me during lanechanges.

The Dodge Journey is not a bad vehicle, and as I mentioned there is a lot to like here, but if the only problem is that you can’t see anyone else on the road, you’ve got a problem. Let’s hope their vision clears by the next model year.

MAKE A COMMENT