‘Swiss army knife’ vehicle great on a journey
Crossover is roomy, comfortable with AWD handling
Dodge has a reputation for doing things differently in their automotive designs, not necessarily radically different but unique nonetheless. For example, take a Journey on a journey and you’ll discover that this overlooked vehicle has a lot of utility within its minivan-esque exterior.
Despite its looks, it’s not a minivan. It’s a crossover with minivan looks instead of the usual faux off-roading SUV characteristics of the others in its class. It has been a fresh and different approach to a utility vehicle since its debut in 2009.
“The Dodge Journey is the Swiss army knife of vehicles,” said Reid Bigland, President and CEO of the Dodge Brand for Chrysler Group LLC. “Part compact car, part SUV with available all-wheel drive and part van with available seven-passenger seating.”
Design
The Dodge Journey takes the tall upright exterior of the Caravan and downsizes it slightly, changing the babyfriendly sliding rear doors for an extra pair of adult-friendly swing-out doors allowing easy access for passengers.
The corporate cross hair grille is in place with a bold surround trim in chrome along with the large halogen headlight clusters. The R/T includes projector-style fog lights for a definite attempt at a more aggressive look than a soccer mom van.
The Journey R/T continues the sporty looks with its large wheel arches and sharp body angles along the doors. The R/T has a small spoiler on the top trailing edge of the rear hatch. The chrome-clad castaluminum, six-spoke wheels are big 19-inchers in keeping with the R/T model’s aspirations of sportiness over the standard 17-inch rims for the base SXT.
In the first couple of years, the Journey began with an interior that was somewhat lacklustre, with uneven build quality and uninspired design. Thankfully that has changed and the current models are much better. The instrument layout is not radical but the execution is well done with a well-crafted premium, soft-touch one-piece instrument panel that sets the tone. A standard eelectronic vehicle information centre is positioned in the centre of the gauge cluster, which has a full-colour display backlit in Dodge traditional red lights, giving it a soft glow. The flexible centre console features cushioning on the tilt-and-slide armrest. Lift the lid, and there’s a larger centre storage bin with a 12-volt outlet and USB port where owners can hook up their MP3/iPod charging connections and hide them away.
Two large gauges face the driver and a trio of large knobs in the dash below the large 8.4-inch display, control the heating and AC ventilation.
With three rows of seating, there’s room for seven souls on board, but the two in the farthest rear 50/50 popup seats had best be limber young ones. The second-row 40/60 seats include two builtin child boosters so the family theme has not been left entirely to the Caravan.
Performance
The first Journeys were offered with only two engine choices, but now the Pentastar 3.6 V6 is available in many Dodge products including the Journey. This aluminum block motor produces 283 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, making for a responsive drive.
The R/T model is also treated to a sport-tuned suspension with firmer-feeling steering response and highperformance all-wheel-drive for confident handling.
When traveling faster than 40 km/h, Dodge Journey’s all-wheel-drive system sends torque to the rear wheels when cornering with the throttle open to make the car turn more easily, which makes the handling more neutral. This is more readily accomplished with Journey’s electronically controlled coupling than with viscous-coupling systems that require some degree of front-to-rear slip before torque is transferred to the rear wheels. At speeds greater than 85 km/h, the traction control strategy provides minimal torque to the rear wheels under normal, non-slippery, driving conditions to provide better fuel economy. All V6 equipped models come fitted with a six-speed automatic transmission.
Driving/utility
The Dodge Journey really impressed me on the road during a trip down to New Hampshire. Much like the design of the Journey, my journey had a little bit of everything included; four hours of driving on the Interstate, driving around town during a long weekend and hauling back home a large and heavy bit of cargo, in this case a five-foot-long live steam model locomotive weighing more than 300 pounds.
The Journey’s cabin was a very pleasant place to be while speeding along the ribbon of smooth asphalt winding south through the White Mountains. Drivers in Quebec can only dream in envy of such roads. The Sirius satellite radio and Premium audio system filled the cabin with tunes while I lounged in the leather-trimmed, six-way power driver’s seat. Four-way power lumbar support … ooooh, aaaaah, comfortable.
Once in North Woodstock, N.H., I had the usual chores to run around town, to the drivethru ATM machine for U.S. cash, the market for groceries and to C.J.’s, a local sports bar, for dinner after a long day of running full-size steam engines at the White Mountain Central Railroad (www.clarkstradingpost.com) where I am a volunteer engineer. The Journey seemed to always be the right vehicle for the task, driving long distances, in and around town, hauling cargo or passengers to dinner.
Take note that it is passengers OR cargo, as there is not a lot of room behind the third row of seats when they are upright.
Dodge has done very well at making the Journey one of the most versatile vehicles on the road today, for people and cargo.