What car is this?

A group of us were eating dinner when someone looked up and spied a bright orange car parked across the street.

We were 100% mid side view with zero angle on the front or the rear and not a single solitary one of us could identify it.

It was one of the smaller sedans and had very nice lines.

We must have guessed every car except what it actually was.

It was a Dodge Dart. We were absolutely floored that is was a Dodge.

I think they're sharp.. If I was in the small sedan market I would definitely be looking at one.

Once we got through eating we all walked over and about the only bad angle was 3/4 rear where the rear window looked bulbous, but from every other angle it looked great.

My wife has one. It's a fun car, with an incredible amount of goodies, for the price.

I think they're sharp, especially in that Tic Tac color you saw.

Meh.

To elaborate;

It looks OK in pictures, in person it's very bland. I had much excitement when these were first coming out. But after seeing the finished product up close and personal I had a huge case of Do Not Want.

nicksta43 wrote: To elaborate; It looks OK in pictures, in person it's very bland. I had much excitement when these were first coming out. But after seeing the finished product up close and personal I had a huge case of Do Not Want.

Better then the Caliber....

I said it before, this should have been the Neon replacement.

Do want.

I hardly see any around here where I live. Guess it's not that popular.

nicksta43 wrote: To elaborate; It looks OK in pictures, in person it's very bland. I had much excitement when these were first coming out. But after seeing the finished product up close and personal I had a huge case of Do Not Want.

Uh, we were looking at it live, not in pictures and it was anything but bland.

We were all car guys and it impressed us with it's looks. Of course it was set up like a magazine shot. It was the only car parked on the street in a trendy part of town in a bright color right as the sun was beginning to go down so it had that luscious light.

Sitting behind one in traffic might not give the same experience.

After reading pretty positive press about the car I was pretty excited to see one in person. I was very disappointed. It's one of the more plain and boring designs to come out in the last decade. Look at what Hyundai and KIA and to some extent Ford are doing with their smaller cars, and then look at the Dodge. I can't tell if they were just being really conservative or if they just don't understand design very well.
It might actually be a great car, but looking at it makes me sad. Like early 90's General Motors sad.

The colors they chose for it make it stand out. The styling and interior left me cold. Personal opinion and all that...

In reply to mazdeuce:

I prefer the more restrained look to the catfish design language that everybody else is doing

I definitely think it's a car that suffers from expectations. It is also strange how different it can come off visually depending on color, angle, lighting, etc. Sometimes you see one and its just BLAH. Sometimes you see one and you think "Hmm, neato". I dont know why that happens.

I checked them out in person last November and i was semi-let down. Not totally. It's still a massive leap forward for Dodge and a harbinger of better things to come. It's still very competitive in its segment. It's not a bad effort at all.

But it's not tops in the compact segment for me. I'd really LIKE to see Dodge do something that's an all-around winner in the compact segment, but i'll have to wait another generation and see.

I like them quite a bit. The more restrained styling is a breath of fresh air among all the overwrought ugly E36 M3 that everyone is pumping out these days.

I don't see catfish in them at all either. As matter of fact I see them as more the anti catfish as they have one of the smallest grills available today.

We glanced inside but were mostly commenting how the exterior styling had a little Volvo, Focus, etc.

If anything I'd expect to be let down on the interior.

I like the little Fiat 1.4 turbo motor but wonder if it's enough for the car. That engine is an extremely small package and which would allow it to be put in a Locost middie easily.

This is the best view of the car.

This view makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

Apparently by what I have read, the front seats are uncomfortable and the pedal arrangement in the Manual models is awkward (?).

If this is true, it's kind of disappointing, because I really like them. I hope that they come out with and SRT version soon.

I dont think there is an SRT version in the near future.

The 1.4T is pretty unimpressive according to everything ive heard which includes some friends who have driven them and all the numbers posted. I think the best thing you can say about it is that it probably makes close to its peak torque pretty much all the time. Of course, if it didnt, a 1.4 in a 3000+lb car would REALLY suck.

I still think the 2.4L is the best engine for the Dart.

Now if they'd just slap a turbo on it.

I keep looking at them as well. Not that I want a car payment, but the orange paint and "Citrus Peal" looks super sharp on them.

I like the way they look and the interior is nice looking. All Dodge needs is an SRT version.

I haven't gotten to drive one yet but I have at least sat in one and compared to the rest of the cars in its class, it has by far the nicest interior IMHO.

I see quite a few of them in my daily travels. A worker at an import garage I pass bought one a few months ago - in the orange, which I think looks decent. I think he used to drive an E30 since the BMW disappeared when the Dart showed up.

They're OK as far as I'm concerned. They cannot possibly be any worse than the Caliber, which ranks as the absolute worst car I've ever driven.

I think they do look a little more bland in person than on pictures, but I still like the look of it.

They are also decently fast. Last auto-x, someone came with one. It was the rallye version with the 1.4 turbo and 6 speed. He ran on some RS-3's and it was about as fast as my stock 2006 Spec-V on Dunlop's D1's. I didn't drive it, but did ride along as a passenger. It felt a bit gutless, which is surprising because it's supposed to be a torque motor. But the balance seemed really nice and it put it's power down pretty well.