Thoughts from the Curb

Sep 15, 2008 - 2009 Dodge Journey on a Journey to Las Vegas

Don't stop believin' that Chrysler can turn things around. Well, you can believe all you want but I have grave doubts after my second weekend in Dodge's new midsize family crossover, the 2009 Journey. This time I took the Journey on a journey to Las Vegas, precisely 549.2 miles there and back. On and in said Journey, things became quite clear.

Like the Grand Caravan, the Journey offers the right size with a bunch of nifty features. Filling roughly the same footprint as a RAV4, there was more than enough room for three people plus some light luggage. Like the RAV, there's a third row seat, but it's useful only for children. The second row slides fore and aft, and reclines. It also features pop-up child boosters, although lacking a child, I didn't try those out. We did try out the second row under-floor cooler, though, along with the DVD entertainment system. The beverage cooler in the top glovebox didn't really cool my beverage, sadly.

So, the Dodge Journey has things to offer. But like the Grand Caravan, the execution is horrible. OK, it's not as bad as the Caravan -- nothing broke or warped. But the interior is bad. The overall design looks like they gave the reigns to a car designer who had been lost on a desert island since 1991. The gauges look OK with little LED lights, but they're housed in a back to the future rectangular binnacle. The touchscreen "utunes" stereo interface is located next to your knee, below the climate controls. This is apparently because of a structural crossmember, but who cares? The placement is wrong. The materials are also wrong. Much of the dash features squishy soft plastic, but then the door tops and armrests are hard. The seats are also hard as rock and completely shapeless.

And then there's the engine. My R/T tester came with the top-of-the-line, 3.5-liter V6 that produces 235 hp. The zero to 60 mph time is 9.2 seconds and it felt every bit as slow on the mountainous Vegas route. Typically, the transmission is too eager to get up to sixth gear, but at least Autostick was there to keep it in fifth. That didn't exactly help fuel economy, which is inevitably the Journey's killing blow. I averaged a mere 20.2 mpg on the journey (versus the 22.3 the trip computer was telling me), which is below the EPA estimate of 23 but I credit the difference to the terrain and traffic rather than my lead foot.

However, if I'm going to get that type of fuel economy, I'd much rather drive our long-term Enclave or Flex that are much larger, much nicer and much more powerful, (Heck, I basically got the same mileage from the just-as-slow Honda Pilot, which is a helluva lot more comfortable.) Or, if I'm going to get that type of acceleration in a vehicle its size, I'd much rather drive a Honda CR-V that is more fuel efficient and better built.

Needless to say, I don't like the Journey. A good idea here and there can't help sloppy execution everywhere.

-James Riswick

8:56 am | Categories: car reviews, driving adventures Permalink | Alert Administrator

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