Journey you may prefer to miss

SOMETIMES things that look good on paper don’t turn out quite that way in the flesh. Such as the Dodge Journey.

Basically a seven-seater built on a modified version of the Avenger floorpan, it promised a lot, with Chrysler saying it was a “unique combination with the practicality of a people mover, the flexibility of an SUV and the overall efficiency of a passenger car”.

And it described the side view of the 4.88m-long vehicle as “giving the appearance of a long greenhouse”.

Well, after a week with the base SXT model, I’d say it’s decidedly more mobile greenhouse and people mover than SUV and passenger car.

There are three models in the Journey line-up: the $36,990 SXT, which comes with a 2.7litre V6 petrol engine and six-speed auto shifter; the $41,990 R/T, which is an up-spec of the SXT; and a 2.0litre VW diesel-engined model called the CRD, at $46,990.

It’s a biggish vehicle, a tad longer than a Ford Territory for example, and has three rows of seats, arranged in a 2-3-2 formation. And it needs all of 11.7m to do a u-turn. The doors open wide and it’s easy to get into the front and middle seats.

The rear ones are a bit of a problem, and if the sliding middle ones are at their rearmost extremity, as they need to be for anyone of average height, there’s little legroom for back seaters.

Also, the virtually flat seats are reminiscent of the 1950s era, before the benefits of contours and supports were discovered.

A good feature is that all but the driver’s seat can be laid down, effectively turning the Journey into a big van. Or greenhouse.

With all seats up, cargo space is a tight 397litres, but pop the seats down and it extends to just short of a very useable 1500litres.

The 1775kg vehicle’s V6 produces 136kW and 256Nm, which translates to rather ordinary performance. The acceleration to 100km/h took 12 seconds.

Take off in a normal fashion and launch is OK, but at around the 70km/h mark, performance drops off markedly and the outside rear view mirrors are filled with traffic trying to get past.

There seems a wide gap between fourth and fifth gears and torque at low-speed is inadequate. And shifts from P to D, or to R, often come with an unrefined ‘clonk’.

Happier items are in the comfort and convenience department, where there’s a three-zone climate control system (two in front, one in the rear), cruise control, electro-chromatic mirror, electrically-adjustable and heated outside mirrors and power windows.

There is also remote central locking, six-disc MP3-compatible audio with aux jack, six-way electric adjustment for the driver’s seat and storage everywhere.

Safety features abound too: Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), Electronic Roll Mitigation (ERM), side, curtain and front airbags and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS).

The economy is pretty good too. We averaged 11.7litres/100km, impressive for a family hauler. It runs on 17-inch alloys fitted with Yokohama tyres, gave a secure passage through bends and its MacPherson struts and a multi-link IRS set-up absorbed bumps very well.

The driving position suggests the designers had never heard of ergonomics. There’s no driver’s footrest, the stiff handbrake is on the far side of the console and the steering wheel obscured some instruments no matter how it was adjusted.

Rear parking sensors, a $400 option, should be standard.

The dash itself has a good fit and finish, and the instruments are displayed in clear white on black, with emerald backlighting. The aluminium-look centre stack seems classy – until you open the top lid and find it’s really just cheap plastic.

With more negatives than positives, it’s difficult to believe that cars as good as a 300C and as capable as a Wrangler come from the same outfit that produces the Journey.

Summed up in one word: forgettable.

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Thursday 24 May 2012

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