Which begs the question..."what am I really getting when I opt for a
Dart GT over one of the other Dart models?"
The base 2.0 runs out of steam pretty quickly. It feels fast, IMHO, but it isn't! Slowest engine of the bunch.
Perfectly adequate for 90% of buyers, though. Really. How many people really
need to do 0-60 runs that fast? How many people buy powerful cars and never tip the accelerator past the first 10 degrees?
So compared to 2.0, the 2.4 gives a good deal more acceleration, at the cost of gas mileage, and adds cornering ability.
Compared with the 1.4, the 2.4 might not add much "real performance," but for city driving, it's a world apart. No synthetic oil requirement, no premium gas, no turbo nonsense, faster reactions.
I think the automatic really takes away a lot of the 2.4's advantage. The 1.4’s DDCT is more efficient and faster to downshift and really helps. Even so, the 2.4 is faster to react that the 1.4 which does very little until it's downshifted.
With a manual transmission, the 2.4 will be a much bigger deal versus the 1.4.
When it comes right down to it, if I had to do little to no stop and go driving, I'd probably get the 1.4 for the gas mileage. If I had to do little to no highway driving, I'd probably do the 2.0 for the thousand bucks up front and the gas mileage versus 2.4. But I do a pretty good mix and I'd think about the 2.4.
The 500L really does look like a much better choices for the average person,
if it can come up to the same quality. No idea what gas mileage is yet. Oddly gas mileage ratings aren't up yet even though they are selling the 500L. Wonder how that works?
Update: 500L is 25/33, manual transmission, and 24/33 with the automatic. Not phenomenal, but it explains why it feels quicker than the Dart with the same powertrain -- gearing is probably more aggressive, given that Dart's up 38-40 highway with the same powertrain and weight.