[Zagnut27]

Dart advertising was atrocious.........some stupid comic making an [I should have my mouth washed out with soap for using such terms] of himself.

I’d argue that it was the ad agency that made a posterior exhaust port out of themselves, the comic only did what they asked of him (and then probably happily collected his paycheck).

Either way, the end product was indeed atrocious.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

I’d argue that it was the ad agency that made a posterior exhaust port out of themselves, the comic only did what they asked of him (and then probably happily collected his paycheck).

Either way, the end product was indeed atrocious.

The early Dart marketing was 100% disconnected from the product. Travis Pastrana and "Alfa DNA" were such loads of horse manure that those who fell for it were grossly disappointed in the product.....more "one and done" customers by low retention FCA.

 

[World14]

The early Dart marketing was 100% disconnected from the product. Travis Pastrana and "Alfa DNA" were such loads of horse manure that those who fell for it were grossly disappointed in the product.....more "one and done" customers by low retention FCA.

I mean, people actually believed that there was going to be 300hp Dart......

 

[Adventurer55]

It was more of what was coming, at the early stages of this always three years out stuff. While there is some truth to these stories, that's all there is. Smoke and mirrors. Gross incompetence IMHO. Or, low on money, a disregard for the products from someone, or all three.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

I mean, people actually believed that there was going to be 300hp Dart......

I saw the AWD Dart with a high output engine. I do not remember the engine or specs. But it was testing at Auburn Hills at the same time as the Hellcat was testing there.

But the knee-jerk management had very little tenacity. They cut the Dart, 200 and Alfa expansion at the first sign of weakness.

 

[Dave Z]

The early Dart marketing was 100% disconnected from the product. Travis Pastrana and "Alfa DNA" were such loads of horse manure that those who fell for it were grossly disappointed in the product.....more "one and done" customers by low retention FCA.

Alfa DNA was an interesting sell. While technically true, sortakinda, they were trying to use a brand most Americans know only as "that car from that movie" and "that POS dead, on the side of the road" to sell a compact sedan. Some people would have bragged about how large it was, darned close to a midsize car, and made its weakness into its strength. It had a lot of cool features. It had better handling and ride than most competitors except the Aero. It was quieter inside unless you got the Aero. The FIRE engine was pretty cool on specs.

If any of that was advertised, I've forgotten it.

 

[David S]

Alfa DNA was an interesting sell. While technically true, sortakinda, they were trying to use a brand most Americans know only as "that car from that movie" and "that POS dead, on the side of the road" to sell a compact sedan. Some people would have bragged about how large it was, darned close to a midsize car, and made its weakness into its strength. It had a lot of cool features. It had better handling and ride than most competitors except the Aero. It was quieter inside unless you got the Aero. The FIRE engine was pretty cool on specs.

If any of that was advertised, I've forgotten it.

It was a midsize. A very small midsize, which some of the competition was as well.

 

[mopar22]

It was a midsize. A very small midsize, which some of the competition was as well.

It was compact, a very large compact at that. Here is a blurb from one of many articles "Invade the hotly contested, fast-growing compact-sedan class." In that same article they even go on and say "Size-wise, it straddles the compact/mid-size boundary." In the end, the size ended up hurting the car more than it helped. The dart was good at many things but just as bad with many things too. Mpg wasn't great for it's class and even its cargo capacity should have been better for it's size

 

[David S]

It was compact, a very large compact at that. Here is a blurb from one of many articles "Invade the hotly contested, fast-growing compact-sedan class." In that same article they even go on and say "Size-wise, it straddles the compact/mid-size boundary." In the end, the size ended up hurting the car more than it helped. The dart was good at many things but just as bad with many things too. Mpg wasn't great for it's class and even its cargo capacity should have been better for it's size

Yep, just proves ignorant automotive journalists and marketers don't know what they are talking about. It was midsize at 110 cu ft, 7 cu ft more than the Neon. It said so right on the window sticker.

Compare Side-by-Side

Compare the MPG of cars and trucks side-by-side. Compare the gas mileage and greenhouse gas emissions of new and used cars and trucks

www.fueleconomy.gov

 

[Erik Latranyi]

It was compact, a very large compact at that. Here is a blurb from one of many articles "Invade the hotly contested, fast-growing compact-sedan class." In that same article they even go on and say "Size-wise, it straddles the compact/mid-size boundary." In the end, the size ended up hurting the car more than it helped. The dart was good at many things but just as bad with many things too. Mpg wasn't great for it's class and even its cargo capacity should have been better for it's size

Yes, the lack of cargo capacity was another result from using the lousy CUSW abomination that FCA created. This is what is also hurting the Cherokee as the Compass has more cargo capacity despite a smaller exterior.

Fiat rushed too many things under Marchionne's "emergency conditions" that he kept employees operating under for 7 years. They rushed the 9-speed for the Cherokee. They rushed the Dart. They rushed the 200. All failures.

People say the Cherokee has poor fuel economy because it needed to be a Jeep with extra strength. Well Dart is not a Jeep and was lackluster in fuel economy. The Fiats were all substandard in fuel economy.

Frankly, the company has no real expertise in delivering fuel efficient vehicles. This is PROVEN through product.

 

[World14]

I saw the AWD Dart with a high output engine. I do not remember the engine or specs. But it was testing at Auburn Hills at the same time as the Hellcat was testing there.

But the knee-jerk management had very little tenacity. They cut the Dart, 200 and Alfa expansion at the first sign of weakness.

An AWD Dart caught testing sounds like the basis of the rally car, since it ran a 2L turbo with AWD.
I'm not under the belief that they were going to take it seriously. Even if it ran the GME is very early testing, the only transmission capable of taking that torque was the 9 speed, unless they bought another transmission, but that just reeks of making a new 'SRT4' as expensive as possible, and not cheap like the 2 SRT4's before it.

 

[valiant67]

An AWD Dart caught testing sounds like the basis of the rally car, since it ran a 2L turbo with AWD.
I'm not under the belief that they were going to take it seriously. Even if it ran the GME is very early testing, the only transmission capable of taking that torque was the 9 speed, unless they bought another transmission, but that just reeks of making a new 'SRT4' as expensive as possible, and not cheap like the 2 SRT4's before it.

SRT and AWD were popular rumors of upcoming Dart features 8 years ago.
They advertised Dart like it was an SRT powered AWD rally car. Not a 40 mpg economy car.

Dart SRT: turbo, AWD, 2017

An SRT version of the Dodge Dart finally showed up on Chrysler’s product plans, with an anticipated build date of December 2016. Assuming there are no delays, that would put it firmly into the 2017 model year. Dodge graphics show the Dart has having front wheel drive only, with standard and...

www.allpar.com

 

[Erik Latranyi]

An AWD Dart caught testing sounds like the basis of the rally car, since it ran a 2L turbo with AWD.
I'm not under the belief that they were going to take it seriously. Even if it ran the GME is very early testing, the only transmission capable of taking that torque was the 9 speed, unless they bought another transmission, but that just reeks of making a new 'SRT4' as expensive as possible, and not cheap like the 2 SRT4's before it.

They could have used the 2.4 Turbo from the Caliber SRT that made 300 horsepower. That would have made the Dart move nicely.

 

[mopar22]

Yep, just proves ignorant automotive journalists and marketers don't know what they are talking about. It was midsize at 110 cu ft, 7 cu ft more than the Neon. It said so right on the window sticker.

Compare Side-by-Side

Compare the MPG of cars and trucks side-by-side. Compare the gas mileage and greenhouse gas emissions of new and used cars and trucks

www.fueleconomy.gov

Well put another slash under a fca screw up. They’re the ones that marketed is a compact and then told the reviewers that

 

[World14]

They could have used the 2.4 Turbo from the Caliber SRT that made 300 horsepower. That would have made the Dart move nicely.

The turbo World 2.4 that they advertised at 285 that they produced for only 2 years from 2008 to 2009?
Talk about a massive meh.
After some research (and to the best of my "meh" understanding abilities haha), it looks like it would've passed emissions based on what the Caliber got....
But that'd cost some money to put atleast that motor back into production, let alone the transmission or other components.

 

[World14]

SRT and AWD were popular rumors of upcoming Dart features 8 years ago.
They advertised Dart like it was an SRT powered AWD rally car. Not a 40 mpg economy car.

Dart SRT: turbo, AWD, 2017

An SRT version of the Dodge Dart finally showed up on Chrysler’s product plans, with an anticipated build date of December 2016. Assuming there are no delays, that would put it firmly into the 2017 model year. Dodge graphics show the Dart has having front wheel drive only, with standard and...

www.allpar.com

Well, I knew nothing about nothing back when the Dart was released, but if I put my current self into the year 2011 and 2012, I would've thought they'd produced a model with the 4C's 1.75 liter.
It was in the chassis starting in 2010 (for the Giulietta), and it obviously (to me, so probably not everyone else) could work for a GLH or something along those lines.
Would've made one extremely fun car.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

Well, I knew nothing about nothing back when the Dart was released, but if I put my current self into the year 2011 and 2012, I would've thought they'd produced a model with the 4C's 1.75 liter.
It was in the chassis starting in 2010 (for the Giulietta), and it obviously (to me, so probably not everyone else) could work for a GLH or something along those lines.
Would've made one extremely fun car.

That is the issue....they were testing an AWD SRT Dart. What was under the hood was unknown. If it was a new powertrain, they wasted a lot of money for all that to be thrown away.

I suggested the 2.4 Turbo from the Caliber only because they had all the tooling in hand and it would have cost the least. Your 1.75 from the 4C is a good idea, but would they have allowed an Alfa powertrain in a lowly Dodge? What did that engine cost to produce?

 

[David S]

Well, I knew nothing about nothing back when the Dart was released, but if I put my current self into the year 2011 and 2012, I would've thought they'd produced a model with the 4C's 1.75 liter.
It was in the chassis starting in 2010 (for the Giulietta), and it obviously (to me, so probably not everyone else) could work for a GLH or something along those lines.
Would've made one extremely fun car.

That is the issue....they were testing an AWD SRT Dart. What was under the hood was unknown. If it was a new powertrain, they wasted a lot of money for all that to be thrown away.

I suggested the 2.4 Turbo from the Caliber only because they had all the tooling in hand and it would have cost the least. Your 1.75 from the 4C is a good idea, but would they have allowed an Alfa powertrain in a lowly Dodge? What did that engine cost to produce?

They could have saved a whole lot of money and still used the 1.75 turbo. The FWD Giulietta ran the same 1.75 turbo before the 4C ever came out. Just tack a trunk on the back of the Giulietta and a Dodge grill on the front and they could have had their car without developing CUSW from C-Evo. Then it would have been an actual compact. Of course to really sell well as a Dodge they should have retuned it for regular and offered an automatic transmission with it. But that engine was only 237 HP in European trim, no need for AWD.

They actually had an AWD Daytona under development before it was cancelled in favor of the Laser/Talon. The AWD turbo 4 cylinder Dodge car has kept evading the production line for 35 years now.

FWD turbo 4 cylinder Dodges over 200 HP include Daytona/Spirt RT, Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4.

 

[codypet]

Dart advertising was atrocious.........some stupid comic making an [I should have my mouth washed out with soap for using such terms] of himself.

I don't remember Dart ads with a comedian, only they Chrysler Pacifica (Gaffigan), and the Durango (Will Ferrell). Only Dart ads I remember were the ones with Tom Brady.

 

[mopar22]

I don't remember Dart ads with a comedian, only they Chrysler Pacifica (Gaffigan), and the Durango (Will Ferrell). Only Dart ads I remember were the ones with Tom Brady.

It was the "Don't touch my dart" and they made a decent amount of them.