[jblackburn]

A question is where did the former prospective Dart sales go to? (specifically in relation to the Cruze) Any other notable discontinued cars besides the 200?

To literally anything else because they probably test drove it and realized that the Dart was such a miserable piece of junk.

 

[jblackburn]

I had one for evaluation for a week (a loaded Limited with the 1.4T and DDCT), and it wasn't too bad, actually. But the 1.4T was the engine to get in that car, and they removed it from all but the Aero, for some unknown reason. The exhaust note was almost like that of an Abarth 500, just a bit quieter - real snarly. The interior in the car was the high point, really. It handled competently enough, but it was heavy and too large for the segment - and that DDCT...my god...dreadful. It added a full second to the 0-60 time compared to the manual (which, itself, was already terrible - but the better option).

I had one time where it seemingly forgot its US programming (where they tried to make it mimic a torque-converter automatic), and it was absolutely ripping off gear changes, with the dual-clutch-characteristic burp between each. But it only did it once, and then it was back to slow and confused.

Then they made the horrendous 2.4L the "high-performance" engine across the board, and further cemented the Dart as something I did not want to own.

It did decent on fuel economy, considering it was winter out, and I used remote start a lot. I did run it on Premium, though, as that is what the 1.4T wants.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/dodge/dart/2013/mp81/248739

I drove a manual 1.4T aero.

The high point of the interior was uConnect and the dash cluster; otherwise, it felt cheap (especially the seats) and nowhere near the other Chrysler products. The engine was super laggy below 3000 RPM and nearly undrivable with the AC on. My foot caught on the bottom of the dash when pushing in the clutch no matter where I put it, and I don't have big feet. Handling felt chintzy and heavy.

The Fiat 1.4 does sound amazing though.

2/10 would not buy.