Dodge Journey 2.0 CRD R/T review
by David Finlay (27 January 2009)
Second impressions of the Dodge Journey (the first being based on the fact that it looks pretty good, at least to me) are not especially favourable. Most of the models in the range, including this one, use Volkswagen's two-litre turbo diesel engine, and while it's a good unit in itself none of the various manufacturers which use it, with the exception of the ones in the VW Group, have managed to prevent a lot of the noise it makes from seeping into the passenger compartment.
So you start up a Journey from cold and there is so much racket that you almost wonder if the conrods are fighting their way through the block to the outside world. This can be quite alarming the first few times, but you soon appreciate that once it's warmed up the engine - while invariably announcing itself as a diesel every time you so much as breathe on the accelerator pedal - eventually subsides into more acceptable decibel levels.
This is as agricultural as the Journey ever becomes. It's more civilised in other respects; it handles quite well, though it starts to feel very vague at the front as you push harder, and the ride is better than I expected it to be. The reason for my concern on this score is that the test car was the top-level R/T, which wasn't available on the press launch of the Journey and which has 19" wheels.
At that event I tried Journeys with 17" and 18" wheels and the smaller ones definitely gave a better ride, which made me fearful of what the 19s would be like; as things have turned out, they don't seem to make things any worse than the 18s do.
The R/T is also available only with six-speed automatic transmission, which is good for three main reasons. The first is that the gearchange on the manual is disappointingly floppy, the second that the automatic is very good at picking the right gear for the circumstances, the third that it slides very easily between gears - you can certainly hear the shifts but you can hardly feel them at all.
There's a manual shift option too, and it's useful in a small minority of conditions, though most owners (certainly those who spend their motoring lives in cities and on motorways) are unlikely ever to need it.
The story so far, then, is that there is a certain rustic charm which is not inappropriate for the SUV which the Journey clearly is. Thing is, though, it's not actually an SUV at all. Dodge has deliberately made it look like one, but that's simply a marketing trick. There is a 4x4 version of the Journey, but it's not being sold in the UK (therefore we don't get any positive comeback for the high floor and resulting compromise in load space) so don't even think about doing any serious off-roading, no matter what the car's aura may suggest to you.
What the Journey really is is an MPV - a "people carrier", as we used to call them, and it can certainly carry a lot of people. It's a seven-seater, with a third row of two seats which offer a surprising amount of room as long as the centre row is moved forward.
This, of course, limits space in the central seats, which is why Dodge describes the Journey as a 5+2, but as I've said before it's really a 4+3 because the middle seat of the seven is far too small to be practical for an adult passenger. You certainly wouldn't get three of those sitting comfortably side-by-side.
In the same part of the car, though, there's a very useful underfloor compartment which can be used for various purpose such as storing muddy trainers or holding up to twelve drinks cans and a load of ice to keep them cool. It's a good idea, possibly the single best piece of design in the whole vehicle.
And despite what I said about the load space being compromised by the high floor, there's actually a fair amount left over - anything from 302 to 1914 litres depending on whether you fold down any seats, and if so how many.
Those figures assume you're measuring to roof level, though: with all the seats in place the load volume is mostly vertical, and you might have trouble getting a reasonably-sized suitcase in there (I didn't actually try that, but when I put in a 20kg bag of coal I had to mount it up-and-down because I couldn't shut the tailgate otherwise).
Being the top model in the range, the R/T comes as standard with heated front seats, a tinted windscreen, leather upholstery, audio controls mounted on the steering wheel, the 19" alloys and automatic transmission already mentioned, and a few other bits and pieces which are not fitted on the cheaper SE and SXT.
Of the optional extras, you'll want to go for the £1500 MyGIG system because it includes a reversing camera which helps overcome the terrible rear visibility (and also includes satellite navigation and Bluetooth connectivity, so the cost isn't bad for what you get).
When the Journey was launched, Dodge suggested that it could be thought of as an alternative to a large estate car, but every large estate on the market is better to drive. More generally, and with more justification, Dodge says that the main appeal of its cars is that they look good and they're cheap. And that - with the extra bonus of the amount of passenger space in the third row - is really the best way to sum up the Journey.
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