Our May issue will bring some new features to better fulfill our mission to you. The first new feature is QuickJot. QuickJot will provide you with a quick over view of a vehicle that we think may be of interest to you. We will give you the "411" so that you get the gist of the best and worst qualities of that vehicle before we would be able to reach that vehicle alphabetically as part of our Automotive Declassified Encyclopedia listings. Most of our reviews are positive because there would be no point of discussing it otherwise. QuickJot on the other hand allows us to discuss vehicles that are of note, good or bad, and expose its points before you get taken in by sophisticated advertising gimmicks or a fast talking salesperson. Our first QuickJot vehicle is the Dodge Avenger. The Avenger is a name that Dodge has used for a while, usually placed on a lackluster Mitsubishi derived coupe that fills a price niche for yesteryear's Dodge. The name took over from the Daytona that similarly placed itself as a "flash with little dash hatch" that appealed to the performance want-a -be set. The Avenger finally faded away as Daimler's purchase started to redirect Dodge's image towards larger retro performance cars such as the Magnum and the Charger. It definitely came as a surprise that Daimler is looking to divorce Chrysler when the two looked so happy together, it similarly came as a surprise that the new Avenger would retract to the safe position that it had previously held before Dodge's reinvention. The Avenger is being advertised heavily in an effort to bring in potential costumers who are currently looking beyond the big V8 muscle Dodges for the "gas safe harbours" of the local Toyota and Honda dealers. Dodge's hope is to advertise great gas figures on an aggressive looking vehicle filled with enough high tech gizmo's to entice a look from the "import hypnotised". The truth is that the Avenger delivers in technology but lets down in driving substance. The Avenger looks less like a Charger in reality. The proportions are pleasing but a little choppy. The overall theme works better in the longer package of the Charger In many ways the Avenger is the first throwback to the "K-car era" than we have seen from Dodge in quite sometime. The problem with the Avenger is more than one vehicle deep. Daimler Chrysler has devoted much of their new vehicle engineering to this new platform along with the new mainstream fourbanger that is shared with Mitsubishi and Hyundai. The fourbanger that will account for the majority of Avenger sales is barely adequate in the smaller Caliber let alone a car of this size. The Avenger in many ways falls back to the traditional American paradigm of an under-engineered car dressed up in Sunday finery. The Fourbanger is adequate but nothing more. The entry level V6 offers only a modest increase in power while still maintaining a coarseness that is alien to an import owner. The largest offering, a 3.5 V6, provided ample power connected to a rather taut suspension setup that draws the Avenger close to the level of an Accord while surpassing the Camry's ability. The eventual availability of AWD will further give the Avenger a trump card when compared to the imports. The problem is that to achieve this level of competence ,that in my opinion should come as the standard chassis setup ,as it does with the Accord , you must part with nearly $30,000, a tough pill to swallow. Yes for that price you get a multitude of some really cool stuff such a refrigerated glove compartment, a wonderful entertainment center with an internal hard drive, or heated and cooled cup holders. For that dear price you could let the gizmo's go in favor of a far more road disciplined vehicle. For nearly the same price you could even buy a "real deal" hemi equipped Charger, instead of a 3/4th's scale Charger-lite. So the bottom line is that the Avenger would make a good choice ,if the price was rite, in base trim for a college student who could enjoy the cool stuff while saving gas with the benign four,not to mention life and limb, while providing the muscular stance of a performance car, or it could also make a good choice for anyone who spends a lot of time in a car for work purposes and cares as much about keeping their "Lipton cup-o-soup" hot in the heated cup holder as hugging the apex of a turn. In those instances the Avenger starts to make sense. For my coin however I would go with the venerable "daily grind hero" ,the Accord, and if I want a hot beverage I'll go to Walmart and buy a hot plate to plug into the dash. Chrysler hopefully will look to their successes such as the 300, the first Chrysler bought for reasons other than cash incentives, and begin to regroup for the future. I'm sure Chrysler is kicking themselves for letting Bob Lutz go to GM who under his tutelage has begun to get "religion" with the realization that a competitive vehicle must have "good ingredients" such as a stellar chassis and multivalve engine to compete not simply gravy ladled over grisly meat.
