The IT Nerd

What you’re looking at is the Pentastar V6 engine that powers this Dodge minivan. It is a dual overhead cam 24-valve V-6 engine with variable valve timing that generates 283 horsepower and 280 pound feet and torque from 3.6L of displacement. It’s mated to a six speed automatic transmission. Some things to note:

• The Pentastar is no run of the mill V6 engine. It was one of Ward’s ’10 Best Engines’ for 2011. Only the best engines get onto this list which should tell you how good this engine is because it’s in the same company as Audi and BMW who also made this list.
• It will take 87 octane gas or E85 gas
• It will tow up to 3600 lbs.
• It has a fuel economizer mode which allows the driver to select a mode where they can save more gas by altering the shift points of the transmission.
• The transmission has a manual shift mode.

The mileage is 12.2 L/100 km city, 7.9 L/100 km highway. So far I’ve been averaging between 10 and 11 L/100 in mixed driving. Not bad. As for how it drives, I’ll put it this way. It’s got a pile of power. Put your foot down and this engine will make the front wheels spin. Literally. I spun the tires a couple of times without meaning to and made the traction control step in to control things. I also tried the manual shift mode and it didn’t do much for me. I found it better to leave it in drive and let the car shift itself. It also cruises at 1500 to 2000 RPM. That keeps the noise to a minimum.

Tomorrow, I’m going to look at the interior and see what that has to offer.

This entry was posted on December 5, 2012 at 10:35 am and is filed under Products with tags Dodge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.