Review: 2013 Dodge Dart Limited – Part 6
Before I give my final verdict on the Dodge Dart Limited, let me wrap up a few loose ends. First of all, my wife and I took it shopping. Here’s how our haul fit into the trunk:
We fit two baskets of food and we had a ton of space left over. Next we took the Dart cross country skiing at Hardwood Ski And Bike which is an hour north of Toronto. Thus we had to use the ski pass thru:
It works well, but I would highly recommend using it with a ski bag to keep things from flying about in the event of a panic stop. Hint to Dodge: Other car companies (and I am thinking of BMW and Mercedes Benz when I say this) either have a logo’ed ski bag included with the car or as a low cost option. I think you’re missing an opportunity here.
Skiing requires some gear and some munchies. Here’s how that looked in the trunk:
Again, there’s a ton of space left over. I’m impressed. However, the trunk lacked a proper handle. So while you can open it from inside the car or from the key fob which will keep your hands clean, you will get your hands dirty closing it.
One other thing: The Dart handled itself well in the snow both when my wife and I went skiing as well as during a snowstorm this past Friday. As long as you have a set of snow tires, you’re good to go.
I’ll also make note of something else. The Dart Limited comes with puddle lights for front passengers:
And rear passengers:
Nice touch! Speaking of lights, the Dart Limited comes with HID headlights which light the way in front of you exceptionally well. Not only that, they’re of the automatic variety which turn themselves on and off depending on the light conditions. I liked the fact that the threshold where the lights turn is pretty high. The lights turn on when light begins to get low rather than when the light is low. That’s a great safety feature.
My final fuel economy at the end of this? 7.5 L/100 KM. This was in city and highway traffic. I also had to deal with stop and go traffic as well. Very impressive!
So, would I get a Dodge Dart. I would have to say yes. It’s a good car to live with and I love the fuel economy that I got during this test along with the power the engine put out. It’s a well appointed car at this trim level with a good amount of content. Including UConnect which I was extremely impressed with. I also felt that with 10 airbags and a pile of electronic overseers on board, I was safe as can be. I did have a few gripes, but nothing that turned me off the car. I should point out that the Limited trim level as I tested it is $30,560 CAD. That’s on the upper end of what I would pay for a compact car and it still has another trim level to go. I’d be more likely to pick a lower trim level to save some cash as the Dart starts from $15,995 CAD with 6 trim levels to choose from. Having said all of that, the Limited trim level is a very nice car. Those who choose it will love it.
Dodge has a great car on it’s hands here. Though I will note that I only saw two other Darts on the road while driving this one. That’s a shame as this is a great car and there should be more of them out there. If you’re looking for a compact car, you should seriously look at the Dodge Dart. It’s well designed and well executed and something that should get the attention of Honda, Ford, Toyota among others because it is that good. If this is what’s coming from Dodge in the near future, there’s a lot to look forward to.
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