New Avenger with attitude

Oct 12 2007 By Phil Vaughan

This feature-packed Dodge is cruising towards the UK with a message for the competition - duck

Dodge thinks British drivers have an attitude problem - a distinct lack of it in the car styling department.

Enter the firm's Avenger four-door saloon, which takes a clear sidestep away from those all-pervading clean-cut lines to bring a little American boxy brashness into the large family car fray.

Put together with the aid of muscular wheel arches, a sectional nose, and distinctive rear shoulder upcurves, the very different look of the Dodge delivers street attitude in full measure. It's healthy for the sector to have some of the Wild West, chin-out, go-for-your-gun approach to design, and UK badge newcomer Dodge is destined for greater things if motorists make it equally quick on the sales draw.

The Avenger's cabin, by contrast, is more understated, and delivers in all departments of comfort, ease of use, and leg-shoulder space.

For further flexibility, the rear seats fold easily, and you can get surprisingly large boxes through those rear doors - which also affirms the easy access for passengers.

To see how the Dodge delivers from under the bonnet, it is helpful to stand it up against other engines. This Avenger has power, but only average performance. The 1968cc, 138bhp four-cylinder turbo diesel is a strong engine, with the peak 229lb/ft of torque delivered at just 2,500 rpm, so here's the ideal saloon for pulling a medium to large caravan.

So the Dodge is on the same workhorse level as a Land Rover Freelander 2 3.2-litre petrol, whose top torque is only slightly higher at 234lb/ft.

Yet the lighter, sleeker Dodge, with a 12-second best, is almost four seconds slower than the 4x4 Freelander from zero to 62mph. There's always the sensation, in any of the Avenger's six manual gears, that you step on the gas and wait for the engine to catch up. Then again, the mpg is a very good 45.6 on the combined cycle, with a four-door Ford Mondeo 2.0-litre diesel returning 47.9. Benefit-in-kind tax is paid at the same level as the Blue Oval best-seller, too.

With firmish suspension, a lowered ride, and all responses on the ball, driving this Dodge leaves nothing to be really desired.

Petrol versions of the Avenger, 2.0 and 2.4-litres in size, are available, the latter only as an automatic.

With just five models on sale in Britain, trim levels are down to just two - SE and SXT. But the lead-in SE's kit list is all-embracing, both in terms of safety and standard luxury items, which makes the Avenger 2.0CRD SE dirt cheap at £15,995 - it only misses out on a little leather trim, satnav, audio controls on the steering wheel, and a heated-powered driver's seat.

Everything else is thrown in - tinted, solar-control glass, centre console with slide armrest, powered folding heated mirror, full airbag roster, locking wheel nuts, a tyre-pressure alert and lots, lots more.

With the convenience of boot cargo nets and other items, the Avenger is a solid start for Dodge in the UK market - one that will help the firm achieve its aim of a 1.4 per cent share of the European market by 2009.

the facts..

Model: Dodge Avenger 2.0 CRD SE £15,995. Range from 2.0 SE (£14,995) to 2.4 SXT auto (£17,995)

Engine: 1968cc with an output of 138bhp.

Transmission: 6-speed manual gearbox driving front wheels.

Performance: Top speed 126mph, 0-62mph in 12 seconds.

CO2 emissions: 170g/km.

Economy: 45.6mpg