<\/p>\n
After hours in a local Dodge dealership, I imagine the conversation goes like this:<\/p>\n
Challenger SRT Hellcat: Okay, kid, ya gotta get the guys\u2019 attention tomorrow. The boy racers. You know, stir their testosterone. I want you to let out a primal roar. VHHRRROOOOOOOOM! Got it? You try.<\/i><\/p>\n
Dart GT: Grrrr.<\/i><\/p>\n
Hellcat: Oh, dear.<\/i><\/p>\n The Dodge Dart GT may not be ready to run with the hot hatch crowd \u2014 much less its rowdy siblings \u2014 but give it time. Chrysler\u2019s first foray into the compact car performance segment \u2014 indeed, the first GT since the 1960s Dart \u2014 carries enormous potential for both Chrysler and Dodge as they sort out their new family identities.<\/p>\n When Dart first hit dealer lots in 2012, Dodge was a mainstream brand and Chrysler had upscale aspirations. All that changed with Fiat-Chrysler\u2019s May 5-year plan which returns Chrysler to its rightful place as the company\u2019s family brand and gives Dodge free license to explore its wild side.<\/p>\n Dodge dumped its minivan and Avenger models, married SRT, and began spawning ferocious demons like the Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat. From its corner bed, the compact Dart was wide-eyed.<\/p>\n Back in the troubles of 2009 \u2014 after the White\u00a0House Dart\u2019s target was as much Washington bureaucrats as consumers. Dodge had dusted off the popular Dart name \u2014 dormant since 1976 \u2014 to erase memories of its woeful predecessor, the Caliber, and resurrect the brand\u2019s compact car sales. But Fiat first had to\u00a0satisfy President Obama\u2019s resurrection demands<\/a>. That is, Fiat had to guarantee a 40 mpg Dart with a U.S-made engine before it could take majority share of the Auburn Hills-based company.<\/p>\n Forget horsepower. Dodge engineers poured their talents into a 41 mpg, Michigan-made, 1.4-liter turbo to go with Dart\u2019s standard 2.0 and 2.4-liter\u00a0engines In Dart\u2019s second year of production GT came to market as an afterthought. In a female-heavy segment, it was a nod to the guys \u2014 a sportily-outfitted upgrade to the SXT-trimmed 2.4 liter. Original plans for a raucous R\/T had been shelved. The targeted demographic was small, they said. Better to concentrate on the base model, they said. The conservative GT was born.<\/p>\n That was then, this is now. There\u2019s no room for \u201cconservative\u201d in the new Dodge. Not with motorhead CEO Tim Kuniskis in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n No sooner had the burnout smoke cleared from Kunikis\u2019s introduction of the supercharged Challenger SRT Hellcat this summer than he unveiled a Hellcat version of Dodge\u2019s four-door \u201cfamily\u201d sedan, the Charger. I\u2019m not making this up. True to Dodge\u2019s reborn performance mission, you can now smoke BMWs out of Woodward stoplights while taking the kids to school. Indeed, the family sedan beats the Challenger Hellcat to a quarter mile (11.0 seconds vs. 11.2).<\/p>\n \u201cNo kid ever grew up with a poster of a Passat on his wall,\u201d Kuniskis likes to say.<\/p>\n If Dodge is making SRT family sedans, it must have plans for the Dart. Sure enough, buried in General Kuniskis five-year plan for world domination is a 2017 Dodge SRT Dart.<\/p>\n Due in late 2016, Dodge promises a tattooed, all-wheel drive Dart with a blown 4-cylinder engine and more steroids than Barry Bonds\u2019 bathroom cabinet. Subaru WRX and\u00a0VW Golf R<\/a>, check your mirrors.<\/p>\n Challenger SRT Hellcat: Good lord, what happened to you?<\/i><\/p>\n Dart SRT (gnawing on a VW GTI wishbone): \u2019Sup, brother? Wanna go pick on some Mustangs?<\/i><\/p>\n Okay, I\u2019m getting waaaay ahead of ourselves. That\u2019s 2017. What to make of the 2014 Dart GT?<\/p>\n The nimble, roomy compact portends good things not just for Dodge but for the compact Chrysler 100 \u2014 due in 2016 \u2014 that will also carry the Dart\u2019s DNA.<\/p>\n In sharing Dart\u2019s 2.4-liter four-banger with the high-volume SXT model, the GT surrendered its claim to the pocket rocket class where compact sharks like the $30K VW GTI and Focus ST get their own high-output drivetrains. Instead, the GT swims in the same pool as the cheaper Hyundai Elantra GT or\u00a0Toyota Corolla S The upside is the down-market price. For customers who don\u2019t want to pay a 30 grand pocket rocket premium, the $23,000 Dart GT offers beauty without the beast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.intellitxt.com\/ast\/adTypes\/icon1.png\")
<\/a>\u00a0auto task force identified Fiat as the best match for an ill Chrysler\u2019s blood transfusion \u2014 the Dart got the nod as the first state-side model based on an Italian platform. Dodge meet Alfa Romeo Giulietta.<\/p>\n<\/a>. Its press release boasted of \u201cfuel efficiency\u201d no less than 11 times.<\/p>\n<\/a>. That is, they get sexy hard bodies but without the speed.<\/p>\n