1 month ago 10th May 12:00
Chrysler Dodge Journey - The Americans’ have tried to infiltrate big, bold and brassy cars to little old England sadly with not much success. Chyrsler however, the only independently owned manufacturer in North America, have gone back to the drawing board to design a more suitable car for our roads. The result is a rather spectacular crossover SUV from the Dodge family and aptly named Journey.
Whereas other Dodge members may be rugged, robust with the ability to conquer all terrain, the Journey is aimed fair and square at the UK families. The Journey has been designed to make every journey we encounter with our children as pleasant as possible and comes at a time the SUV sector is booming. The modern day family requires a vehicle that can accommodate the offspring, has plenty of storage solutions, is a safe as Fort Knox yet provides a bit of zest in the driving department.
Having just returned from Oslo in Norway where the Journey was launched, I can honestly say Chyrsler have certainly done their homework. The Dodge crosshair chrome grille with the Dodge Ram head in the centre hammers makes the Journey instantly recognisable as a Dodge pedigree but not as fearful as its siblings.
Inside Chyrsler have packed more storage solutions than Ikea with the added benefit every one is covered. Any family will understand a childs need to bring all their toys on even the shortest of journeys. In fact, they could actually bring the whole of Woolworth’s with them for where there is a space there is a binnacle. Under the front seats courtesy of the Flip ‘ Stow’ technique secures my handbag away from prying eyes. The centre console includes a sliding armrest that opens to reveal a five litre storage bin capable of holding 10 DVD’s or 15 CD’s while in the floor behind the front seats are more bins to stash the children’s clobber to name but a few.
So that’s the children taken care of, what about us parents? Well three trims will be available SE, SXT and top of the range R/T. The SE comes with three-zone climate control, tilt and telescopic
Families can opt for either a five or seven seat configuration at no added cost. At launch we were privy to the latter and I can assure you, the seats are extremely user friendly using just one hand so you can hang onto the trolley or child, pull a lever and hey presto, the seat dutifully obeys. With a 2-3-2 layout, accessing the third row is Childs play as the second row seats slide forward enabling the children to clamber through. What |I really like about the Dodge Journey is the added touches that makes life for us mums easier such as the integrated child booster seats and a child presenter seat. This allows the child to be brought closer to the front seat thus more engaged on the surroundings, eliminates any shouting and makes teaching them the Highway Code easier. Not that they will want to if you opt for the rear seat entertainment system that includes an 8-inch colour monitor that works with the DVD player located sensibly in the instrument panel.
So that’s the children taken care of, what about us parents? Well three trims will be available SE, SXT and top of the range R/T. The SE comes with three-zone climate control, tilt and telescopic steering wheel, tyre pressure, electric windows, electric folding door mirrors and a six disc CD with MP3 compatibility. This variant is the only one with a confirmed price tag of £16,995. Now the main competitors will be the likes of the Ford C- Max, Peugeot 807 and Mazda 5 all of which are around 10 per cent more in price. A bit of cut throating going on here but Chrysler expect the remaining models to keep the same 10 per cent distance in price. This is good news for cost conscious families on a tight budget.
I drove the R/T variant with electrically operated front seats clad in a stain plus odour resistant cloth, and it came with a Parkview Rear Camera oh so needed, as rear visibility is seriously marred not just from the dimensions, but when the third row headrests are up.
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