Drew Dowdell

LOL wut? They were literally the subject of a class action and frame recall.

You found southern survivors. And the average LX/Land Cruiser buyer is a special breed of buyer. They have some of the highest average net worth, wealthy but not flashy. They buy for the long haul and use the dealer for service. And while they could afford something new, they have no problem babying it to 200k before giving it to their son to take to Harvard as a legacy. Then once they hit the secondary market, their off-road capabilities and rareness get them scooped up by the Land Cruiser cult and either preserved or turned into overlanders. So they spend more of their life babied than say, an Explorer, because of their rarity and capability. But when they follow the normal aging process without the constant attention of a Toyota dealer, they deteriorate the same as any Camry LE, but with the added perk of frame rot. Tahoes and Suburbans last just as long with more severe duty and more neglect, but no one cares to preserve them because there’s a zillion of them out there.

My Encore's interior was in perfect shape after 7 years and 113k miles, I got compliments on how nice it looked. I think GM has only gotten better since then. My observation of old Toyotas is that people love to overlook the flaws because it still starts and runs, and Toyota has a bad rep for rust, particularly in trucks and BOF SUV. So sure that old LX might run, but the paint has pealed off, the headlight housings are dark yellow, the dash is cracked, and half the electronics don't work... but sure it runs.

LOL the Enclave is not a bottom feeder. And fancy leather does not a quality interior make... in fact, if that is the only improvement they do, then it's a rather cynical and lazy upgrade to try and make that claim. I mean... This is an official Toyota press photo of the Tundra Capstone and I can see flaws in the fitting of the leather... uneven creases. One seat almost has pleats while the other is flat. If you look up photos of people who did reviews, you can see similar flaws. Just scroll through the interior pics to see them all. I'm also not a big fan of the seat styling... it looks like one designer did 2/3s and another designer did 1/3. Aside from the two-tone, they don't look like anything special. That leather wrap on the a-pillar grab handle is just a cheap cynical addition to lipstick over the cheap plastic underneath. Verses the Silverado High Country. I *really* like this new interior. It harkens back to the broad horizontal dashboards of yesteryear. It has a large screen, but it doesn't look like an iPad slapped on the dash with a holder from Wish like the Tundra does. It is far better integrated into the dash and doesn't look out of place. Oh look... it has Super Cruise too... something no Toyota has. Notice no visible flaws in the leather. Then there is the Sierra Denali. Gone are the days of identical interiors between the GMC and Chevy. The GMC moves the central HVAC vents and gets an extra storage cubby. The dash flows into the center console and the HVAC controls are at more of an angle. It has handsomely stitched leather and engraved open-pore wood. Again the screen looks properly integrated rather than an iPad slapped on the dash. Much more handsome seats with tri-tone colors, and the same engraving pattern on the dash is replicated on the seats. That pattern btw is the topographical map of the summit of Mount Denali. The a-pillar and b-pillar grab handles are fully leather wrapped and there is a microsuede headliner. Then there's the Lexus LX..... That's luxury?? The Palisade and Telluride are better than that... easily. or try a Grand Wagoneer or Yukon Denali The days of bad domestic interiors are very much over. Now... these are all the top zoot luxury barges from their respective brands.... so back to the Hornet. This looks perfectly acceptable for a sub-$30k small crossover with performance intentions. I looks remarkably similar to the Mazda CX-30 which is the most likely closest competitor.

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No, not really anymore. Very plastic and creaky. Feels very cheap. The new Silverado / Sierra can blow away the Tundra. The new Canyon looks like it will do the same to the Tacoma. The RX isn’t even close to Enclave level. Only the LS / LX get decent quality interiors at Toyota these days. Yeah, the tiny motors are what kill the GX for me, but I have to admit they are probably the best use of space verse length you’ll find today.

They’re dull as dishwater and their interiors of the consumer grade (Not LS/LX) models are really cheaped out for the price paid. The Accord has a nicer interior than an ES. Palisade/Telluride is nicer than RX/GX. Etc. Dodge knows this is going to be a niche product, otherwise they would be building them in the US not Italy. They’re not targeting moms with 3 kids who are looking to replace their 11 year old CR-V.

Unless you travel to or interact closely with people from NYC, at this time you don’t need to do anything. But just be aware of it in case it starts spreading nationally. The only reason I’m doing it is because of my NYC interactions. Defenders are my default purchase for any vehicle. The best 3-season tire out there.

There is community spread of polio in NYC and some of the rural counties nearby. There is a large religious community in the rural counties that is anti-vax and that is compounding the situation. Most polio cases are asymptomatic, but there are a slim number of paralytic cases. One man in NY is already paralyzed from it. It is now detectable in the sewer water, which is how they know it is spreading. I have several NY trips coming up both into the city and to the county where it was first detected. Plus a have friends from NYC who visit regularly. it’s time for me to get that booster too.

We don’t have Discount Tire near me. I just buy through Costco because they don’t mess around with warranty, plus I get 5% cash back via their credit card and executive membership.

I plan on doing the polio booster too since I have travel planned to NYC. Did I post something about that? Lol ! I’ve been waiting for the next Costco Michelin sale for a while now. Both the 300 and Avalanche are in dire need of tires.

The GLA and X1 are also smaller inside than this will be. What CX-3? Mazda canceled it. 2021 was the last model year and it’s already out of production.

I think once it gets around that you can get an Alfa for Dodge money, it’ll sell to that set. All of the options you listed are significantly slower (8s - 10s range) than the base Hornet (6.5s), except the RAV4 PHEV, but that’s a $45k vehicle base if you can find one without markup. This is aimed at people who want more sport.

As if there’s not a crapload of small premium SUVs out there? GLA? X1? X2? Q3? Whatever the Lexus ones are these days? Encore GX? XT4? Tonale of course… I’m actually surprised there isn’t an Acura version of the HR-V yet. How about an Infiniti QX20 based on the Kicks?

The Encore and Encore GX are marvels of modern packaging. I can't think of any (ICE) platform from any other manufacturer that gave that much interior room in such a short space. I genuinely liked my Encore's size when it was just the two of us, but as we now have to transport aging parents, it got too small for 4.

I haven't tried the new Compass yet... it looks very Corsair inside, just a little more "woodsy"

I'm not sure why, but the Compass feels a lot more snug than the Equinox. The Terrain feels downright airy. I know the Nox and Terrain have identical dimensions. I've always considered the Cherokee with its larger cargo capacity to be more of the equivalent to the TerriNox. MotorTrend compares the Tonale to the XC40 and Q3... which is probably about right.

The Hornet will be a little bit smaller than those (cue the roominess complaints in a vehicle intended to be a sports crossover). This isn't a direct replacement for the Journey in that regard and it won't line up against the CR-V/RAV-4/TerriNox directly because it will be more compact. From an interior size perspective, I would expect this to line up more between an Encore GX and a BMW X3.

It's not unprecedented. We're still below the inflation of the 70s and 80s that was in both of our lifetimes.

There’s a bunch of option packages listed in the release already. The engine of the PHEV is tiny. I’m sure they are managing the battery to it never goes to zero just like the Volt does, and there is plenty of Regen possibilities Don’t be so negative

In normal mode, the engine output gets dialed back for efficiency. The bigger Terrain 2.0T with a 9-speed gets into the 30s on the highway, so I would expect similar numbers from this. Not an unreasonable expectation when the bigger/heavier Cherokee with the previous version of this engine does 26 mpg. The Pacifica Hybrid does 83 MPGe, so the PHEV Hornet R/T should easily meet or exceed that. For my household, the Hornet R/T would effectively be a high powered EV in daily commuting. For both of us our daily round trip is less than 30 miles. I dont think fuel economy will be an issue for either model.

This is a huge move up market for Dodge. I’m guessing that the “under $30k” part means $28,995 + $995 destination charge base price. The Journey could be had for as little as $23k and that was a bigger vehicle. That said, I’m pretty intrigued by it.

Dodge took the wraps off a muscular new compact crossover that packs quite the sting. The 2023 Dodge Hornet will be one of the quickest and most powerful entries into the compact crossover segment with even the base model having best in class performance. Based on the same sporty platform as the Alfa-Romeo Tonale, the 2023 Hornet gets the Dodge Brother's take on what a compact crossover should be. Power The Hornet packs two powertrain options. The base Hornet GT comes with a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with direct injection and start-stop producing an estimated 265+ horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque running to all wheels, standard, via a 9-speed automatic transmission. Priced under $30k, this makes the Hornet GT the most powerful vehicle available under that price point. In normal driving, the power is dialed back for fuel efficiency and emissions, however, the GT has a Sport Mode button on the steering wheel that unlocks a quicker throttle response, tighter steering feel, and if equipped with Dual Stage shocks a stiffer suspension setting, along with releasing the full horsepower and torque specs. The base GT gets from 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. The Hornet R/T PHEV is the first electrified performance vehicle. (The first electrified Dodge was the 2009-only Dodge Durango Hemi-Hybrid). The R/T features a 1.3-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with third-generation MultiAir technology and 6-speed automatic combined with a 90-kW electric motor that powers the rear wheels. Combines, the powertrain deploys 285 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. Takeoffs should be brisk with the electric motor alone delivering 184 lb-ft of torque at 0 rpm. The Hornet R/T carries a 15.5-kWh lithium-ion refrigerant cooled battery pack, while a belt starter-generator adds and smooths torque from the internal combustion engine while also providing some battery regeneration capabilities. A 7.4-kW charging inverter allows for the battery to be charged from zero to full in about 2.5 hours from a household Level-2 charging. The battery is capable of delivering up to 30 miles of EV-only range. The same Sport Mode is available on the R/T as the GT, however the R/T PHEV gets an extra "sting" in reserve with its PowerShot feature. The Powershot feature boosts horsepower by 25 and increases torque for 15 seconds which shaves a full second off the 0-60 time, down to 6.1 seconds. Powershot is activated by pulling both steering wheel mounted paddle shifters and stomping the pedal. After 15 seconds, the vehicle enters a 15 second cool down period before the PowerShot can be repeated. When you're not hooning it, the Hornet R/T has several efficiency modes. Hybrid Mode: Provides maximum combined efficiency of the conventional engine and e-Motor, minimizing fuel consumption by setting electric priority until a minimum battery level is met. Electric Mode: Offers an all-electric, zero emission mode, and automatically switches to hybrid when the battery is depleted or when extra power is requested by driver pedal kickdown. E-Save Mode: Gives priority to the conventional engine to preserve battery charge, with a Passive option to maintain the charge and an Active option to help recharge the battery. Dodge also showed the Dodge Hornet GT GLH (Goes Like Hell) Concept that previews additional dealer-added parts via the Dodge Direct Connection pack. Some of the options shown on the GLH Concept are: Stage kit that offers stackable performance upgrades for the GT model Suspension lowering kit drops the Hornet more than an inch, creating a lower center of gravity and enhanced cornering dynamics Unrestricted dual exhaust with black chrome tips provide a throaty performance note Exclusive Direction Connection GLH 20-inch painted and machine-faced wheels Exclusive Direct Connection GLH graphics, including stripes and logos Black-painted lower trim with exhaust cutout rear fascia Horsepower, performance, and pricing numbers for the Direct Connection parts will be available at a later date. Driving What is all that power without the power to control it? The 2023 Hornet leads in this department as well with a hive of class exclusive driving performance features. Koni frequency selective damping shocks - Standard on GT and R/T - Class Exclusive Front Brembo four-piston fixed calipers - Optional on GT / Standard on R/T - Class Exclusive Brake-by-wire - Standard on R/T - Class Exclusive Driver-selectable Dual-Stage-Valve suspension - Optional with Track Pack option on GT and R/T - Class Exclusive Fully Independent suspension with 3-link rear Chapman suspension - Standard on GT and R/T Dynamic Torque Vectoring that can act as an electronic limited-slip differential in Sport Mode - Standard on GT and R/T Best-in-class weight distribution - Standard on GT and R/T Interior Dodge didn't skimp on technology on the Hornet's interior. Coming standard is a 12.3-inch digital cockpit cluster screen and a 10.25-inch Uconnect 5 Infotainment display. The gauge screen is split into three zones that the driver can customize. The Android-based Uconnect 5 system allows for HVAC, seat controls, and more to be customized and linked to driver profiles. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto is standard, while Amazon Alexa is built in, allowing for control of home devices or using home-based Alexa devices to control the car remotely. Wireless charging is standard on GT and R/T plus. Standard on the GT Plus and R/T Plus is a Harman-Kardon premium sound system with 14 speakers and 465 watts of power. Safety The Hornet gets a honeycomb of advanced safety features including Level 2 autonomous driving with the optional Tech Pack. Standard Advanced Driver-Assistance System features for all models include: Automatic Emergency Braking, which detects pedestrians or cyclists on the road and delivers a visual and acoustic warning, and can bring the vehicle to a full stop to mitigate collision Lane Support System gives a visual and haptic warning when straying from a vehicle lane while driving and performs automatic counter steering Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross Path alerts drivers via a visual warning through a triangular icon on the side mirrors, chimes with a warning when the turn signal is active, and the system also detects approaching vehicles or objects when backing up Optional with the Tech Pack: Intelligent Speed Assist w/Traffic Sign Recognition detects the speed limit and provides the driver a one-click option to adjust speeds Driver Attention Assist detects signs of fatigue and alerts weary drivers with a visual and acoustic warning on the cluster Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (IACC) maintains an appropriate speed and distance with functionality that supports stop and go traffic Lateral Control/Lane Support system combines Lane Control and Traffic Jam Assist to keep the vehicle centered on the lane The 2023 Dodge Hornet will be built in Stellantis's Giambattista Vico Stellantis plant in Pomigliano d’Arco, Naples, Italy, with the GT available later in 2022 and R/T PHEV arriving in Spring 2023 View full article