Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged Dodge
2005 Dodge Sprinter
Nov 13th
Okay, so it’s true that unless you’re a small business owner, an FBI agent on stakeout or a serial killer, full-size vans haven’t been even remotely cool since the 1970s, assuming you’re willing to concede that they were even cool then. So you can be forgiven for not realizing that Dodge has just done some significant shaking-up of the full-size van market with the introduction of the Sprinter.
That’s right, the die-hard Ram Van is no more. Unlike Ford and Chevrolet, who have fielded evolutionary updates to their full-size vans in recent years, Dodge threw the blueprint away entirely and badge-engineered this German behemoth instead. The newest van to wear the Dodge crosshair grille stands head and shoulders above the competition, literally, and it’s built by Mercedes. Yes, it’s big. How big is it? You’ll find Sprinters wearing Freightliner badges as well as Dodge’s nameplate. No, seriously, how big? Most of the Sprinters you see will have DHL, UPS or FedEx livery. But you can buy your own, too.
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2005 Dodge Durango Adventurer
Nov 13th
The name badge said “Adventurer,” so we took the new Durango adventuring. We drove to the northern Michigan wilderness on a rescue mission, and we prowled urban Detroit, and Dodge’s “tween-”sized SUV showed equal ability at both tasks.
Redesigned in 2004, the rough, tough, do-it-all Durango adds the Adventurer model for this year. Aimed at active customers who take their SUVs camping and traveling, the Durango Adventurer (the name once graced Dodge pickup trucks) features additional cargo carrying gear and off-road protection. Add heated cloth seats and a HEMI V8 engine to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for a nice adventure indeed. More >
2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT
Nov 13th
You’ve probably got a lot of ideas about what a minivan is. It’s a people-mover, it’s a symbol of middle-age stodginess, it’s a parking-lot hogging visibility blocker. We’d like to add one more idea to the pile: it’s a tree fort on wheels.
Remember the tree fort you had (or wanted) as a kid? It was the home base for most summertime adventures. Bring a sleeping bag and a lantern, and you could camp out in it. There was space for a stash of snacks, space for friends to hang out, and plenty of comfortable places to sit. A recent long trip in the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan revealed it to have all of the qualities of that old tree fort, with one telling difference. In fact, it’s better, because unlike that tree fort star cruiser or pirate ship which was always in the same place once your imagination wound down, the Caravan can actually take you out on those adventures. Okay, a minivan can’t navigate the stars or the stormy Atlantic, but anyplace in the continental U.S. is fair game. Ahoy, matey, indeed. More >