2015 Dodge Dart Quick Spin Review

The 2015 Dodge Dart will be a more attractive package for value shoppers during the current selling season, thanks to a revised convenience package that delivers discounted pricing on modern-day must-haves like air conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity, USB ports, active grille shutters and cruise control, as well as power windows, doors and outside mirrors. And that’s on top of the car’s uniquely Euro styling, fun-to-drive personality and robust list of standard and available features.

The Dart is distinguished by a slippery exterior shape that features standard LED stop, turn and tail lamps, with Dodge’s signature “Racetrack” taillight design standard on all but the entry model. There are a wide range of personalization options, too, including Blacktop, California and Rallye appearance packages, while Mopar—the Chrysler Group’s accessories and after-care division—pitches in with separate interior and exterior upgrades of its own.

Multiple style themes also are available for the cabin, highlighted by premium cloth, sport cloth and Nappa leather seating (with perforated inserts in the Dart GT). Another particularly stylish touch is a full-color, 7-inch digital gauge “cluster” that can be reconfigured to meet driver preferences and makes a perfect complement to the car’s precision-look center stack—itself available framed by a “floating island” bezel in upper-grade models.

It’s also worth noting that the Dart serves up a wide palette of exterior finishes, including eye-catchers like Vitamin C orange and Redline 2 red, with a number of trims then showcasing body-color cabin accents.

A pair of powerplants is available for the Dart, starting with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder unit that makes 160 hp and 148 lb.-ft. of torque while also ringing up EPA ratings of 25 mpg city/36 mpg highway/29 mpg combined with a six-speed manual transmission. Then, Dodge provides two performance-oriented options: There’s a four-cylinder turbocharged unit that displaces 1.4 liters in the Dart Aero, which benefits from 160 hp and 184 lb.-ft. of torque, along with elevated EPA marks that top out at 28 mpg city/40 mpg highway/32 mpg combined. Additionally, the Dart SXT, GT and Limited deploy a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that kicks up 184 hp and 174 lb.-ft. of torque, backed by an EPA line that can reach 23 mpg city/35 mpg highway/27 mpg combined; the GT also raises the bar for driving dynamics with sport-tuned steering, suspension, gearing and engine.

With both a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS and a 5-star overall safety score from NHTS, the 2015 Dodge Dart further features high-tech driver-assistance measures like a rearview camera, blind-spot monitor, rear cross-path detection and a rear park-assistance system.

Although the 2015 Dodge Dart does wear a starting price of $16,495, folks should know that that cost does not include basics such as a/c; however, adding that feature—and a whole lot more—as part of the rejiggered Convenience package requires just $775, and that represents a $620 discount compared to ordering that content separately. Of course, there are plenty of more premium features at the upper end of the range, led by Alpine audio and a Uconnect infotainment system with 8.4-inch touchscreen, navigation by Garmin and compatibility with both iPhones and Android phones.

Key enhancements from the comfort department include a heated and leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat (with powered, four-way lumbar adjustment) and heated seating at both front-row positions.