Photo: wb.artist20/Instagram
Unless you're talking about crossovers, there aren't many American compact cars left. Ford killed the Focus, along with the ST, while Chevy didn't do much with the Cruze. But the Dodge Dart also had the potential to be a great sports sedan.
The modern Dart sedan looked interesting. It had a very nice shape, like a smaller, more modern Charger. It was powered and underpinned by Fiat tech, and that could have created the reliability issues it was known for. But it's not like basic Dodge models are known for excellent build quality anyway.
No, if you want a small Dodge to be cool, it can't play by the same rules as Toyota and Honda. Rather than efficiency, it needs to have power and performance on its side.
At first, it seems impossible to imagine a Hellcat engine inside a Dodge Dart. It's a compact, not a muscle car, and the platform is all wrong for that. But this rendering from Oscar Vargas helps us picture a "Baby Charger" with the help of the SXT trim from 2013, which was already quite sporty-looking.
Naturally, the Dart's hood gains a bulging hood big enough for a dragster, together with revised bumpers and a widebody kit. This reminds us of other small cars which received engine you'd consider too powerful, such as the Nissan Juke powered by an R35 GT-R's twin-turbo V6.
Most of the time, compacts have transversally-mounted four-cylinder engines. But there are exceptions. For example, the Cadillac Allante had a transverse V8, as did the Volvo XC90, or the Ford Taurus SHO. And speaking of Cadillac, the forgotten Oldsmobile Aurora came with a transverse-mounted, 4.0-liter version of Cadi’s Northstar.
But the rendering suggests the Hellcat 6.2-liter V8 sits longitudinally. Again, there are examples of such modifications that were still road-legal, though they are few.
Of course, if you're talking about the classics, Dodge made plenty of V8 Darts. But the modern compact should have also come with a performance version. Back in 2012, reports talked about Ralph Gilles' team working on an SRT version. This was rumored to have either the Alfa Romeo Giulietta's Cloverleaf engine, a 1.7-liter with about 230 horsepower, or a turbocharged and intercooler larger displacement version of the Dart's Tigershark 2.0-liter.
No, if you want a small Dodge to be cool, it can't play by the same rules as Toyota and Honda. Rather than efficiency, it needs to have power and performance on its side.
At first, it seems impossible to imagine a Hellcat engine inside a Dodge Dart. It's a compact, not a muscle car, and the platform is all wrong for that. But this rendering from Oscar Vargas helps us picture a "Baby Charger" with the help of the SXT trim from 2013, which was already quite sporty-looking.
Naturally, the Dart's hood gains a bulging hood big enough for a dragster, together with revised bumpers and a widebody kit. This reminds us of other small cars which received engine you'd consider too powerful, such as the Nissan Juke powered by an R35 GT-R's twin-turbo V6.
Most of the time, compacts have transversally-mounted four-cylinder engines. But there are exceptions. For example, the Cadillac Allante had a transverse V8, as did the Volvo XC90, or the Ford Taurus SHO. And speaking of Cadillac, the forgotten Oldsmobile Aurora came with a transverse-mounted, 4.0-liter version of Cadi’s Northstar.
But the rendering suggests the Hellcat 6.2-liter V8 sits longitudinally. Again, there are examples of such modifications that were still road-legal, though they are few.
Of course, if you're talking about the classics, Dodge made plenty of V8 Darts. But the modern compact should have also come with a performance version. Back in 2012, reports talked about Ralph Gilles' team working on an SRT version. This was rumored to have either the Alfa Romeo Giulietta's Cloverleaf engine, a 1.7-liter with about 230 horsepower, or a turbocharged and intercooler larger displacement version of the Dart's Tigershark 2.0-liter.
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