Allen Mello Dodge

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• Interior / Walk Around  »
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• Summary

Walk Around

The Dodge Avenger is the first car in a long time to bring some real style to the middle of the American car market, competing directly against a host of cars that are shaped like half-dissolved lozenges. The Avenger unashamedly takes all of its design licks directly from Dodge's first four-door coupe, the Charger, and just downsizes everything a little bit here and there to become a stylish midsize family sedan.

The bodies of both trim levels are the same, front, side and rear, but the R/T version adds a rear decklid spoiler, black-and-chrome grille, and fog lamps just to let you know it's an R/T, even if you're not close enough to read the decklid badge. The grille, the bumpers, the taillights, and that familiar body kick-up at the trailing edge of the rear doors tell you that this is not like the rest of them in the midsize pack. That's how they made a Dodge out of a Chrysler platform.

Interior

2009 Dodge Avenger

One of the interesting features of the Avenger is the Chill Zone, standard in all models, which uses the car's air conditioning system to cool a bin in the passenger side upper instrument panel. The Chill Zone is designed to cool up to four 12-ounce beverage cans, or whatever else the owner can squeeze into the long, narrow space, down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. An optional center console cup holder has a two-way switch that will either heat a beverage container up to 140 degrees or cool it down to 40 degrees, a very American feature.

The interior environs of the new Dodge Avenger were quite pleasant in both the SXT and R/T. The front bucket seats are widely adjustable, comfortable, and generally supportive, although the thigh support is lacking for tall drivers. A standard feature on all models is a tilting, telescoping steering wheel, not usually found in this price class, but welcome and useful.

The instruments are laid out in an orderly, good-looking array, white on black with chrome trim rings, and the brushed-metal center stack presented no challenges to understanding and use. The rear seat area is adequate, but not more. At 6-feet, 4-inches, we would have to sit behind ourselves uncomfortably splay-legged, but perhaps more normal-sized adults would find the rear seat area more accommodating. We didn't. One thing that may make the rear seat area more inviting is the optional DVD entertainment system with a small swing-up screen mounted at the rear end of the center console.

There's plenty of cargo room inside the car with 60/40 split folding rear seats and an optional folding front seat that enables carrying eight-foot-long cargoes. The trunk, at 13.5 cubic feet, is easy to load and unload because the center of the bumper is dropped to create a lower liftover height.

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