When released last year, we offered strong reviews of the new Dodge Hornet. We spent most of our time with the 2.0-liter gas version and loved it, decrying it to be our favorite small SUV.
[2023 Dodge Hornet GT new car review]
On a recent visit to Monterey for Car Week, we spent those days with a hybrid version. The …
The PHEV version of the Hornet certainly sounds impressive on paper, though it seems like it doesn't translate quite as well to real life.
I got to drive the Hornet a bit, too, as well as a Tonale for a brief spin, for this past week.
Some additional thoughts:
- Ralph Gilles, Chief Design Officer for Stellantis, said during a "fireside chat" for Alfa Romeo that he's trying to make cars smaller. He's somewhat restricted by safety standards, but the Hornet does indeed feel smaller inside than other cars, but not necessarily in a bad way. You feel like you're in a cocoon rather than in a mere box.
- The Tonale is almost identical to the Hornet. The major differences are that the Tonale has a bit better interior materials and a DNA system to select different driving modes - dynamic, natural and advanced. Other than that, they felt almost exactly the same.
- I'd describe the powertrain peppy and the handling on the sporty side.
- The Hornet has a nice, throaty exhaust note, but it's a tad unpredictable when it will kick in or the hybrid electric drivetrain will kick in. Personally, I like a consistent sound.
- I couldn't help comparing the Dodge Hornet/Alfa Romeo Tonale to a Mazda CX-30. The CX-30 I felt is roomier, has sportier handling/ride, and a more luxe interior. The Hornet has a throatier exhaust note and I felt the engine was a bit peppier.
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
That reminded me that Mazda recently announced it'll be offering a hybrid version of the CX-50. Not unlike the Tonale and Hornet, the hybrid CX-50 uses a Toyota hybrid powerplant. (pulled from the RAV-4 if I remember correctly.)
I'll be interested to see if and how Mazda makes the hybrid CX-50 feel different than the RAV-4.
It's interesting that you like the Hornet so much, I've had two Hornet Hybrids as rentals, and thought that they were a pretty awful car. They do have decent acceleration, but I thought they drove poorly and weren't very user friendly. They weren't R/T versions, so I don't know if that would make any difference.
In reply to RacerBoy75 :
User-friendliness can definitely be subject to the perspective of the user - your results may vary. I also enjoyed the levers (for lack of a better word) for climate controls. It's a personal pet peeve of mine to control temperature with an infotainment center. I like quick and easy access to cool or heat myself up :-)
Pricing on these is the problem (well, quality too based on most reports). For what this thing costs, you're competing against PHEVs from Lincoln, Audi and Volvo. Or you can get something like a Rav 4 Prime, Ford Escape PHEV, etc for about 10 grand less than this Dodge.
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