Jonathan Gitlin
Asheville, N.C.—A day after Dodge unveiled its final Hemi V8-powered muscle car, the company also lifted an embargo on driving Impressions of its next vehicle, the Hornet Crossover. That’s a far cry from the 1,025 horsepower Challenger. His much more practical compact crossover, with plug-in hybrid versions priced from $40,000. Ars drove the Hornet around the Asheville suburbs for his day and found a lot to like about this handsome crossover.
But first, a few words about its origin story.
Last February, the world got its first glimpse of Alfa Romeo’s stunning new crossover. Unfortunately named Tonale, many of us are left eyebrows thanks to the news that the car will include his NFT, which acts as a permanent record of the car from production to lifetime maintenance. I hid.
Jonathan Gitlin
Tonale was supposed to arrive in the US by the end of March, but was delayed until May. The reason I bring this up is because as far as sheet metal is concerned, you don’t have to wait for Alfa to arrive in the showroom and drive it. This is because Hornet is an example of a technique known as badge engineering.
Dodge needed something smaller and more fuel efficient to compete with all the V8s it pushed, and the little Alfa fit the bill. This is a practice the auto industry has done many times. Examples include the Saab 9-2x, Fiat 124 Spider, Buick Regal and even the Audi e-tron GT. In this case, due to tight budgets, the Hornet sported a Dodge front grille and all badges said Dodge, but everything else was mechanically identical to the Tonale, as was the bodywork.
The Hornet GT is the base model and will be available in the coming weeks. Starting at $29,995, it’s powered by a turbocharged 2.0 L in-line four-cylinder engine that puts out 268 hp (200 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm), and powers all four of his wheels via a 9-speed automatic transmission. transmit power to Alfa Romeo doesn’t have to worry about the Hornet GT because the company doesn’t import any version to the US that uses this powertrain.
dodge
I drove the Hornet GT briefly, but spent most of my time in the Hornet R/T plug-in hybrid. His R/T, which is set to arrive as a model year 2024 vehicle in late spring, starts at just under $40,000, dropping the Alfa by thousands of dollars in the process. No, there are no NFTs associated with Dodge.
It reportedly hurt Alfa Romeo’s feelings, but enough about the corporate politics within Stellantis. ), which has a turbocharged 1.3 L 4-cylinder engine that drives the front wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission. This produces up to 180 hp (134 kW) and 199 lb-ft (270 Nm), while the 44 hp (33 kW) starter motor can also send that power to the front wheels when needed.
