Imagine coasting down the main motorway. Glancing in your rear vision mirror, you see a rapidly approaching car. The front nose is aggressive and looks muscley as it houses a large grille. It darts out to pass your vehicle and quickly accelerates until what you see is a rapidly disappearing, strikingly powerful back end that boasts dual three-and-a-half-inch chrome exhaust tips and a rear spoiler. That, you think to yourself, was quite a car! What you would have just seen is the all new Dodge Avenger RT.

The Dodge Avenger is a fantastic looking car that has some of the best looking shoulders in the business. Distinctive and different, the Avenger is a clear alternative in the midsize segment. The Dodge Avenger styling is perhaps best shown off in the RT guise which has bulges and curves in all the right places making it one of the best looking sporty drives around. Add to this the ability of seating five in comfort, and Dodge is onto what I believe is a real winner.

To drive the Dodge Avenger is smooth and well balanced. And when pushed hard by an enthusiast, the Dodge Avenger will reveal loads of tenacious grip, particularly in the RT trim.

There’s no Euro NCAP result yet, but it’s likely to score well. Six airbags, ABS brakes, traction control and three-point seatbelts for all five occupants are standard on all Dodge Avenger models.

What are the power trains like? Well, the Dodge Avenger is front-wheel drive in all model variants. However an all-wheel drive version is available. The engines that drive the Dodge Avenger come as: a 2.4 litre, 4-cyl engine that packs 130 kW; a 2.7 litre V6, packing 141 kW; and a 3.5 litre V6 which holds a hefty 175 kW. Transmissions come in either a 4-speed automatic for the base models or 6-speed automatic for the most powerful engine. The Dodge Avenger will also come powered by a 2.0 litre turbodiesel CRD engine. The diesel will be the cheapest to run, returning 45.6mpg on the combined cycle. It also will be the least polluting. The motor comes from Volkswagen and should provide sound reliability. The diesel version is run through a six-speed manual gearbox and performs well, with the top gear providing a relaxed cruise.

Inside, the Dodge Avenger has a .neatly styled interior that incorporates a pleasantly curved instrument panel for the driver. The seats are comfortable and there’s plenty of space for three in the back. The boot is large, if not gaping, and the door pockets offer handy storage space for little bits and pieces that inevitably find their way into the car’s cabin. There’s also a slim glovebox in the front, and a small central cubby between the front seats. There are two cupholders available – one of which can heat or cool drinks, which is an innovative device in my book. Air conditioning comes as standard, but electric front windows are only fitted to the top-spec SXT models. Those in the back, like everyone in the base SE models, have manual window winders. An MP3-compatible audio system with four speakers is standard. The Dodge Avenger SXT gains Boston acoustic speakers, and a satellite/navigation system. Included in the optional package is a 276-watt six-channel Boston Acoustics sound system that can divide up the cabin into three sound zones. Wow! Other Dodge Avenger options include Chrysler’s new MyGIG audio/navigation system with its own 20-gigabyte hard drive that stores up to 1,600 songs. Also optional is a magnificent rear-seat entertainment centre that includes a DVD player screen that will flick up from the back of the centre console. The rear seat has a 60/40 split-folding feature to increase cargo space, and even the front passenger seat can be folded forward to extend cargo capacity. The folded front seatback can also be used as a desk for a mobile office.

The Dodge Avenger looks great and, particularly in the larger engine variants, it has decent power and excellent handling. Anyone contemplating the purchase of a plain vanilla medium sized sedan best take a look at the Avenger first.

Current model series include:

• Dodge Avenger SE
• Dodge Avenger SXT
• Dodge Avenger R/T

For any more information on the Dodge Avenger, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Dodge dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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