2009 Dodge Journey

Chrysler’s first crack at a crossover, the minivan-based Pacifica was neither roomy, inexpensive, nor fuel efficient ended up a bust after five years on the market aand was quietly put out of its misery this year.

Humbled by the car-buying public’s total lack of enthusiasm for its luxurious self-styled “segment buster,” Chrysler returned again to the crossover segment with its 2009 Dodge Journey.

The Journey, like the Pacifica, is also a mid-size crossover available with three-row seating. But that’s about the only common ground between the two.

Built using Dodge Avenger bones, the Journey is similar in size to the $26,870 Chevrolet Equinox. Its rivals in this crowded segment are not only the General Motors crossovers, but also the $23,999 Ford Escape and $25,995 Hyundai Santa Fe (and others). Yet the new Dodge crossover’s pricing is more in line with less expensive compact cars.

Unlike the Pacifica, which Chrysler tried to sell in the $40,000-plus range, a front-wheel-drive/four-cylinder/five-passenger base Journey SE can be had for $19,995. That includes air conditioning, heated exterior mirrors, power windows, door locks, stability control and six-CD stereo.

Even a fully loaded AWD V6 R/T Journey with a DVD screen, three-row leather seating and a personal masseuse (okay, no personal masseuse) can be rolled out of Dodge showrooms for under $35,000 — about the price of a mid-range Honda CR-V.

So right away, Dodge has everyone’s attention with its dollar store pricing. My Journey SE, even with the Plus package (floor mats, a cargo cover, illuminated vanity mirrors, keyless entry, cruise control, security alarm, roof rail crossbars) came to only $20,995.

But what — if any — are the compromises of a vehicle that can be had for thousands less than its competition?

First off: based purely on roominess and unique storage solutions, the interior is hard to fault.

Stealing from Chrysler’s clever minivans, useful touches include a hideaway compartment under the front passenger seat cushion and in-floor storage bins in the second row. With removable plastic liners, you can add ice and use them like coolers. And the middle section of the second-row seat drops for long items to pass through.

If that’s not enough, five-passenger models possess 1,121 litres of cargo room with the rear seats up. Fold them down, and you get 1,915 litres, plus a large storage compartment under the cargo floor that three-row Journeys don’t have.

Just don’t expect any of the luxury touches or refined driving qualities from the late Pacifica showing up in the new Journey.

Not only does the Dodge’s cabin scream “cost cutting” with bland plastics and a back-to-the-Seventies cubist design theme, some of its ergonomic solutions are downright abominable — right up (down?) there with Dodge’s lamentable Nitro:

• The Journey’s standard tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel helps you find a good driving position, but the seats are Saskatchewan-flat and prairie hard;

• Its four-speed automatic’s shift lever is positioned too far back from the driver;

• Perhaps the most egregious ergonomic error is the obstruction of the driver’s instrumentation by the steering wheel. It blocks the temperature gauge and the right half of the tach. The irony here is that there’s room in the panel for both gauges to be located lower, where they would be seen.

What gives? Didn’t anyone at Chrysler sit in the Journey before the final design sign-off?

I’d like to say the Journey SE Plus test car made up for its ergonomic mess by inspiring the driver in me. But sadly, that wasn’t the case either.

Definitely, with its pillowy ride and balloon 70-series Hankook all-seasons, the Journey SE Plus delivers a serene and quiet ride on smooth pavement. Bumps and potholes are nicely absorbed, too.

It’s all perfect if your idea of a spirited drive is getting a great parking spot at the grocery store.

But the Dodge’s engine roar, when you accelerate to highway speeds, enhanced by the long gaps between the mandatory four-speed automatic ratios, negates any driving serenity when pushing on it.

Throw in finger-light steering, a predilection to roll in tight corners, brake pedal feel that rivals the Hankook’s compliant sidewalls and it’s easy to see the Journey SE Plus’s ride-and-drive paradigm was the vehicle it theoretically replaces in Dodge’s lineup — the short wheelbase Caravan minivan.

At least the Journey’s 173 hp 2.4 L four delivers decent fuel economy. It’s rated at 11.0 L/100 km city, 8.0 highway, with an as-tested 10.5. That’s better than the Hyundai and Chevy V6s, but about the same as the four-banger Ford and Honda.

Dealers and crossover buyers have had to wait a long time for a competitive Dodge crossover. And in the areas of roominess and low pricing, the new Journey certainly delivers — and then some.

In the ensuing years, however, between the launch of the Pacifica and the debut of the Journey, the mid-sized crossover segment has rapidly matured.

Customers aren’t impressed anymore by one or two clever packaging tricks. They can now get functionality, human-friendly ergonomics, decent performance and fuel economy all wrapped in if not one, but several crossover offerings that are rivals to the new Dodge.