Dodge Avenger Sedan (2008-present)
| Production | February 2007–present |
|---|---|
| Model years | 2008–present |
| Assembly | Sterling Heights, Michigan, United States |
| Predecessor | Dodge Stratus |
| Body style | 4-door sedan |
| Layout | Front engine, front-wheel drive / four-wheel drive |
| Platform | Chrysler JS platform |
| Engine | 2.0 L VW I4 Diesel
3.6L Pentastar V6 |
| Transmission | 4-speed 40TES automatic 4-speed 41TES automatic 6-speed 62TE automatic 6-speed 62TEM DCT |
| Wheelbase | 108.9 in (2,766 mm) |
| Length | 190.9 in (4,849 mm) |
| Width | 71.8 in (1,824 mm) |
| Height | 58.9 in (1,496 mm) |
| Related | Mitsubishi Lancer Dodge Journey Chrysler Sebring Chrysler 200 Proton Inspira |
| Designer(s) | Ryan Nagode |
The Dodge Avenger name returned in February 2007 as a MY2008 model as a sedan to replace the Dodge Stratus, whose coupe version had replaced the original Avenger in 2001. According to some reports, the Avenger, along with the redesigned Chrysler Sebring, shares a DaimlerChrysler/Mitsubishi Motors platform called JS which used the Mitsubishi GS as a starting point, then was heavily modified. The base engine in the SE and SXT trim levels is the 2.4 L GEMA I4 naturally aspirated "World Engine", a joint venture between DaimlerChrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai. Additional engines include an optional 2.7 L V6 in the SXT and a standard 3.5 L V6 in the R/T trim level. In addition to the 2.4 L "World Engine" and the V6s, export vehicles will be offered with the 2.0 L naturally aspirated "World Engine", as well as a 2.0 L turbocharged diesel (Pumpe-Düse) made by Volkswagen. As a 2008 model, the Dodge Avenger came to showrooms in February 2007.
Features on the new Avenger include optional heated/cooled cup holders as well as Dodge's new "Chill Zone", a feature that comes standard on all Avenger models, which can store up to four 12-US fl oz cans in the glove box and chill them to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Like its Dodge Journey stablemate, the Avenger's exterior was styled by Chrysler's Ryan Nagode. The interior was styled by Ben S. Chang.
The Avenger replaced the Charger as Dodge's car in NASCAR in 2007 for Car of Tomorrow races. It got its first win with former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya in the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway.
The Avenger was officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show on September 28, 2006 as a concept car. It has been launched in Europe and is sold in the United Kingdom, filling a gap in the Chrysler range that was left by the Neon's demise four years earlier. It has also been launched in Australia, although currently with only the 2.4 L engine.
In the United Kingdom, it has been discontinued, although sales continue in the Republic of Ireland and in Western Europe. This new version continues with SE, SXT trim levels and is not badged the same way as North American or the South American versions. The Avenger competes directly with the Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion, with the 2007 and later Chrysler Sebring being aimed at the higher priced American cars such as the Mercury Milan, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura.
In the US, the Avenger was launched with a 30 second television ad, "Tuned Up," that debuted Sunday, March 4, 2007 during NHL hockey, an ad in which a lab technician discovers he can play Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple on the Avenger's transmission. Another television spot likened the Avenger to the "superhero" vehicle for the everyman, depicting a driver piloting his Avenger through Gotham-like streets and alleys, speaking to the MyGig entertainment system in distinctly Batman-reminiscent tones, to arrive home, pull into a two-car garage and open the rear door to a sleeping child in the rear car-seat.
Read more about this topic: Dodge Avenger
Famous quotes containing the words dodge, avenger and/or sedan:
“Behold then Septimus Dodge returning to Dodge-town victorious. Not crowned with laurel, it is true, but wreathed in lists of things he has seen and sucked dry. Seen and sucked dry, you know: Venus de Milo, the Rhine or the Coloseum: swallowed like so many clams, and left the shells.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“One way to do it might be by making the scenery penetrate the automobile. A polished black sedan was a good subject, especially if parked at the intersection of a tree-bordered street and one of those heavyish spring skies whose bloated gray clouds and amoeba-shaped blotches of blue seem more physical than the reticent elms and effusive pavement. Now break the body of the car into separate curves and panels; then put it together in terms of reflections.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)