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The Avenger offers budget motorists a lot of car and a badge with a bit more clout than most South-East Asian rivals. Andy Enright takes a look

All too often, you sacrifice any semblance of style if you opt for an inexpensive car. Dodge is building a presence in the UK on the basis that this needn’t be the case. The Avenger offers those on a tighter budget striking styling and an evocative badge. Yes, corners are cut elsewhere but for some, this will represent an excellent deal.

Think Dodge and you’ll probably be reminded of US muscle cars and ‘70s TV cop shows, V8 engines woofling away at idle, ready to launch into an extended chase scene where the bad guys always get their collars felt. Or maybe you’re reminded of GT car racing with Vipers meeting and in some cases beating the best Europe could throw at them. The muscle car DNA is still alive and well in the Dodge range, with cars like the SRT/10 and the Ram, but the company’s fortunes hinge on rather more prosaic fare. Vehicles like the Avenger will dictate whether our kids will know Dodge from anything other than crusty enthusiast websites. Up against the likes of the Ford Mondeo, the Vauxhall Vectra and the Peugeot 407, the Avenger brings a bit of attitude to the sector. If you don’t want a garden variety repmobile but need something of that size and sensibility, read on. Three engines are offered for sale in the UK, but don’t worry, none of them are gas-guzzling V8s. In fact all of the engines are shared with the Caliber range which in turn borrowed them from other outposts of the automotive world. The 2.0-litre diesel engine is a Volkswagen-sourced unit and the entry-level 2.0-litre petrol engine was developed in conjunction with Hyundai and Mitsubishi. The petrol engines aren’t in themselves particularly noteworthy. The 2.0-litre offers a decent 154bhp and 140lb/ft of torque but it is rather coarse when extended. Performance figures are punchy, the Avenger hitting 60mph in 10.2 seconds before running on to a top speed of 125mph. The odd one out is the 2.4-litre petrol model with a CVT gearchange that looks set to remain glued to showroom floors.

"Walk around the Avenger and it looks anything but a medium range family hatch…."

The 2.0-litre diesel is the most appealing engine for the Avenger, the 138bhp engine driving the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearshift. Refinement is never great and the chassis isn’t up there with the class best but it’s game enough to allow you to extend that engine. The car’s relatively low all-up weight means you’ll get decent acceleration off the mark although the 229lb/ft of torque occasionally gives the traction control something to chew on. Walk around the Avenger and it looks anything but a medium range family hatch. Those trademark swimmer’s shoulders give it an athletic, toned appearance and the bold crosshairs front grille and the aggressive jut of the front bumper definitely give it some real rear view mirror presence. Its designer claims the front end was inspired by a pair of Oakley sunglasses he once owned. The rear haunches and the rib of black plastic on the leading edge of the rear pillars are certainly distinctive. I still can’t quite decide whether it looks purposeful or cheesy. The interior is a little less happy. While there’s nothing too wrong with the ergonomics of the car, the materials quality shows why the Avenger can come to market with such a low asking price. Scratchy, hard touch plastics and insubstantial feeling switches aren’t great. Sit in the back and the high beltline feels claustrophobic. Despite these complaints, the Avenger is easy to warm to. It’s a little showy but it feels honest and seems practical enough. The 438-litre boot can be expanded by dropping the rear seats down. Even the front passenger seat folds flat, useful if you’re carrying longer items. Your excuse for not finishing that decking has just disappeared. Given that you can buy a Dodge Avenger 2.0 SE for £14,995, it’s worth putting into context what else broadly comparable that sum of money will buy you. A Skoda Superb 1.8T will be a better bet if you’re a build quality fetishist but otherwise you’ll be coming in well below the entry-level prices of comparable Mazda6s, Vauxhall Vectras and Peugeot 407s. Where the Dodge scores is in offering plenty of style and standard gear for the money. In fact only Kia’s Magentis really approaches the Avenger’s kit list and the Kia will depreciate rather eye-wateringly. Dodge reckons that when equipment levels are taken into consideration, the Avenger is around 14 per cent cheaper, model for model, than most of its budget rivals but this figure may well be hostage to some rather creative internal option costings. The entry-level SE is fitted with twin front, side and curtain airbags and also gets some of the neat, rather left-field ideas that Dodge likes to throw at its vehicles. The Chill Zone sounds like a place Wayne Rooney gets sent at the end of an England match but is instead a second air conditioned glovebox that can hold up to four cans of pop. The SXT gets bigger wheels amongst other gear. There are some interesting options available, including the MyGIG entertainment system which, when coupled with the satellite navigation’s LCD screen, offers touchscreen access to 20Gb worth of songs or pictures via hard drive. Captive occupants can thus be subjected to a holiday snap slide show. Aside from the 2.4-litre CVT model that nobody is going to buy, both the 2.0-litre Avengers offer reasonable running costs. The 2.0-litre diesel, for example, will return a combined fuel economy figure of 45.6mpg and emits a modest 170g/km of carbon dioxide. Insurance is also reasonable for the Avenger as there are no big engine options offered. In the US there’s a 235bhp 3.5-litre R/T model which might do good business here if Dodge could make the sums work for less than £19,000. Residual values are, at present, a matter for rather hazy conjecture. While the Avenger’s styling and low price may well fuel demand among younger buyers, the car needs to attain a critical mass of new sales to fuel public recognition. The Dodge Avenger is an interesting car. It certainly has a little more personality about it than most of the budget family saloons and hatches on the market but this charisma and aggressive styling don’t necessarily translate into a whole heap of ability. It’s reasonably big and decently equipped but the finish feels a little rushed and the driving dynamics are not exceptional. On most objective scorecards there are many better buys. The thing is, we often buy cars – even in this class – with heart as well as head. This is where the Avenger scores. It’s not a bland repmobile. It has an endearingly big-hearted character and your neighbour probably isn’t going to have one or indeed know what it is. All told, however, the Avenger remains a speciality interest product. Dodge acknowledges this, realising that it’ll never land Mondeo-sized sales figures. If the path less ravelled appeals, you’re not going to get burned too badly with this one.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Dodge Avenger range PRICES: £14,995 - £17,995 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 8-11 [est] CO2 EMISSIONS: [2.0 diesel] 170g/km PERFORMANCE: [2.0 diesel] 0-60mph 10.5s Max Speed 124mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 diesel] (combined) 45.6mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: [SXT] ESP, traction control, ABS with brake assist, twin front, side and curtain airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/height 4,849 / 1,824 / 1,496mm