Chrysler's brawny Dodge division is aiming to avenge last year's loss in NASCAR, and it's got both a big name driver and a brand new car to challenge the oval circuit. Long-time F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya headlined the automaker's news conference Tuesday, though he had plenty of competition for media attention in the form of the new Dodge Avenger.
Montoya will be driving the number 42 car, a version of the 2008 Avenger, which will join another Dodge sedan, the Charger, on the NASCAR grid. Racing 'round the oval, Montoya acknowledged, "is a completely different challenge" from Formula One.
Dodge will have other challenges when it rolls the Avenger into showrooms soon. It will go up against a crowded midsize market, including Chevrolet's all-new Malibu and the recently-updated Toyota Camry. But Chrysler Group's mainstream division is betting the edgy styling of the Avenger, an assortment of powertrain choices, and a long list of standard features, will gain the car some much-needed traction. Also attractive, Dodge believes, will be the $18,895 base price.
Powertrain options include a 234-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6, a 2.7-liter FlexFuel V-6, rated at 189 hp, and a 173-hp 2.4-liter engine aimed at mileage-minded buyers. The latter package will get 21 mpg in the city, 30 on the highway.
Avenger features such safety systems as front, side, and head curtain airbags, traction control, and brake assist. Stability Control will be offered as an option. There's a chiller built into the instrument panel, and the sedan also will offer a multifunction electronic system, dubbed MyGig, that can handle MP3 audio on its 20-GB hard-drive system.
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