Destination Anywhere

When an SUV is too clumsy for the needs of the large family, and a minivan too stodgy for style-conscious buyers, a crossover is an attractive option. So, for those whose fuel budgets are still largely unaffected by the times, CATS Motors offers the fetching Dodge Journey. Sporting chiseled slab sides, 19-inch chromed wheels, and the trademark crosshairs-grille with the ram logo, the Journey is a crossover sized between the compact Caliber and the minivan Caravan that actually makes family hauling duty look like fun for Brangelina types. It’s got all the good stuff too like a six-speed automatic, 30-gigabyte hard drive, back-up camera, Bluetooth connectivity, and wonderfully creative seating arrangements.

Perhaps as a nod to fuel concerns, the Journey’s powerplant doesn’t look to be too much of a fuel hog. The imposing hood with the strongly defined powerdome may look like it’s hiding a HEMI, but underneath is just a sensible V6 with twin cams, 24 valves, and displacing all of 2.7-liters. Rated power is just 185 horses at 5,500 rpm and 25.6 kg-m of torque at 4,000 rpm through a 6-speed automatic with “Autostick” sequential manual override. A fairly rare technology in high-end cars, the latter provides quicker standing-start acceleration than a four- or five-speed transaxle because of a numerically higher first-gear ratio. A more robust differential with increased torque capacity enhances launch performance by requiring less torque management, electronically limiting the available torque during the initial stages of standing-start acceleration. The closer ratios between gears also create a smoother, quieter ride as the engine speed doesn’t change as much with each shift. The lower overall top-gear ratio also improves fuel economy at highway speeds. US-market Journeys also have available all-wheel drive, but the Philippines gets the more pragmatic and economical front-wheel drive version.

The Journey’s chassis uses ultra-high-strength steel for more than one-third of the body structure, providing excellent impact performance, a smooth ride, and solid handling. By mass, 36 percent of the structure contains hot-stamped and high-strength steels for optimized weight and structural performance, while dual-phase steel in the front and rear rails, tunnel reinforcements, and sills permit the components to handle greater loads than conventional steel. Hot-stamped steel A- and B-pillars also reduce upper body weight, while a composite liftgate helps reduce weight by 20 percent compared to regular steel. The use of world-class levels of structural adhesives also improve stiffness when compared with spot and laser welding, and lavish use of pumpable and moldable sealers in the upper body reduce road, wind, and powertrain noise. Seam sealing is applied not just inside the body but outside as well as part of the effort to reduce Noise-Vibration-Harshness levels.

The Journey’s two-box exterior design yields a cavernous interior for up to 7 passengers. Its third row seat is claimed to give passengers two inches more head room than leading North American competitors and accommodates up to 95th percentile passengers comfortably. Dodge’s, and by extension Chrysler’s, talent for creative storage is evident in the “Flip ’n Stow” in-seat storage system. The front passenger seat cushion is hinged and flips forward to reveal a large 273 x 222 millimeter bin under the seat cushion that’s big enough to store a purse, small umbrella, camera, planner, or headphones.

The center console features an adjustable sliding center armrest and a 305 cubic inch storage bin that can hold 10 DVDs or 15 CDs for added utility. Meanwhile, the glove box comes with a standard “Chill Zone” bottled beverage holder.

Moving to the backseat, the rear doors open to the full 90-degrees to ease ingress and egress. Stadium seating is also standard, meaning the 2nd row is 1.6 inches higher than the 1st row, and the 3rd row 0.6 inches higher than the 2nd row so that all passengers have a better view out. Behind the front seats and under the floor are two storage bins that can hold up to a dozen 12-ounce cans (plus ice, natch) or other items out of sight. Each bin also features latching lids and can be brought out of the vehicle.

Parents will also love the Journey’s “child presenter seat” system. The latter works by allowing the 60/40 fold-flat second-row seat to travel forward or rearward a total of 4.7 inches in order to bring children closer to the front seats so they can be attended to. Not carrying kids? The system also works to provide more cargo room behind the seats or additional third-row leg room.

The Journey is also the first vehicle in its midsize crossover segment to offer available integrated child booster seats. These boost a child seated in the second row four inches higher so they’re positioned in the adult-belted zone, enabling him or her to see out of the vehicle. Finally, the third row seat is a decent coach-class area. The second-row seats’ “Tilt ’n Slide” system lets them fold forward and upward with the turn of a single lever to get at the 50/50 split-folding third-row. The seatback even reclines 6 degrees to make the ride a little bit more comfortable.

Further reinforcing the message that the Journey is a fully-furnished, macho mom-mobile, the Journey comes with an iPod interface and “uconnect” Bluetooth system. A UCI connector in the glove box allows an iPod to be plugged into the sound system for playback, charge/recharge, and will even display artist and music choices on the stereo screen. The iPod can also be controlled through radio controls and remote steering-wheel switches. Meanwhile, the “uconnect” system integrates the phone control buttons with the radio head unit for features such as voice dialing, audio address book, audio-system mute, call transfer, and even multi-phone recognition for up to 7 units. The Infinity stereo itself features no less than 6 speakers, a subwoofer, and a 30GB “MyGIG” Multimedia Entertainment System.

Any concerns about safety will be silenced with the Journey’s 5-star credentials; the highest rating in the US government’s safety crash test program. It earned 5-star ratings for driver and front-passenger protection in a frontal crash, along with 5-star driver and rear passenger ratings for side impact protection. More than 35 safety and security features are included in the Journey, including advanced multi-stage air bags, all-speed traction control, ABS for the all-wheel disk brakes with rough road detection, Brake Assist, load-limiting seatbelts with Constant Force Retractors, Electronic Roll Mitigation, and Electronic Stability Program, to name a few. The Dodge Journey retails for P2.280M.