Comments on: Update: Nissan to build Dodge Hornet on Versa platform for Chrysler

By: JoshyLofty

JoshyLofty — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:35:16 +0000

Yeah they’d F up if they priced it with the mini. BUT. i would support the competition with mini if it could COMPETE with a mini. meaning, great interior, great ride, basically a quality car.

As for the caliber. POS. they should have just redone the neon and made it even more badass. The Caliber is odd to look @ and had no performance. woo. IMO, the neon was 10 times better of a car to DRIVE & looked better. even tho it does look like a frog. But it was CUTE. That worked for it, it works for the mini.

By: ktulu

ktulu — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:20:59 +0000

very ugly

By: bolex

bolex — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:19:53 +0000

LJ- yeah youre right it should be about 2 yrs. the challenger showed in 06 in concept. now if they can price it right, i hope they dont price this against the mini cooper–too pricey.

By: NoNameDenton1

NoNameDenton1 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:16:35 +0000

An SRT-4 Hornet would be a fun lil car if done right.

By: Blakkarr

Blakkarr — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:12:04 +0000

The Chinese have a ways to go before anyone will trust them. But for now I am not oppsed to a Versa-based Hornet.

BTW, shoving a HEMI in such a car would not be impossible, if you don’t mind losing your back seat, cargo space and moving the gas tank up front. Compacts with monster engines are nothing new. Some gear heads did it to a FORD Fiesta in the early 1990s. VW crammed a V12 in the back of a GOLF early this year or late last year. FORD Europe, i think crammed a 5.0L V8 in the front of a Focus, saving your back seat, and making the car RWD to boot.

Nah, that would be a crazy SRT-8 if Ever it could happen.

By: NoNameDenton1

NoNameDenton1 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Versa based Hornet? That is actually a good idea. I am glad that they are ditching the Chinese platform. JoshyLofty, I bet they use a turbo engine for emissions reasons.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:53:01 +0000

THANK GOD!

By: LJ

LJ — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:26:31 +0000

How long would it take for them (to set up )to drop the Hornet body onto the Versa platform?
If they left everything (except the body) alone(from Versa)?
They should be able to get something out before/by 2010.
I do agree with one guy… these things should be here now(Fiesta from Ford, new 40 MPG car Chevy spoke about recently, that will supposedly be out next year at this time, and this Hornet)…not 1-2, or more years from now.

By: bolex

bolex — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:40:48 +0000

final agreemant is good news…but, damn this would come out in, 3yrs at the fastest and 4yrs tops ? Caliber/Patriot/Compass are the smallest cars in Chrysler. Its been about a year since Cerberus…so a revised Caliber could be out in another 2 years? Im just guesstimating a time table, but i hope its not too late.

By: JoshyLofty

JoshyLofty — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:03:32 +0000

I knew the 1.6L in the Mini was made by chrysler. I read in car&driver when the Mini was new that it was a version of the Engine in the Neon & previous PT Cruiser. But those two have 2.0L engines. I also agree that engine is inferior compared to the new turbo in the Mini. But I’d still be happy with a super’ed 1.6L.

By: Impulsive

Impulsive — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:57:06 +0000

Seems I’m right again in claiming ‘NoNameDufus’ is an idiot … proven WRONG again, dolt? No surprise here.

By: brassmonkey

brassmonkey — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:23:47 +0000

NOW we’re talking. WIth Nissan building it, we may actually get a decent car and if Nissan has any say about the design, it could look like the picture.

By: LJ

LJ — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:33:01 +0000

Two Things:
1)They need to run their operation: produce cars for dealers to sell, as long as they have dealers. And they have to improve those cars drastically for their own and dealers sake. Their plate is full and cash is low, based on what I read.

Comment by xyunya, posted on June11
————————————-
“as long as they have dealers”..Is Correct!
In SW Ohio, in one town, a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership(there for 82 years) closed this year.
The guy who was 2nd in charge( his brother owned the dealership, he worked for him) now works at the Chevy dealership as a salesman(he is in his early 60’s).
Closed…no one buying.
The dealership was alright, but the product…not so much.

————————–

2) Versa and CVT: I test drove the Versa, and liked it, with CVT. I heard on tv 0-60 between 9 to 9.5 seconds. Considering the regular Corolla does this in maybe 10.5-11 seconds, this is “fast”.
It was smooth, quiet, and “fast”(fast enough to not be a terrifying experience).

By: TOZO

TOZO — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:54:50 +0000

A lead-free Hornet?

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:45:50 +0000

Looks like it could be marketed as a Scion fighter.

By: xyunya

xyunya — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:23:05 +0000

The supercharged 1.6L was sold to Mini by Chrysler. It was build in Brazil and far inferior to the current 1.6L PSA engine in Mini. 1.8L from Versa is definitely cheaper then supercharged 1.6L and if car sells, Nissan’s 2.0L can be dropped under the hood (I believe engine mounting and dimensions are the same). Even more kick in the ass would be Chrysler “world” 1.8 – 2.0L engines, but I doubt that they will be used in Nissan sourced car.

By: JoshyLofty

JoshyLofty — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:14:52 +0000

The Versa has a 1.8L 4 cyl. right? This one has the 1.6L supercharged engine in it which is totally fine with me. Too bad it WONT be a rebadged Coop. That would ALSO be completely fine with me. I love Dodge. They’ve just lost everything they had going for it. I hope this helps them move back up where they were/should be.

By: xyunya

xyunya — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:57:50 +0000

Whatever Versa has will go under the hood. That’s where the savings are. Interesting re carnation for the original Renault Megane.

By: mayer_ray_nagin

mayer_ray_nagin — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:49:08 +0000

Cool. Just dont put a CVT in it.

By: xyunya

xyunya — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:49:53 +0000

I guess I was right on the money last week. If I could translate such clairvoyance into cash.

By: trooper1

trooper1 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:28:01 +0000

The Hornet already looks kinda Japanese, might as well be built by the Japanese. Atleast this thing will be Chryslers highest quality car (built by Nissan)

By: NoNameDenton1

NoNameDenton1 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:09:54 +0000

mazdaman, that would be true, but the plan is stil to stick the Hornet on a Chinese platform.

By: bolex

bolex — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:57:54 +0000

whats the Nissan Cube built on? coz they look like a good match in dimension and appearance. Is the Cube on a Versa paltform?

By: mazdaman

mazdaman — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:44:52 +0000

I think the Nissan Versa’s B platform would be a perfect fit for this type of vehicle. The Nissan Versa is a tall compact car that utilizes its height advantage to offer a lot of interior room within a small exterior. The Hornet Concept appears to be the same type of tall car. How hard could it be to merge the platform with a distinctive Dodge Hornet styled exterior/interior design? If Chrysler LLC could successfully pull this off, it appears as if they would finally have a competitive sub-Caliber product in their product arsenal.

I also think Chrysler LLC needs to seriously consider developing a compact sedan/coupe product based on the Caliber platform. The Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla are ascending as sales champs in the changing U.S. auto market and Dodge is left on the sidelines without a direct competitor. As good or bad as the Caliber may be, a tall hatchback offering is not enough to cover this increasingly important market segment. The Caliber needs some diverse compact segment configurations to complement it in Dodge’s product portfolio.

By: xyunya

xyunya — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:56:22 +0000

johnnycanuck, for all we know Chrysler can put Versa inside depicted body and it will work. Chrysler may or may not have that much time before clock runs out. I agree that Chrysler need identity and this one looks good, but if they don’t have money and time, there is no medicine for that. They need to run their operation: produce cars for dealers to sell, as long as they have dealers. And they have to improve those cars drastically for their own and dealers sake. Their plate is full and cash is low, based on what I read.

By: livelyjay

livelyjay — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:49:59 +0000

Stop studying it already and build the damn thing. You NEED something in this car segment as fast as possible.

By: JoshyLofty

JoshyLofty — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:48:27 +0000

This is awesome. Lets just hope it STAYS this way. Maybe Cerberus can pull this off & make it a car worth a damn afterall…. MAYBE.

By: brassmonkey

brassmonkey — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:57:18 +0000

Looks a lot like the Renault Clio. Cool car. Of course, once we get it, Chrysler will **** it up and it will look like a small Avenger and it will sit and rot on the lots next to the Durango.

By: hateful83

hateful83 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:58:28 +0000

Going by this article, they must have 3 companies involved with this car. At any rate, the Cooper platform wouldn’t be a bad one to build on. Although, as already stated, change the design. Chrysler wants a “global” car they should probably put more time in the design. Didn’t they talk about the caliber being the global car? They don’t need another caliber.

By: Blakkarr

Blakkarr — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:56:18 +0000

They should have rolled this out when they killed the NEON or when the MINI COOPER started making in roads or when the SCION xB became less of a box…

Whatever. Just make it happen.

By: bayrider

bayrider — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:52:51 +0000

Chrysler designs get old 2 weeks after they come out. They need to stop designing hulky square crap with the cross grill and design something innovative for a change.

By: bolex

bolex — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:20:58 +0000

No future replacement for the PT, it was rumored that it would have been a rebadged Dodge Journey. The Hornet, they showed this…2 yrs ago(?) at Geneva i think. but thats around the same time Chrysler was sold. It could be either a Chery or Nissan platform? im agree xyunya, Versa/Megane.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:46:37 +0000

What about plans for a next generation PT Cruiser?

By: HoosierHero

HoosierHero — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:30:50 +0000

It looks like something a Scion crapped out.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:26:34 +0000

Niiice!