SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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2008 Dodge Nitro SXT diesel AT

Most civilised

First Posted: May 30, 2008

As with any other Dodge product, you will possibly be moved to making some comment on first seeing the Nitro. Ruggedly handsome it may be, or seriously ugly, but never bland. Even the name suggests “explosive.” The only exception might be if you’re an Army brat and it’s painted in stunning autumn shades of “camo.” But then you would be surrounded by the likes of Samils, Humvees and 150 mm mobile howitzers, so you wouldn’t be easily fazed, would you?

My own first reaction was that it looked as big as a double-storey maisonette, but then I reminded myself that itty-bitty female people drive this size of beast by choice because of being intimidated by minibus taxis and the like, so I manfully swallowed my fears and climbed aboard.

The Dodge Nitro is what the Americans call a mid-size SUV and it comes in two basic versions, the R/T and the SXT. While both claim to be fitted with “sport” suspension, the R/T features an uprated sway bar, springs, dampers and bushings and is fitted with 20-inch wheels with low profile tyres. The SXT is tuned for comfort, while still being firmish and wears 17 -inch wheels with taller rubber.
 
Two engines are available, a 3,7 litre petrol drinker and a 2,8 litre turbo diesel. Transmission-wise, the petrol engine is mated only to a four-speed automatic, while the diesel is available with either a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic gearbox. Needless to say, the sportier R/T version comes only in petrol/four speed auto configuration.

Inside, the Nitro is spacious with firm, decently sized seats that support your thighs all the way to behind your knees. My only reservation was that, even with the driver’s seat on its lowest setting, I still felt as if I was on a kitchen chair, requiring me to move the seat further forward than normal. While not causing too much bend at the elbows, I found myself being careful to avoid bumping my head on the downward curve of the doorframe.

Equipment-wise, Dodge Nitro comes with a comprehensive range of toys, including all the stuff one expects, plus a nice sound system with MP3/iPod capability. Further, in case you still believe that all American vehicles wallow about on spongy springs, all the currently available safety kit is installed, just to set your mind at ease. My own favourite was the loading tray in the luggage compartment. You pull it out, load your stuff on and slide the whole lot back in. Most civilised.

By the time I had lived with the Nitro for a couple of days, its hugeness wore off and I actually found myself whipping it into and out of tight parking spaces with almost as much cool as if it were a much smaller car.

Possibly in an effort to counteract lead-footedness and resulting high fuel consumption, the throttle spring is very stiff, requiring really firm pressure on the loud pedal to make things happen. It was so effective that, until I rechecked the manufacturer’s data sheet, I actually believed that this was a plain, non-turbocharged diesel, so sluggish was the response. After educating myself on that point, I deliberately provoked it on occasion and found performance quite acceptable for the lightly pressured diesel that it is. I would still recommend asking your local agent to soften up the spring, however. Be that as it may, my own time with the Dodge resulted in an average consumption of 10,6 l/100km, which isn’t bad for a vehicle this big.

Just for fun, I visited a few Nitro-related websites, including a forum for actual US buyers of the beast: Most liked it, but then they wouldn’t have bought it if they didn’t, would they? Most claimed around 19 to 22 miles per (US) gallon, which works out to between 11,8 and 10,2 l/100 km, for the petrol version. The smaller wheels and tyres were favoured by most as being more comfortable. A couple praised the switchable four-wheel drive capability as “being great in snow,” and a few reckon it looks wicked in black.

Test unit from Daimler-Chrysler SA press fleet

Vital statistics according to Car magazine:
Price as tested: R354 900
Engine: 2776 cc, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Gears: Five-speed automatic
Power: 130 kW @ 3 800 rpm
Torque: 460 Nm @ 2 800 rpm
0 – 100 km/h: 13,1 secs
Top speed: 170 km/h
Fuel consumption index: 11,4 l/100 km
CO2 gm/km: 299
Luggage: 336 to 1 504 cu. dm
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Maintenance plan: 3 years/100 000 km



The slide-out loading tray

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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