2023 Dodge Hornet First Drive: A Small SUV as Only Dodge Could Do It

The easiest mistake for an auto journalist to make is to treat every vehicle like a sports car and review it as such. Minivans aren't sports cars, and few things irritate readers like a reviewer complaining about steering feel and 0-to-60 times for a car designed to haul children to school and soccer practice. A compact crossover SUV isn't a sports car either, and shouldn't be reviewed like one—unless it's the new 2023 Dodge Hornet.

As a rule, the reviewer needs to put themselves in the shoes of the person who's going to buy the vehicle in question. If you ask Dodge, it's the kind of person who cares about having the quickest, most-powerful, toughest-looking car in the class—even if that's the same class as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. Dodge doesn't talk about those competitors, though. Dodge just wants to talk about the Mazda CX-5, the only model with any real sportiness and driver engagement in the compact crossover segment. Where Mazda has steadily played down its performance heritage in recent years, though, Dodge plans to scream it from the dealership rooftops.

Really, what else were they going to do? Dodge has spent years reinventing itself as a blue-collar, all-American performance brand. Everything else it currently builds is available with a Hellcat V-8. It's too late to change direction now, especially when the CEO of parent company Stellantis has given every brand a limited amount of time to justify its existence. Dodge hasn't had an all-new vehicle since the Dart, and hasn't had an all-new SUV since the Journey. It needs a car that'll sell in volume, and the compact SUV segment is red-hot. Plus, you know, Alfa Romeo did all the legwork and had some extra capacity in the Tonale's assembly line, so …

More than quickest this and most-powerful that, the $31,590 starting price is what's going to get people in the door. For that cash, they get the base GT model with standard all-wheel drive, an all-digital instrument cluster, dual-zone climate control, basic active driver aids, and Koni frequency selective shocks. It's a lot of kit out of the box, and if you've got money to spend, every option package is available for every trim level, so you can load it up with a tech package, track package, and more.

The great thing about the Hornet is that you don't need to spend more than the minimum. The base 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder "Hurricane" engine makes 268 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. With it, the Hornet hits 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, which is already quicker than just about every competing model. It has a fat power curve, so you can step on the throttle anytime and it'll take off. The torque hits immediately as you jump off the line, and the turbo pushes you up the speedometer with no dips in acceleration. Dodge has also finally tamed its base nine-speed automatic transmission, and it snaps off quick, smooth shifts when speeding up or slowing down.

Even more impressive than the engine are the Hornet's standard shocks. The Konis ride as firmly, or slightly more firmly, than the competition, but they can also take a big hit better than some luxury cars. You can tell this suspension was calibrated on Michigan roads, because the Hornet shrugs off potholes and broken pavement like a car twice the price.

The real move, though, is to get the optional Track Pack with its two-mode, electronically adjustable dampers. In their default mode, they ride better than anything else in the segment and give up nothing in handling. Put them in Sport and they're only a little firmer than the standard shocks, but make the car feel very racy.

Yes, this mainstream compact crossover really is fun to drive, right out of the box. Few buyers are likely to care (most are happy with a car that's simply fast stoplight-to-stoplight), but Dodge is serious about its niche. The Hornet's steering is nicely weighted and more responsive than the typical crossover. The body control afforded by either suspension is good enough to make you feel like you're driving a puffed-up hot hatch. The optional Brembo front brake calipers that come with the track package are impressive looking, but you don't need them unless you're planning on taking your crossover to track days; the standard brakes stop plenty well and feel good under foot.

If you really want to embarrass people at stoplights, though, the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) R/T model will smoke every other two-row family crossover after picking the kids up from practice. With 288 horsepower and a hefty 383 pound-feet of torque, it's already won the power war, but where that V-8-esque torque comes from is what really counts. The little 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder puts up 199 pound feet with the help of a mild hybrid system, but the R/T's secret weapon is the electric motor on the rear axle that kicks in another 184 pound-feet (and 121 horsepower).

All those e-motors, plus the battery that powers them, add 425 pounds to the curb weight, so driven normally the R/T is actually slower to 60 mph than the GT, at 7.1 seconds. But put it in sport mode, activate the "PowerShot" feature by pulling both paddle shifters on the steering wheel, and floor it, and the rear motor will kick in 30 more horsepower. Doesn't sound like much, but from a stop Dodge says it'll knock a full 1.5 seconds off the Hornet R/T's 0-to-60 time, lowering it to 5.6 seconds. You can use PowerShot just about any time, as long as the battery isn't completely dead, isn't too hot or cold, and hasn't been used in the last 15 seconds. Because of the way electric motors work, you feel the kick much more strongly at lower speeds than at higher speeds.

Load up the R/T with the track package, put it in Sport mode, and hit your favorite twisty road, and you'll be pretty impressed with what it can do. Pushed to its absolute limit, the six-speed automatic up front starts to get confused about whether it should shift up or stay in a lower gear and let the gas engine scream at high rpm, but you can override it with the big shift paddles. Thrown into a corner, it feels like a tall, heavy hot hatch. Dodge isn't lying about how sporty it is, but, again, few will care.

When you're not gapping other parents leaving the pickup line and blowing minds at the autocross, the PHEV system is quite nice to drive normally, too. In its default Hybrid mode, we were genuinely impressed with how infrequently the gas engine fired up and how quickly it shut down again. That rear electric motor doesn't sound especially powerful, but it's got more than enough grunt to drive you around town in a moderately aggressive manner without any help. Put it in EV mode and it's strong enough to get you up to interstate speeds acceptably well, and it will stay all-electric powered to more than 85 mph.

Drive it like a normal person and Dodge says you can go a good 30 miles or more on a full battery, which would cover 75 percent of the average American's daily driving. In other PHEVs you might be able to stretch that number with heavy use of adjustable regenerative braking, but the Hornet R/T typically applies just enough to feel like engine braking, as there's no button to adjust the regen level. Sport mode cranks it up a bit, but it's also far more prone to fire up the gas engine and cancel out the gains. Similarly, you can force it into high-regen by using the E-Save mode, but that also fires up the gas engine and negates the savings.

Though it'll go on sale in just a few months as a 2024 model, Dodge still hasn't released the R/T's EPA-estimated fuel economy, but we imagine it'll be significantly better than the GT, which is on sale now and gets 21/29/24 mpg city/highway/combined. At $41,950 to start, the R/T is going to take a long time to pay for itself in fuel savings, but any clean vehicle tax credits you may qualify for could help. Dodge says the Hornet R/T PHEV qualifies for the federal tax credit, but as it's built in Italy, only leased Hornets would be eligible under current guidelines.

It's a good thing the Hornet is as good at being sporty as Dodge says it is, because when it comes to doing more typical crossover things, it struggles. The rear seat area is on the small end of the class, much like the Mazda CX-5 it targets. Its cargo area is similarly small, so don't plan on moving any bulky furniture with this one.

The rest of the interior, though generally quite nice, has a few other sticking points. The Hornet's seats are on the firm side and didn't soften up during our long drive. The all-digital instrument cluster's ability to do full-screen navigation is neat, but the map is zoomed in too far and the screen is much wider than it is tall, so your next turn isn't visible on the screen until you're right on top of it. The infotainment screen runs the latest Stellantis software and user interface setup, but we're not sure it's quite ready for primetime. During our test drive it stopped responding to inputs for several seconds at a time and it would momentarily freeze on occasion.

Yes, the Dodge Hornet is an Alfa Romeo Tonale in a Men's Warehouse suit, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a damn good car—so good that we wouldn't blame the Alfa people for being pissed Dodge swiped their car, pushed it out the door first, and charges roughly $10,000 less for it. Alfa desperately needs a big win to expand its meager market share and the Tonale is its best hope. Dodge's CEO may not care about growing market share, but he does need to grow the brand's dismal average fuel economy. The Hornet is more than compelling enough to do the job for Dodge. For Alfa, it remains to be seen.

If either side would talk about it publicly, they'd probably say their brands appeal to different buyers and aren't cross-shopped, but for those of you feeling savvy, you can totally get yourself a discount Alfa Romeo right now at your local Dodge dealer. It may only appeal to a limited audience, but people are going to find a lot to love about the all-new Hornet.