2018 Dodge Journey Release Date, Price and Design

2018 Dodge Journey Introduction – The Journey was revealed back in 2007 and since then it went through a few updates and a major facelift. However, the ongoing model is still very similar to the original. Even though the car is sold as an SUV, the Journey is a lot more similar to a minivan.

It offers seven seats, a transverse engine and front wheel drive as standard. The car is based on Chrysler’s JC platform, and it seems it will continue to use the same platform up until 2017. A Dodge insider said that the Journey would not change all that much in the next two years. However, the car that will be released in 2018, to which we are not going to refer as the 2018 Dodge Journey, is going to be all new.

2018 Dodge Journey Price and Release Date

A leaked document from a few months ago said that the upcoming Journey would be an all-new high-performance crossover. It seems that the car may depart from the front wheel drive design and its seven seats. Instead, the Journey could end up as a high performance five seats medium-size crossover, something a lot more similar to the Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5. This is just a rumor at this point but there are some strong rumors suggesting the Journey will use the same Giorgio platform as the new Alfa Stelvio. This would be quite impressive, especially since the Stelvio is more than likely going to be one of the top performers in its class.

The car is likely going to be released in the second part of 2018 and it should cost starting from around $50,000. While this is quite a bit more than before, the place of the older model will be taken by a Chrysler. This will allow Dodge to become the high-performance car manufacturer they planned a while back.

How Will It Look?

It seems that Dodge has been moving lately to a more modern and aggressive design. Most of their cars are quite impressive to look at, so it is safe to assume things won’t change for the 2018 Dodge Journey. Because it is expected to be based on the rear-wheel drive platform, the long hood found on the Alfa Stelvio might also be found on the upcoming Journey. Despite that, in the front the car will more than likely take quite a few design cues from their other models. We expect it to look like a shorter and wider version of the Durango with sportier traits. The result should be rather impressive to look at, especially since it will be Dodge’s first truly high-performance crossover.

Inside the Cabin

Things are definitely going to be more cramped inside the 2018 Dodge Journey. Even though this will be the case, we don’t expect it to be worse. In fact, the car will feature better materials, more features and a much nicer driving position. The car will likely come with a head-up display as standard, leather upholstery, aluminum inserts, electric mirrors and seats and even automatic headlights and wipers. There will be plenty of room in the back for up the three people while the trunk should be in the neighborhood of that of the previous model.

Under the Hood

The 2018 Dodge Journey is expected to get both 4 and six cylinder engines. The base model should get to use a 2 liter turbocharged inline four which is also found in the Giulia and Stelvio. This engine is known to make 276 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. On the Alfa, this is enough for a 0 to 60 MPH time of fewer than 6 seconds and a top speed more than 140 MPH. The Journey should be able to be quite similar but it might be a bit heavier. While the Alfa gets to use a 2.9-liter Ferrari-developed V6, the Journey is unlikely to receive this engine.

Instead, it may get a new twin-turbo V6 which has been in development for some time at this point. Rumors say that this is a 3 to 3.6-liter unit capable of delivering north of 400 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. This is less than the Alfa but it should be more than enough to make the car competitive. An eight-speed automatic and rear wheel drive will likely be standard while an all-wheel drive system should be an option.