2023 Dodge Hornet Review: The Hellcat of Compact SUVs

The compact SUV is the most popular body style for American automobiles that aren't pickup trucks, which makes it all the more surprising that the four American Stellantis brands, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Chrysler, only have one between them. And that one it does have, being a Jeep, means it competes in a slightly different competitive set than the average Kia Seltos, Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-30. That ends with the new Dodge Hornet.

The Hornet name was christened in 1951 on the Hudson Hornet, made famous by stock car racing and later the Pixar Cars movies. American Motors retained the rights to the name during the American Manufacturer Association ban on factory supported racing from 1957 to 1962. It lay dormant until 1969 when AMC attached it to a compact vehicle. The naming rights were eventually passed to Chrysler with the company's purchase of AMC in 1987.

The compact Dodge Hornet comes in gasoline-only GT and hybrid R/T trims, both surprisingly powerful for the segment. The Hornet GT goes on sale in a few weeks and the more powerful R/T will hit dealerships near the end of spring.

"So 10 years ago, we got laser focused on our mission to distill the brand to pure performance. And we've done it with a core focus on our muscle cars. In segments like the full size SUV with Durango, we're squeezing every last drop of juice out of these cars. We're now at the end of that era. We're now in the next generation. the first race that future," Tim Kuniskis, CEO of Dodge told Newsweek.

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"So when we think about where we want to take the brand, how do we want to expand the brand, one of the fastest growing segments is the compact SUV sector. Our competitors have sometimes cars and UVs as their entry. We're going to do it with just one. The recipe is simple. There are these golden rules. It's got to look like a Dodge, drive like a Dodge, it's got to feel like a Dodge," he said.

The 2023 Dodge Hornet shares a platform and many of its body panels with the new Alfa Romeo Tonale, though when the Tonale goes on sale it will only be offered in hybrid trim. The front third of the Hornet is unique to Dodge with a front end that looks like a cross between the most recent Dodge Dart and the current Durango. The middle portion, doors and roof are shared but the tail too, is all Dodge, and sporting a new Hornet logo.

"We always like to give our cars a lot of character. I mean, these are the same guys that gave you the Demon, the Hellcat and the Super B. So these characters were trying to infuse a little bit of personality into it, and anybody who's ever had that displeasure of interacting with a Hornet knows that they're very nasty little buggers and we wanted to get that to kind of come through with the visual of the of the badge itself," Chris Piscitelli, Dodge exterior designer told Newsweek.

"Moving around to the back of the car, that cross car read with the graphic and the taillight keeps a slim look, pulling the eyes out to the ends. And also when the lights are on, you know when you guys are out driving, you'll see that there's a lit Rhombi logo in the middle that kind of ties everything together."

Inside, the Hornet seats five but all of the controls are angled toward the driver, like both its Durango and Charger sedan. The dash has a slightly more horizontal look, compared to those, with accent stitching on certain trims. Vents and switches also get accents to enhance the performance appearance of the interior.

The ignition button is on the console while other performance controls are placed on the flat-bottom steering wheel including the drive mode button with Sport and Standard for the GT and several hybrid driving modes for the R/T. Alcantara seats, with an embroidered Dodge Rhombi logo, are included on the Track Pack option. They features "red crust" accents that fade in and out of the seats. Leather seating is standard for the GT Plus and R/T Plus, including red leather, for those that want more aggressiveness.

The 2023 Hornet comes with a standard 12.3-inch digital cockpit cluster screen and 10.25-inch Uconnect 5 infotainment screen. The cockpit cluster has three separate information zones, allowing the driver to customize what info is available. Uconnect is an Android-based system and is also customizable. The system can be connected to two phones simultaneously, and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard.

Amazon Alexa is also standard, which can close a garage door at home, start the car, lock and unlock doors and more. A 14-speaker Harman-Kardon sound system is available as is wireless charging.

Moving to powertrain, the less expensive Hornet GT comes with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder delivering 268 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque with all-wheel drive, which is standard. It features a Sport mode and can get to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds with a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The Hornet R/T features a small, 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder along with a 90-kilowatt electric induction motor that powers the rear axle. It has a 15.5-kilowatt-hour battery good for 30 miles of all electric range. It has a 7.4-kilowatt charging module that allows the battery to refill in about 2.5 hours. Total system output is rated at 288 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque.

The R/T has the PowerShot feature, getting the vehicles sprint time down to 5.6 seconds with full power from both the engine and electric motor. It's activated by pulling both steering wheel shifter paddles, waiting for the PowerShot light, and pressing the pedal to the floor, passed a light detent.

The upper-level Hornet, in addition to Sport and Normal drive modes, has three more. Hybrid mode provides maximum combined efficiency of the conventional engine and e-Motor. Electric mode only switches to hybrid when the battery is depleted or when extra power is requested by driver pedal kickdown. E-Save mode saves that battery charge, relying on the engine and brakes to regenerate.

The cabin of the Hornet GT looks a little plain, but at the price point is completely acceptable. The finish is mostly matte black on the physical climate buttons and the shifter, which is a little too easy to move. If the driver bumps it will slide left into manual shift mode. That manual mode is in the proper, up is downshift format, pull back to upshift, but with the nine speed it's easier and more exciting to leave it in Sport mode and automatic transmission mode.

The automatic windows are annoying, with anything but a micro touch making the window roll all the way down, or all the way up. It's hard to just get a crack for air. The volume control is another physical dial and is easy to find on the center console without looking. Climate vents and controls are accented in chrome.

The pillars and roof are covered with a techy, nylon cloth while the seats are perforated and soft, but very wide without a lot of lateral support. They do have buttons to adjust the lean of the bottom cushion, but no under knee support, though that isn't expected at this price point either.

The rear seats look plenty big for two child seats, with a 5-foot, 10-inch driver, though it wasn't officially tested. Cargo space hasn't been announced but the rear seats fold for a wide open storage area with a low load height.

The Uconnect system has improved with every iteration and the fifth version is near flawless with both inner and outer areas for Apple CarPlay along with redundant buttons on the steering wheel. Both it and the digital instrument cluster are customizable with several different themes for the cluster and widgets for the infotainment screen. Wireless charging is optional.

The 2.0-liter engine is surprisingly quiet, for all the noise Dodge was making about this being an antisocial vehicle in commercials. A rep did tell Newsweek that Direct Connection, its performance parts market, would take care of that, along with a bunch of other parts to make it faster and more planted to the pavement.

But the Hornet GT feels quick with 268 horsepower, and never leaves the driver wanting for forward motivation. With all-wheel drive the pedal can be floored at anytime without any slippage or drama from the chassis. The nine speed automatic makes medium-quick shifts, but with so many gear ratios it always seems to be in a powerful part of the rev range.

Sport mode quickens the throttle, holds gears longer and increases the steering effort by shortening the ratio. Already the Hornet has a variable system that is extremely easy to steer at slow speeds and appropriately more sensitive at higher speeds. Even the base model could aim and hit the edges of the pavement with just a little noise from the base Goodyear tires. Upgraded GTs and all R/Ts come with Michelin Pilot Sport all-season tires.

The Hornet R/T is noticeably faster with a little more horsepower but about 100 extra pound-feet of torque. It too is quieter than expected at full tilt. Additionally, the regenerative brakes that recharge the battery don't have the same solid feel as the brakes on the GT. It can go 84 mph on electric power alone.

In Sport mode, the R/T continually charges the battery, leaving a driver with more power at the end of the trip than the beginning. In Hybrid mode it often cuts the engine, allowing the owner to silently coast along at speed.

Standard safety features include Automatic Emergency Braking, Lane Support System, which gives a visual and haptic warning when straying from a vehicle lane and then steers back into the lane, Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross Path and three levels of parking assistance.

It also has Level 2 autonomous driving, are optional with the Tech Pack, including Intelligent Speed Assist w/Traffic Sign Recognition, Driver Attention Assist, Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control, which maintains an appropriate speed and distance, and Lane Centering.

The 2023 Dodge Hornet GT ($29,995, on sale early Spring) competes with the Mazda CX-30 ($22,950), Honda HR-V ($23,650), Chevrolet Trailblazer ($21,800) and a few others. In that context it looks expensive, but it's more powerful and slightly bigger than those three vehicles. The Hornet is right between the Honda CR-V and HR-V in size and slightly smaller than the Ford Escape.

The Hornet R/T (on sale late Spring) starts at $39,995, but with a 30-mile electric range and efficient hybrid powertrain, a driver could save some of that extra price in fuel costs. It's certainly the greener of the options, but the fun is equal in both, and more is available through Direct Connection. As the new player on the block, with a very old name, it deserves to be taken seriously.