2005 Dodge Dakota Review

The all-new 2005 Dodge Dakota represents yet another bold move into the truck market for Dodge. With sales of basic small trucks in steady decline, Dodge has redesigned the Dakota as a much larger, much edgier and more macho midsize pickup. The Dakota is now the largest and by far the most powerful pickup in the segment. Dakota competes against Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma, and Nissan Frontier.

As with full-size pickups, competition for compact or mid-size trucks is hot. Though the Ranger is dated, Canyon, Colorado, Tacoma, and Frontier are totally new pickups for either 2004 or 2005. Dakota's biggest advantage, other than its larger size, is the availability V8 engines, not one, but two of them. Its towing capacity has been expanded to 7,150 pounds, by far the most in the class. Built on a new frame, the new Dakota is substantially longer than the previous model with styling that complements the recently redesigned Durango SUV and Ram pickup.

Getting in is easy and the redesigned interior is comfortable and convenient with controls that are easy to reach and operate. Underway, the Dakota is smooth and quiet. The optional 4.7-liter V8 burbles subtly in the background when cruising, but really scoots when the throttle is mashed. Yet its fuel economy is rated within 1 mpg of the standard V6's. The steering is light for easy maneuverability in crowded parking lots. The Dakota responds quickly on mountain roads and tracks extremely well on the highway.

Our Quad Cab with the standard 4.7-liter accelerated with uncommon vigor and a wonderful exhaust note. At highway speeds it settled down into a nice background burble in overdrive fifth gear. Its strong torque means plenty of low-down grunt for pulling payloads of up to 1,800 pounds or towing up to 7,150 pounds. The transmission has perfectly spaced ratios for trucking, and worked without complaint, roughness or harshness, even in high-rpm full-throttle upshifts.

With only two occupants and no load, it really scoots from the stoplight despite the nearly 4800 pound weight of the Quad Cab 4X4. For towing, there's a Tow/Haul setting that alters the shift pattern of the automatic transmission. The new rack-and-pinion power steering is a bit over-assisted for our tastes but will probably be okay for most customers.

The chunky steering wheel feels great in the hands. The truck tracks extremely well, responds quickly to inputs, and stays hunkered down during mountain road playtime. Its 265/70R16 BFGoodrich Wrangler tires were both grippy in corners and very quiet at highway speeds, adding a measure of plushness to the ride quality that we really appreciated. We'd rate the ride and handling very high, though like all pickup trucks, it can get a bit choppy over small, high-intensity bumps and ruts.

The Dakota offers only rear-wheel anti-lock brakes as standard safety equipment, but four-wheel ABS disc/drum brakes are optional. We deliberately tried the rear ABS on a straight, flat, dry road for several maximum-g stops with no load and no passengers, and it worked very well, keeping the unladen, light-in-the-rear pickup straight and coming to crisp stops four times in a row without locking the rear wheels.