SPOTTED: 2023 Dodge Hornet Models In Both Europe & The USA!
American Sighting Looks To Be Production Ready...
We are just days from Dodge’s unveiling of its all-new C-segment SUV: the Dodge Hornet (GG). The Hornet will be the first all-new vehicle to arrive in the Dodge lineup since 2011.
Over the past few months, we have seen multiple prototypes of the Hornet both on the roads of Europe and the United States. After seeing those prototypes, many of us in the media took the Hornet as nothing more than a badge-engineered Alfa Romeo Tonale. However, there are some more evident changes to the new Dodge crossover than what was originally expected.
Spy photographer Walter Vayr of GabetzSPYUnit (@GabetzSPYUnit), happened to catch one of these European Hornet prototypes testing recently. The European prototype continues to wear the Tonale’s taillights and wheels during the testing phases. But that is normal for test vehicles to share other parts of similar vehicles, as we saw early Tonale prototypes wearing Hornet headlights.
But in recent days, MoparInsiders.com caught two Hornet prototypes testing in Metro Detroit looking production ready underneath their camouflage. The American prototypes appear to be wearing 20-inch split 5-spoke aluminum wheels wrapped in Michelin rubber and appear to now be wearing Dodge-specific taillights.
Both the European and American test vehicles sport the Dodge “Rhombi” or “//” logo in the center of the grille. Dodge has said that their non-electrified vehicles going forward would wear the current Rhombi logo, while electrified vehicles will sport a reborn version of the famed “Fratzog” logo instead.
So these Rhombi-wearing prototypes indicate that both of these vehicles are powered by the turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four-cylinder engine from the Stellantis Global Medium Engine (GME) family. The GME-T4 is rated at 256 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque in the Tonale and is mated to a ZF-sourced 9-speed automatic transmission. The Tonale also features standard all-wheel-drive (AWD) across the board, something we still aren’t sure if Dodge will do or offer a front-wheel-drive (FWD) offering as well.
According to our sources, the Hornet could see a boost in horsepower over the Tonale to more align it with Dodge’s performance attributes. The GME-T4 has shown horsepower levels around 270 horsepower to 280 horsepower, depending on the application. For example, the North American-spec 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio equipped with the GME-T4 engine is rated at 280 horsepower and 306 lb.-ft. of torque on 91 octane premium unleaded fuel. We expect the Hornet to fall within those parameters.
The 2.0-liter model is scheduled for production in Q4 2022, while the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version will make its debut a couple of months later in Q1 2023. Stay tuned, as we will continue to highlight more details about the all-new Dodge Hornet as they become available.
