Dart GT: Dodge got it Wrong.

Pricing on the Dodge Dart GT was recently announced and we’re excited. Sort of. It comes with a 2.4L engine, “sport-tuned” suspension, GT specific wheels, heated leather seats and heated steering wheel among other things. Wait, what? Heated leather seats and steering wheel?! Hold on Dodge Division. I presume that the GT will be the sportiest Dodge Dart available, right? So, if I’m plunking down my money and choosing to buy the sportiest trim level in the range, wouldn’t it stand to reason that, like Ricky Bobby, “I wanna go fast?”

But instead of even more horsepower or better handling, we get a heated steering wheel. Amazing. It makes no sense to put heated leather seats in a car with sporty pretensions (at least one without a three-pointed star on the grille). First off, supercars are now eschewing leather for alcantara because leather is terrible at holding you in place. Also, leather is hot in the summer and cold in the winter (thank goodness they’re heated). Dodge should have stuck with cloth seats and simply given the cloth some fancy marketing name, then spent the savings on more power.

I doubt Kyle Busch, Tony Schumacher or Sebastien Vettel have heated steering wheels. No, wait, I know for a fact that they don’t. And yeah, the Dodge Dart GT isn’t a race car. But if GT means ‘sporty’ for Dodge (as indicated by the larger engine), shouldn’t they acknowledge that the customers for a sporty car would likely prefer performance over luxury nonsense? Or does Dodge believe that we’re a bunch of cupcakes that need coddling? Are you a cupcake, what do you think about the luxo items?