| Chassis |
|---|
| Suspension, front | Independent MacPherson struts, coil springs, twin-tube dampers, stabilizer bar |
| Suspension, rear | Independent multilink, coil springs, twin-tube dampers, stabilizer bar |
| Steering type | Hydraulic-assist, variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering |
| Steering ratio (x:1) | 16.65 |
| Tire brand | Goodyear |
| Tire model | Eagle LS 2 |
| Tire type | All-season front and rear |
| Tire size, front | P225/50R18 |
| Tire size, rear | P225/50R18 |
| Wheel size | 18-by-7 inches front and rear |
| Wheel material | Cast aluminum |
| Brakes, front | 11.5-inch ventilated steel discs with single-piston sliding calipers |
| Brakes, rear | 10.3-inch solid steel discs with single-piston sliding calipers |
| Test Driver Ratings & Comments |
|---|
| Acceleration comments | Strong V6, especially as the revs rise. Gets a perfect amount of wheelspin by going straight from brake to throttle. Times were nearly identical in Auto and Manual modes -- shifts for itself at redline regardless. Noticeable torque steer. Longish 2-3 shift and abrupt 3-4. Manual shifting via console lever (slap left for downshifts); will not hold gears at rev limiter; no throttle blip on downshifts. |
| Braking rating | Average |
| Braking comments | Slightly spongy feel with moderately long pedal travel. Quite a bit of nosedive. Pedal felt slightly better on later runs and there was no noticeable amount of fade. |
| Handling rating | Good |
| Handling comments | Skid pad: Plenty of understeer and the car wasn't overly willing to change its attitude with drop throttle. Interestingly, stability control was incredibly intrusive, massively cutting throttle and adding some braking, making the ESC-On time considerably slower than ESC-Off -- very different from what happened in the slalom. Slalom: This is a solid car around the cones. Steering has good weighting and some actual feel. Decent grip from the tires lets you throw the Avenger around with verve, and it sticks. ESC can't be defeated, but it has a very high intrusion point whether "On" or "Off"; in fact, braking was added at about the same amount whether "On" or "Off" right at the end of the slalom when the tail would rotate for the last cone. Hence, the nearly identical times. |
| Safety |
|---|
| Front airbags | Standard |
| Side airbags | Dual front |
| Head airbags | Front and rear |
| Antilock brakes | Four-wheel ABS |
| Electronic brake enhancements | Braking assist, electronic brakeforce distribution |
| Traction control | Traction control |
| Stability control | Stability control |
| Tire-pressure monitoring system | Tire-pressure monitoring |
| NHTSA crash test, driver | Not tested |
| NHTSA crash test, passenger | Not tested |
| NHTSA crash test, side front | Not tested |
| NHTSA crash test, side rear | Not tested |
| NHTSA rollover resistance | Four stars |
| IIHS offset | Good |
