Dodge Dakota - Automobile Magazine

A mid-size pickup seemed silly twenty years ago, when Dodge wedged the original Dakota between the compact and full-size haulers. So Chevy, Ford, GMC, Nissan, and Toyota all have conceded that Dodge was right: mid-size is a great size for entry-level pickup buyers. Due to lack of interest, the regular-cab model is gone, so all Dakotas now roll on a 131. 3-inch wheelbase. Take your pick between a Club Cab with a 6. 5-foot-long bed or a Quad Cab with a 5. 3-foot bed and an adult-sized back seat. Dodge's mid-size-segment exclusive is V-8 power. While a clunky 210-horsepower V-6 is standard, it's an easy $785 step up to a sweet 4. 7-liter SOHC V-8 offered in regular (230 horsepower) or high-output (more than 250 horsepower) tune. Our only beef concerning the new Getrag six-speed manual transmission is that it can't be had with the hotter, burbling-exhaust V-8. That's a pity, because the Dakota's new chassis is tuned to bop the back-road boogie. This is the first mid-size pickup we've encountered that's worthy of the Bob Bondurant School's golden seal of approval. Source: www.automobilemag.com