Dodge Dakota

July 7th, 2007 by Shenron

The Dodge Dakota entered service in the mid eighties and found itself not quite a compact and not a full sized truck, it is a mid sized truck capable of hauling many things that would normally be reserved for full size trucks, however lacks the overall power for some of the really heavy things. The Dakota is one of the highest rated trucks, and in 2000 it was awarded for being a good solid vehicle. It has a front engine layout and all wheel drive with a four or five speed automatic transmission. The current model was introduced in 2005 and remains in active production, expected to do so for many more years unlike the soon to be updated Dodge Ram. The Dakota is a versatile vehicle and as of this production run shares much with the Dodge Durango SUV design and chassis. The three engines available for the current Dakota are the V6 3.7L power tech, capable of 210 horsepower, along with the V8 4.7, and the V8 4.7 HO – all engines are Power-Tech.

The face lifted version is set for release soon – and many are calling it the “fourth generation” however the design changes seem to be minimal and not qualify it as an actual major generational change considering the current design is only two years old and most of the changes involve making the cab slightly bigger and updating the engines to be able to pull 7,000 pounds. Overall the Dakota is the best hauling truck in its class performance wise (based on hauling capacity with this updated future model) and would serve as an excellent mid-range truck for hauling lighter or median (or even some heavier) trailers like horse trailers or U-Haul trailers for moving. The Dodge Dakota is also very similar to the Mitsubishi Raider, and shares much of its design as the Mitsubishi Raider was largely based upon the Dodge Dakota.

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