Dodge Aries
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The Dodge Aries was an automobile sold by the Chrysler Corporation from 1981 to 1989. It replaced the Dodge Aspen as Dodge's compact car. The Aries was sold as the Dart in Mexico. The Aries was Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year for 1981. The Aries sold a million units (rounded) and thus makes it one of the best selling cars of a single generation.
Popularity
The Aries was one of Chrysler's most successful products, along with its twin, the Plymouth Reliant. They were based off of the Chrysler K platform, which the media referred to as being Chrysler's only hope to save itself from bankruptcy. The platform became so well known in pre-production that the production Aries and Reliant were known even by the most uninformed consumers as "K-cars," made easier by the fact that the constituent models had badging on the rear that read "Aries K" or "Reliant K." This car would spur Chrysler and many other automobile manufacturers to adopt front wheel drive in many of their future models. The Aries and Reliant were strong sellers and were instrumental in Chrysler's financial recovery.The K-cars were notable for being six-passenger cars at a time when other compact front wheel drive cars (particularly from General Motors) seated only four or five. A station wagon version was also available, and was one of the roomiest in its class.
The K-cars were produced in Newark, Delaware, Toluca, Mexico and Detroit, Michigan. The last, a 1989 Aries, rolled off the assembly line on December 9, 1988.
History
After much publicity, the much-heralded Aries and Reliant twins made their debut in 1981. In response to the notoriety of the new cars, Chrysler added a small "K" emblem to the rear. The Aries was available as a 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan, or as a 4-door station wagon, in three different trim lines: base, Custom and SE ("Special Edition"). Station wagons came only in Custom or SE trim. The Aries was powered by a then-new 2.2 L I4 SOHC engine, with a Mitsubishi "Silent Shaft" 2.6 L as an option (curiously this engine also featured hemispherical combustion chambers, and all 1981 Aries equipped with it featured "HEMI" badges on the front fenders). Initial sales were brisk, with over 150,000 units sold in 1981.
| Year | Units |
|---|---|
| 1981 | 155,781 |
| 1982 | 104,663 |
| 1983 | 112,539 |
| 1984 | 120,032 |
| 1985 | 117,975 |
| 1986 | 97,368 |
| 1987 | 99,299 |
| 1988 | 111,363 |
| 1989 | 53,196 |
| Total Production = 972,216 | |
The Aries underwent only minor changes in its first few production years (the Custom trim line was dropped from the coupe and sedan in 1983). The first major changes occurred in 1985, when the Aries received a new front fascia, featuring a new "crosshair" grille and a new rear fascia featuring five-section taillights. A new trim line, the top-tier LE ("Luxury Edition"), was added (it also replaced the Custom trim level on the wagon).
Significant powertrain changes were made for 1986. The 2.2 L engine's carburetor was replaced by a new throttle-body electronic fuel injection system, while a new 2.5 L four-cylinder engine was added to the option list, replacing the Mitsubishi 2.6 L. The four-speed manual transmission, previously offered as standard equipment, was dropped.
The Aries underwent only minor changes throughout the rest of its production run. The SE trim line was dropped after 1986, while the LE and base trim remained the only trims till the end of production. The base trim line was renamed America in 1988, offered as relatively inexpensive, basic transportation. The wagon bodystyle was dropped from the range for the Aries' final year, 1989. After nine years and nearly a million units sold, the car was discontinued in 1989, replaced by the Spirit.
Quality
Fit and finish on the Aries was marginal at best (everything from sloppily mounted turn signal indicators in the instrument cluster to poorly mounted dry cleaning hooks). Furthermore, the K-cars were built to be very lightweight for fuel economy reasons.The then-new 2.2 L engine had issues with cylinder head gaskets until approximately 1985. All 2.2 L (and later derivative 2.5 L) engines had aluminum heads on iron blocks; the different expansion rates of the metals caused a lot of stress on the head gaskets. (In fact, most of that generation of front-wheel-drive cars, regardless of make, had this problem.) All vehicles equipped with this Chrysler engine must be very carefully monitored to prevent overheating - if not already equipped, a temperature gauge must be added, and the radiator, electric fan and thermostat must be checked carefully with every oil change. A peculiarity of this family of engines is their normal operating sound - every different internal combustion engine will have a characteristic "sound" dictated by its geometry; the 2.2 L/2.5 L engine sounds "clanky" and "unhealthy" at its best. If valve and ignition timing are good, and if the air-fuel mixture is good, shrug it off as normal; the engine is fine.[[Citing sources citation needed]] If the reader is especially worried, check connecting rod play.
Offered as an "American car with a Japanese engine", the 2.6 L Mitsubishi "Silent Shaft" I4 engine was definitely intended to compete with Toyotas at a time when Americans were very concerned with the erosion of the American manufacturing base. However, the Mitsubishi (nicknamed the "Bitsumishi" or "Mr. Squishy" by service technicians) had a tendency towards grenading due to poor connecting rod forgings and cylinder head castings. As early as the late 1980s, rebuildable Mitsubishi 2.6 L cylinder heads were rare and commanded a high price at automotive wrecking yards; many K-cars have had their Mitsubishi engines removed and replaced with the more durable American engines.
As with most Chrysler small cars, they were butt of many jokes while in production (Valiant/Dart, Volare/"ASSpain"). But in keeping with Chrysler tradition the K-car's long term reliability has been good, as K-cars are still seen on the road on a regular basis 25 years after its introduction. K-cars equipped with the 2.2 L or 2.5 L engine are easy to service, parts are cheap, and the essential components (engine, transmission, body) survive high mileage and many years if properly maintained.
Uniqueness
The Aries (and its twin the Plymouth Reliant) were 2 of the only "compact" cars to have 6-passenger seating with a 3 seat per row setup.
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