We've rarely had the opportunity to talk about the Dodge Hornet since the compact crossover debuted back in August 2022. Thankfully, the Alfa Romeo Tonale's North American cousin has now been spotted out in the open, flaunting a flashy Acapulco Gold paint job in a recent test. The production-ready prototype was caught in Turin, Italy while riding on black alloy wheels likely wrapped in winter tires.
The 2023 Hornet is a new Dodge model in a long time and is shaping up to be a commercial success even though it's yet another compact crossover. Only 24 hours after its reveal, the Stellantis brand already had 14,000 preorders. The GT model has been heading to dealers across the United States since last month while the R/T is due this upcoming spring. It's unclear at this point whether the sporty GT GLH Concept will follow as a production model.
2023 Dodge Hornet spied without camouflage in Turin, Italy
Meanwhile, the base GT model costs $30,000 and gets you a small crossover with a punchy 2.0-liter turbo engine sending 268 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) to the road via a nine-speed automatic gearbox. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in six and a half seconds en route to 140 mph (225 km/h). Get the R/T version and the sprint time drops to 6.1 seconds thanks to 288 hp and 383 lb-ft (519 Nm) from a 1.3-liter turbo engine working together with an electric motor. It gets standard AWD and uses a six-speed automatic while the top speed decreases to 128 mph (206 km/h).
Although the Dodge Hornet is a fairly small vehicle, the plug-in hybrid model tips the scales at a hefty 4,140 pounds (1,875 kilograms). Stick to the pure ICE model and the weight drops down to 3,715 lbs (1,600 kg) and you also get a slightly better payload capacity (1,245 lbs or 565 kg). The electrified version hauls around a 276-lb (125-kg) battery for an electric range of about 30 miles (nearly 50 kilometers) in the EPA cycle.
