1985 Dodge Daytona Reviews, Pricing & Specs
Overview
Fast. That describes how your money will leave your wallet if you're purchasing a high-performance sports car. Unless you're buying a...
Fast. That describes how your money will leave your wallet if you're purchasing a high-performance sports car. Unless you're buying a Dodge Daytona. In this case, "fast" applies only to this budget-minded hatchback's action on the highway. It's an economy car in terms of cost and mileage, but it doesn't behave the way you think an economy car would. Essentially replacing the sporty Challenger, this 3-door hatch comes in three trims -- one base and two turbos.
The 1985 Dodge Daytona boosted its already rocket-like 2.2-liter turbo engine from 142 to 146-hp. The base model 2.2-liter I4 wasn't too shabby at 93-hp. But the Turbo was the street racer. With its long sloping front end and almost fastback-like hatch, it had the looks to match the engine power. Also new in 1985, all trims received the rear spoiler that previously only existed on the Turbo Z. Now even the base owners could look cool.
Opinion seems to be that the Daytona is fast and fun and, oh yeah, FAST, and the Turbo models feature great performance and awesome sound. The dash controls are well laid out, say owners. There are few complaints about the 1985 Daytona. Some question its reliability, while others say it can take a beating. There was some mention of starter problems.
What owners say
This car was an 80's icon. Great styling for the 1980's. Sleek exterior and futuristic interior. For a front wheel drive 4 banger with turbo, it was a great performer. In its day, other cars with V8s were bogged down with smog control and these cars, when equiped with a turbo, could run with and out perform a lot of them. (especially the Shelby variant sister cars) Build quality left some to be desired but was not all bad. Some paint was known to flake and electronics sub-par. Power window track gear breaks easily and were plastic. The automatic transmissions were awful but who would want the auto-trans anyway? Gas milage as I remember was about average for a four cylinder. The driving experience was fun. Front-wheel drive helped the handling but the turbo torque and turbo lag took getting used to. You had better have the wheels pointed where you wanted to go when the turbo spun up. I had immense fun with the car and many fond memories.
January 24, 2010Turbo Z, great acceleration, stopping power was very good, handling was superb, Problems with the power seat, maybe I was too heavy? Appearance was excellent. Costs were low, good fuel mileage. Driving this one was the most fun of all.
November 23, 2009this mint! i love to have a good time and drive it places it has a need too get over 60 half the time lol . this car is a great car too drive and is a great gas saver!! its a 1985 dodge daytona turbo-z
August 23, 2009What owners say
This car was an 80's icon. Great styling for the 1980's. Sleek exterior and futuristic interior. For a front wheel drive 4 banger with turbo, it was a great performer. In its day, other cars with V8s were bogged down with smog control and these cars, when equiped with a turbo, could run with and out perform a lot of them. (especially the Shelby variant sister cars) Build quality left some to be desired but was not all bad. Some paint was known to flake and electronics sub-par. Power window track gear breaks easily and were plastic. The automatic transmissions were awful but who would want the auto-trans anyway? Gas milage as I remember was about average for a four cylinder. The driving experience was fun. Front-wheel drive helped the handling but the turbo torque and turbo lag took getting used to. You had better have the wheels pointed where you wanted to go when the turbo spun up. I had immense fun with the car and many fond memories.
January 24, 2010Turbo Z, great acceleration, stopping power was very good, handling was superb, Problems with the power seat, maybe I was too heavy? Appearance was excellent. Costs were low, good fuel mileage. Driving this one was the most fun of all.
November 23, 2009this mint! i love to have a good time and drive it places it has a need too get over 60 half the time lol . this car is a great car too drive and is a great gas saver!! its a 1985 dodge daytona turbo-z
August 23, 2009I went with the 4 cyl version so as to try to reduce my traffic enfractions. My 4-4-2 and Mustang got me pulled over so much, I - TO THIS DAY - can tell you my drivers license number. This was a nice comfortable ride - ver dependable and easy to maintain.
April 24, 2013
