Dodge Caliber
 

http://http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/33...er.r34.500.jpg Replaces the neon. Pricing for this beauty starts at 13,985. Base engine will come with 148hp 1.8-liter 4cyl.

I am impressed. I don't know about Dodge quality and reliablity though. Especially the first year of production.

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/1...er.r34.500.jpg

beauty? looks like a truck. blah.

Dodge quality has improved greatly over the past 10 years or so (with the exception of the 1st gen Neons.)

I have no issues with the fit and finish of Dodge vehicles...unfortunately, they just haven't designed anything that appeals to my liking.

However, the new Dodge Challenger scheduled for 2009 looks like something I may be interested in......purely for recreational purposes.

Yes - just check out a front grill shot!

I know a few people with Neons, and not just the first generation. The Neons are not all that reliable, but are cheap to buy. So, pay now or later, later in the case of the Neon. I much prefer the Fit to that car shown above.

I drive a 95 neon our family bought brand new 11 years ago for $8.5k. After 132k miles still has the original clutch and front axle. Its cheap to run and extremely reliable. But if we had bought a neon with PS or AC or any other accessory it would be a completely different story. its also quite quick with 2300lb and 132hp.
This new caliber is total garbage. They sacrificed fuel efficiency (CD .375) for SUV styling. The original 95 neon had a CD of .33. I get about 33-36mpg in mixed city and highway driving.

Dodge returns to Australia after a 34 year absense

The new face of Dodge is a small car with a four-cylinder engine developed by Hyundai and Mitsubishi.

The Dodge Caliber is due in September with 1.8- and 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines. Priced between A$25,000 and A$35,000, it is designed to compete with the Mazda3, Volkswagen Golf and the like.

In early 2007 the company is also hoping to have a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel (the engine is from VW) and a 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol versions of the Caliber. About the same time it is expected to be joined by the Dodge Nitro, a 4WD similar to the Jeep Cherokee but a bit longer and wider. It's powered by the same engines as the Cherokee - 3.7-litre V6 and 2.8-litre turbo-diesel.

Found out at the NAIAS that new Jeep Compass is the same vehicle underneath!

I guess Chrysler thinks even its entry level offerings must look like a truck to have a chance at success.

Here's an old dead thread with old dead thinking. The problem with being old is that its got a good chance of being near the beginning & often first impressions stick.

I'm here to unstick old dead thinking. Data gathered by Michael Kiresh indicate that the Caliber is a product of quality. My individual SE is creak & rattle free, 100% functioning, & smoother than silk. The Fit cannot be as silky smooth as the Caliber. NO OTHER car with a manual or automatic transmission(even mid-priced cars) can be as silky smooth as the Caliber w/CVT.

I've owned a Dodge SE Caliber 2 liter w/CVT since 9/28/2006. Through 12,000 miles & a cold long winter, I've overall averaged 30.9MPG including trips over 4000 foot mountain passes averaging 32.8MPG, & a flat highway run of 35.6 MPG...that done with a 3000 pound car with an auto transmission. With the warmer weather & summer mix gas my MPG continues to rise & I expect it to do so till October 2007 & colder weather.

As mentioned, rides are genteel...mountain trips particularly so. On continually changing mountain slopes no other type transmission can match Caliber CVT's ability to ease the engine's task of gaining rising ground. When a transmission continually sets the perfect gear to assist an engine to accomplish its mission, then that transmission must be said to have accomplished ITS mission without reservation. Without reservation I say the Caliber CVT has done its duty.

Along with the CVT efficiency & smoothness, the engine itself, when feather footed, matches the CVT in smoothness, being quiet without vibration. The 2 liter engine matched to the CVT is an elegant couple.

Many fault the Caliber interior, but I enjoy its brightness & cheerfulness. The compact ride is a good balance of shock absorbing abilities while continueing passenger comfort all day long.

I hate Calibers sooo much, they are one of the ugliest new cars on the road. I hate the plastic on the top, it looks so cheap. Dodge can make a decent truck(Ram) but thats about it IMO.

I recently took a two hour trip with a co-worker in their 3 month old Caliber. Seemed like the fit and finish I'd expect...nothing to write home about. NSV was about on par for the size of car. When we got to our destination, he let me take the car for a spin. Unlike the Neon, I feel the driving characteristics were garbage at best (neon being pretty good for the segment). So basically its fine for what it is; a down grade from an SUV.

Bottom line:

Drives like an SUV, looks like SUV, but pretty good MPG for a brick. This will be good for middle aged men who can't stand the idea of buying a 'foreign' car but want better MPG than a half ton truck.

I agree. Looks like a brick too. Probably sinks faster than the Fit too ;)

The Fit is overall more fun to drive. 148hp does you no good when you are driving a block of Dodgified mortar on wheels.

that car can hardly be called a compact.

I saw one in the side parking lot beside my campus , and it was park next to a jeep cherokee.

it was a bit shorter, but thats it, it was the same length about the same width.

why not just buy an suv?

I see the ghost of old dead thinking is still haunting this thread.

But I guess ghostly criticisms don't scratch much Caliber paint. 'The Caliber can hardly be called a compact.' Wow! There is a critical slam. Got my 'bigger than Fit' Caliber that drives smoother & silkier than Fit for many thousands less than the Fit.

"The Caliber isn't like a Neon & looks like a brick.' Then Dodge did what it intended to do...break away from the Neon. Some people also called the F-4 jet fighter plane a brick. But that didn't keep the F-4 from being the best fighter plane in the world for 20 years...make that 25 years. Plus 160,000 Caliber owners love its brick-like looks & solidity. There are more owners in England, Australia, China, Venezuela, Greece, Turkey, & Europe that love that brick too, showing the universality of the Caliber style. Yes, its hard to scratch a brick isn't it.

'This will be good for middle aged men who can't stand to buy 'foreign' but want better MPG than a half-ton truck.' Yes, MUCH BETTER MPG than a half-ton & an SUV. Did you read my post? Or did you forget already. Also, you've forgotten the young men & women who love their Calibers...& those 'foreigners' buying the Caliber.

'Dodgified mortar'...better not get in an accident with the Caliber then...you'll lose.

'nothing to write home about'. Such an ego. Then I gladly saved many thousands of dollars because you past the Caliber by. Thankyou very much. Your poor misdirected criticisms left my Caliber sparkling clean.

Way to go.

Oh, and did you really get yours for "thousands" less than my Fit? Because I paid $14,500 for mine. Dodges website says yours starts out at $14,200 MSRP. EVEN if you DID get it at the price, which I know you didn't, because obviously you have CVT, you get less MPG than the Fit, less maneuverability than the Fit, and your "opinion" of the "silky smooth transmissions" is just that. An opinion. Got any idea why Road and Track rated the Caliber 6th out of 7th in its class? And other car magazines have also rated it similarly...

"...and its high-effort shifter required a two-step jog from second to third and from fourth to fifth.
All that power didn’t win us over, either. There’s torque steer and axle tramp in hard launches, helped not at all by abrupt clutch takeup. It took 9.7 seconds to achieve 60 mph, 1.3 seconds longer than the last manual-trans Neon we tested. And the engine edges into thrashiness at high revs, the noisiest at WOT. We’d tell you exactly where the racket began, but our Caliber had no tach. " -Car and Driver

Nice. Very nice.

Ya got a good deal. But I didn't say your Fit. I said the Fit. So lots of people paid thousands more for their Fit than I paid for my bigger Caliber. & I still paid less for my Caliber than you paid for your Fit.

Opinion?! A manual or automatic shift Fit can never reach the silky smooth elegance of a CVT Caliber in Drive...no need for the CVT to disconnect the engine from the wheels to shift. Lots of people think they win an argument when they say its a matter of opinion. Not this time.....Oh, ya got me there. You must mean the Fit is as silky smooth & elegant as the Caliber when the Fit is stopped. Ya might be right on that point.

So you get better handling & MPG than me. Wow! Never would a' thunk a small car would get better MPG than a big car. You must a got some sort a PhD for that bit of smarts...or read the EPA ratings.

So your racing rags say the Fit is faster. I've never raced another car. To enjoy beating another car by 2 tenths of a second is the ultimate human Pavlov's dog syndrome. Your ravenous appetite is showing. Please, wipe the drool off your lips. I don't want you to mess up my sparkling clean Caliber.

Yeah, people pay thousands more for their fit to get the Sports package. They paid for styling just as you would have with the SXT. I believe you have the base Caliber, which would compare to my Fit.

So, the Fit has better MPG, better handling, better performance, a better interior. And, I'll go ahead and give you your "silky transmission". Mine is a manual, so its as smooth as I feel like making it. The fact that your car has a 1.8L motor in it, is in the same category, and is STILL slower is the point I was trying to make. I don't go around racing my Fit either, but I'd say better performance/better MPG is a BIG plus for the Fit, especially in our class.

Point: I'll pay $300 more for a car that that is point for point better. I did a price quote on Dodge's website with CVT tranny for the SE, and the MSRP was in the mid $15,000's. So actually, I paid less for what I consider better. Dodge may have something in a few years, but they have some work to do.

Given its size and power, it gets good mileage. However, this is ar eplacement to the neon. My coworker had a neon that was 2 years old and couldn't start anymore, and the mechanic couldn't figure it out. His daughter was gonna drive it to NY, but not anymore cuz the car is too unrelible. it was given a lemon status.

Even if the Caliber is as good as the Fit, which I don't think it is, the Fit will still retain a much higher percentage of it's original purchase price than a Caliber will. Neons had a reputation for being throw-away cars and Dodge did it no favors by dumping them into rental fleets. How long before they do it with the Caliber?