by Rod Zervakos
Why am I writing about a Dodge Caliber in the muscle car section? Well, it’s because of talk about the SRT4 version of the Caliber coming out which I hear people referring to as a muscle car. I’ll let that argument go for the moment, but let’s address the Caliber in general and then get into the “muscle car” talk.
Dodge’s latest TV campaign for the Caliber involves a fairy flying around zapping things here and there, transforming them into much cuter iterations. Coming across a quick moving jet black Caliber, she takes direct aim and unleashes a blast from her wand. Then, as though the car were protected by some sort of Star Wars force field, the pixie’s blast is effortlessly deflected back into the atmosphere. Her powers of cuteness are to no avail on the manly Caliber.
That’s funny stuff. Why is it funny? Because Dodge’s obvious attempt to spin the Calibers true identity (that it’s a cute car) is in total vain. Just about every female that saw this car, and even a couple of guys, made the exact same comment about it, “Oh my God, it’s so cute!!” Personally I don’t find this thing either cute or manly; ergo one the problems associated with it being talked about as a muscle car.
Performance numbers at this point are irrelevant with econo-boxes like this so, I’ll get right to the driving impressions instead. First of all, the 2.4 liter inline four cylinder is anemic on its best day so don’t reserve any time at the local drag strip for this bad boy until the SRT4 version is available which we hear will be in the fall of 2006. For now though acceleration is slow off the line but thanks to the CVT (continuously variable transaxle) it happens seamlessly.
I have to say that driving a car with a CVT transmission is a little bizarre. For anyone who has ever driven a car with a huge stall converter, this will seem familiar to you. When accelerating from stop the tach immediately jumps to about 3000 rpm and stay’s there until you reach your desired cruising speed. This car doesn’t shift gears as much as it just gradually changes them. It really is neat. With the six-speed transmission in the SRT4, I can assure you it will be a different story. The theoretical advantage to the CVT is that the engine will always be performing in its optimal power range, therefore operating more efficiently. Dodge’s claim of 23 city and 26 highway mpg numbers don’t exactly evoke thought of massive savings but I suppose it’s better than a poke in the eye.
There were a couple of other things about the car that I found unpleasant. One of which was the brakes, which I felt were a bit numb. The pedal felt hard and non communicative and the brakes felt slow to respond which took a while to get comfortable with. With the performance tuned suspension and braking system in the SRT4 version I don’t expect those issues.
The interior was the other area I was a little disappointed with. I like to drive with my left arm resting on the top of the door panel by the window. With this car, it was almost painful to keep my arm there because the top of the panel was sharp edged and hard as a rock. Hey Dodge, a little padding never hurt anyone; you should give it a shot sometime.
As far as the rest of the interior was concerned it was pretty much just standard fare but not totally unexpected in this price range. The seats while ok were nothing to write home about. The ergonomics were not scintillating but functional and I’m hoping that the hot rod iteration will be much improved. The visibility is better than average due to a slightly elevated ride height and plenty of windows.
The one thing in this car that you won’t get in a lot of cars that cost three times as much is an improved sound system. Aesthetically speaking it’s a total bore, but crank it up and it will get your attention. This thing flat out pounds the music for a stock system and I was very impressed.
At the end of the day I have to have to give Dodge a hand for building something that is unique to look at while incorporating cutting edge technology such as the CVT, nav system, mp3 compatibility and a nifty little cooler in the glove box and the very cool drop down speakers in the tailgate.
Now the question is will the SRT4 live up to expectations, what will the pricing be and will it ever achieve the label of muscle car. Rhetorical questions all at this point, but as a fan of big powerful V8’s, I personally struggle with the thought of calling anything, other than a heavy sedan with a big honkin' engine, a muscle car. Some people feel that four doors are ok (Impala SS, M5, E55,RS6), and as I mentioned earlier, some people feel that a six or four cylinder engine can still qualify (SRT-4, Cobalt SS, Grand National), some people even feel that a two seater only qualifies (Vette, Viper). I know that at the end of the day it ALL boils down to personal opinion. So what's yours?
For those of you not needing all the performance, for right around 20k you can get a top of the line Caliber that will get you where you want to go and it will do it efficiently as well. Bigger than a lot of its competitors like the Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota Matrix, the Caliber offers a pretty good bang for the buck. These day’s even the entry level buyer demands more out of a vehicle and Dodge seems to be one step ahead of the competition with the new Caliber.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this or any other muscle car issue.
