I found this article over on USA Today's website and I know you guys can't get enough Caliber information over here so I thought I'd repost it.
Dodge has killed the once-promising but lately unloved Neon small car and replaced it with something quite different.
The replacement, Caliber, is a four-door hatchback along the lines of Toyota Matrix. It's built at the same Belvidere, Ill., factory that made Neon.
Dodge's parent, DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group, spent $419 million revamping Belvidere and installing 780 new assembly robots with flexible-manufacturing capability — meaning they also can build the Jeep Compass and Patriot, coming later this year.
The Caliber's base model, SE, is pretty barren to keep the starting price around $14,000. It has no air conditioning or power windows, for example.
The Caliber test car was a pre-production R/T model that would be priced in the low-$20,000 range. It had most options, plus a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine rated 172 horsepower, coupled to a CVT, or continuously variable transmission.
It's a belt-drive rig able to vary the diameters of its pulleys to keep the engine speed where it needs to be for best performance and fuel economy. So the theory goes. Dodge also built in six individual ratios to provide a manual-shift mode for enthusiasts.
Fuel economy is one place the CVT scores, in the view of Larry Lyons, Chrysler Group's vice president in charge of front-drive models (and, in this case, front-drivers that also offer all-wheel drive). He says it's up 4% to 6% vs. a four-speed automatic transmission. "We can completely shut off the fuel" when the car decelerates, he says, not just cut back fuel flow as in cars with conventional transmissions. The belt drive and ever-changing ratio between those pulleys make a smooth coast-down.
Click the link below to read the rest of the article!
How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.
Uh yeah no air conditioning . A/C is standard on the SXT and RT but not the SE. Just about the same with the Neon's. You can get Neon's without A/C too. We have a SE Caliber on our lot and it has A/C as an option. The article didn't say none of A/C....some people should learn to read a little.
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AGP DBB 50 trim + all the good stuff. Basic street tune, needs some dyno time now.
Best Time: 7.92 @ 88 MPH (stock turbo and slicks)
Best Time with 50 Trim:
8.54 @ 91 MPH (2.2 60') (19 PSI) (Street Tires)
Plenty of room for improvement!
I work at a chrysler dealership and i prepped one of these calibers and they are dogs. They are about as fast as a stock neon. the only cool things they have going for them is the cooler in the glove box and when you stomp the throttle it stays a 6000 rpms until you let off.
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2004 srt 4 came and went in 3 weeks...crash and burned....
Now proud owner of 2004 silver bullet....
Mods:Agp wastegate, Agp motor mounts, SAFC II, traction bars, 3 inch atp downpipe, full custom 3in turbo back, greddy catch can, strut bars, innovate lc-1 wideband with gauge, stage 3 injectors, orion h2 sub, hks turbo timer...
I work at a chrysler dealership and i prepped one of these calibers and they are dogs. They are about as fast as a stock neon. the only cool things they have going for them is the cooler in the glove box and when you stomp the throttle it stays a 6000 rpms until you let off.
Well duh...what were you expecting? They are an economy car not a sports car.
Intresting thing here, The R/T is "low" 20,000's That is what the Neon SRT-4 Was.. Hell it WAS 20,000.
If the R/T is "Low" 20,000's, what do you expect of the the SRT version? Unless they remove certian options to out way the cost of the Motor, Trans, Suspension, Brakes, Etc..
I dont like this car, like ive said I dont find Hatchbacks appealing at all. The Mazdaspeed 3 for example is ugly as sin to me, Ill bet fast but still ugly.
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dude, this is going to be funny as hell when the srt-4 version comes out and they will start coiming here. It'll suck for them because they will be hated for no reason
I've seen some calibers at local dealerships lately. I don't care much for the look of them either. The concept of the car is amazing tho. Dodge has made an entry level vehicle that has multiple functions. The Caliber is more creative and versatile than the Chevy's "Cavalier Replacement" & for that u ave to give Dodge credit. For Dodge's sake tho, i hope the general public flocks to the Caliber.....The route they took from a design standpoint is very risky
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Dodge Caliber Has Interesting Traits
. A/C is standard on the SXT and RT but not the SE. Just about the same with the Neon's. You can get Neon's without A/C too. We have a SE Caliber on our lot and it has A/C as an option. The article didn't say none of A/C....some people should learn to read a little.
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