Dodge Caliber measures up
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04-22-2006, 09:04 PM
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Dodge Caliber measures up
Dodge Caliber measures up
April 18, 2006
By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
Most serious car people avoid anything with four doors, four cylinders and an automatic.
DaimlerChrysler
The Caliber will feature Dodge's first continually variable transmission, though designers built in a simulated-shift feature to give the car more of a natural feel. But earlier this week, I found one in the garage at Chateau Box, and it wouldn't go away. Here's where it gets a little strange, though: It was kind of interesting in a daffy way.
The car in question was a 2007 Dodge Caliber SXT, a crossover that replaces the late, unlamented Neon.
I would describe the Caliber as a tall five-door hatchback with a butched-up front end and big wheels. Dodge might call it a sport wagon.
Whatever, the Caliber has the stance of a small SUV, with nifty fold-down seats in the rear so young people can carry several hundred pounds of computer and video equipment everywhere .
My silver front-wheel-drive ride also had a new – and quite civilized – two-liter, four-cylinder engine squeezing out a respectable 158 horsepower. For a price of $20,810, it has acceptable acceleration, a decent interior, a sunroof, a good stereo and 17-inch aluminum wheels.
But what caught my attention was the transmission – Dodge's first continuously variable transmission. In a general sense, a CVT is like an automatic. You stick it in gear and go.
CVTs have been around forever. Daf, a Netherlands automaker, first offered one on a car in 1958. Subaru bolted them into the lowly Justy GL in 1989. Saturn sold some VUEs with them beginning in 2002; Ford started installing them in some vehicles in 2004; and the 2007 Nissan Altima will get one.
Here's the drag with CVTs: There are no gear changes, so the car just drones along. It's akin to some old hippie sitting in your front passenger seat humming om. Forever.
In the Caliber, however, Dodge uses a computer to simulate a shift or two.
"That's one of the things we built into the software to make it feel more natural," said Cole Quinnell, an engineering spokesman at Dodge. "When we calibrated the Caliber, we thought if we give people a 1-2 shift and a downshift when they lean into the throttle, it would feel more natural."
Dodge says it has the only CVT with a shift feature, and the Caliber feels pretty good in regular driving. It got a CVT because Dodge doesn't have a five-speed automatic for front-wheel-drive vehicles and wanted better gas mileage than a four-speed automatic could provide.
"It was a really good solution for the Caliber," Mr. Quinnell said. "A CVT, compared to a four-speed automatic, is 6 to 8 percent more efficient."
The Caliber I drove was rated at 26 mpg city, 30 highway.
Although Calibers will be available with manual transmissions, all automatics will be CVTs, which means Dodge will probably put 80,000 or 90,000 of them on the road. Jeep also will equip its new Compass and Patriot crossover vehicles with CVTs.
I still don't want a four-cylinder, four-door vehicle with an automatic. But as modern devices go, the Caliber and its CVT are a lot easier to operate and live with than an iPod.
Terry Box is the automotive writer for The Dallas Morning News
April 18, 2006
By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
Most serious car people avoid anything with four doors, four cylinders and an automatic.
DaimlerChrysler
The Caliber will feature Dodge's first continually variable transmission, though designers built in a simulated-shift feature to give the car more of a natural feel. But earlier this week, I found one in the garage at Chateau Box, and it wouldn't go away. Here's where it gets a little strange, though: It was kind of interesting in a daffy way.
The car in question was a 2007 Dodge Caliber SXT, a crossover that replaces the late, unlamented Neon.
I would describe the Caliber as a tall five-door hatchback with a butched-up front end and big wheels. Dodge might call it a sport wagon.
Whatever, the Caliber has the stance of a small SUV, with nifty fold-down seats in the rear so young people can carry several hundred pounds of computer and video equipment everywhere .
My silver front-wheel-drive ride also had a new – and quite civilized – two-liter, four-cylinder engine squeezing out a respectable 158 horsepower. For a price of $20,810, it has acceptable acceleration, a decent interior, a sunroof, a good stereo and 17-inch aluminum wheels.
But what caught my attention was the transmission – Dodge's first continuously variable transmission. In a general sense, a CVT is like an automatic. You stick it in gear and go.
CVTs have been around forever. Daf, a Netherlands automaker, first offered one on a car in 1958. Subaru bolted them into the lowly Justy GL in 1989. Saturn sold some VUEs with them beginning in 2002; Ford started installing them in some vehicles in 2004; and the 2007 Nissan Altima will get one.
Here's the drag with CVTs: There are no gear changes, so the car just drones along. It's akin to some old hippie sitting in your front passenger seat humming om. Forever.
In the Caliber, however, Dodge uses a computer to simulate a shift or two.
"That's one of the things we built into the software to make it feel more natural," said Cole Quinnell, an engineering spokesman at Dodge. "When we calibrated the Caliber, we thought if we give people a 1-2 shift and a downshift when they lean into the throttle, it would feel more natural."
Dodge says it has the only CVT with a shift feature, and the Caliber feels pretty good in regular driving. It got a CVT because Dodge doesn't have a five-speed automatic for front-wheel-drive vehicles and wanted better gas mileage than a four-speed automatic could provide.
"It was a really good solution for the Caliber," Mr. Quinnell said. "A CVT, compared to a four-speed automatic, is 6 to 8 percent more efficient."
The Caliber I drove was rated at 26 mpg city, 30 highway.
Although Calibers will be available with manual transmissions, all automatics will be CVTs, which means Dodge will probably put 80,000 or 90,000 of them on the road. Jeep also will equip its new Compass and Patriot crossover vehicles with CVTs.
I still don't want a four-cylinder, four-door vehicle with an automatic. But as modern devices go, the Caliber and its CVT are a lot easier to operate and live with than an iPod.
Terry Box is the automotive writer for The Dallas Morning News
#2
04-24-2006, 01:00 PM
RE: Dodge Caliber measures up
I agree the Caliber has some positive attributes, but I see the old Eagle design reborn here too. And sadly enough, why did the Neons have to take a dive to let this model in? The Caliber has some good mechanical ideals to use, but it is still top heavy and clunky in the basic model. Lot's of bugs need to be worked out of it to meet Neon lovers eyes. And as for fuel economy, well it is no better than the Neon either. I wonder why DC did a rise in body for AWD versus a rebuild low like say a Subaru WRX so as to let Neon become a Gen 3 model with fire under the body that runs fast and also furious? And with prices of fuel racing up instead of down, why the drive AWAY from the Neon? I see that it could have been better yet with say a flex-fuel 2.0 under the hood or even a stout little Mercedes diesel too.
Where has DC gone with all this????
Where has DC gone with all this????
#3
04-24-2006, 01:10 PM
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