I'm usually in the Ram forums, but today me and a buddy got to talking about the Caliber. All I know is they get really good gas mileage and some one said the transmission uses a belt instead of gears. So if ya'll don't mind (guess where I'm from!) tell me some about your cars (i.e.: mpg, top speed, chicks-dig-it factor, etc.).

 

Nobody?

 

Seems there are a lot of lurkers out here with not much to say!
I have had my Caliber SXT 2.0L/CVT for about 10 months
and the odo is at 12,700 kilometers(7200 miles) and enjoy
driving it a great deal.
The tranny is the contiuously variable automatic and yes it is belt
driven internally and is operated to achieve optimum drive ratios
in order to give best mpg.
It gave quite reasonable mpg from the start however it could not
be considered a performance enhancer due to the programmed in
operation to enhance transmission(belt) life,however due to recent
changes to the programming by DCX it now has lively acceleration
from a stop(you can squeal the tire) and much better mpg.
I have only timed 0-60mph with a watch but it was about 9 seconds
on three different tries with completely stock car.
I have been driving 70% hiway lately and am averaging 29-30 mpg US.
As for being a chick magnet I don't qualify to answer that,I am
66 yrs and married to the same lady for almost 44 yrs LOL.

 

Cool. I thought everybody was ashamed of their rides for a while there. That's some pretty cool stuff, especially the continously variable tranny. Are those available for the aftermarket yet?

 

I don't believe the CVTs are availible as aftermarket as of yet,however there
have been a number of Calibers in accidents as reported by various owners
on different Caliber forums and a number have been posted on EBAY as
parts only cars.
The tranny is in fact made by JATCO which is a subsiduary of NISSAN
so it is basically the same design as NISSAN uses with DCX electronic
programming and at last reports was not repairable by DCX dealers
leading to the return of any failed units to JATCO facilities.
Point of interest is if you don't already know,NISSAN is owned by RENAULT.

 

So, in other words, a project car with the slick CVT is still way in the future? By the way, is the Caliber front or rear wheel drive?

 

My R/T is awd
We get about 27 mpg on average with it.

 

The SE & SXT Calibers are front drivers. The R/T comes in FWD or AWD. Bigtsr knows how good the reflash is. I'm holding off getting the reflash since I have some of the highest MPG around & my SE Caliber is silky smooth. I would like to improve my poor 0 to 20MPH acceleration tho.

However, the internal hydraulic CVT pressures upon hard acceleration approach 1000 pounds per square inch. Initially Jatco, maker of the CVT for both Nissan & Caliber, computer limited torque & rpms thru the CVT at the low speed, to improve reliability on a newer technology CVT. Possibly Bigtsr's (& Jatco's) reflash is a furthercomputer controlled refinement, since the CVT seemsto be reliable.

CVTs, such as used by the Subaru Justy,back in the early 90s were NOT reliable. The belt was rubberized. Now tho, Jatco, thru an acquired company named Diamond(forget the rest of the name), the CVT belts are made of carbon fiber graphite, which Boeing uses increasingly for their light but strong structures. So the CVTbelts are strong. I assume the pressures may not be a problem now either, with the evidence of Bigtsr's reflash results. However, I love MPG, & continue to feather foot my CVT Caliber to 35.6MPG highway high, 32.8MPG averageover 4000 foot mountain passes, & 30.9MPG overall average including winter(& still rising).

 

Oh well, I was thinking it would be cool to have a Japanese car converted to rwd with a built and blown 327 with a cvt. Just cause nobody else has one.

 

If your referring to the Caliber with "Japanese built" you obviously have not looked at the
car in depth.
It is built in one place only for world sales and that is Belvedeere Illinois,think that is still
in the US.