My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
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Joined: Jan 2006
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My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
Well, I believe I am a few days short of actual month, but its long enough. This Friday should be the one month.
Anyway, just a recap for those that may not know:
Caliber R/T
Driver Convenience Group
Security Group
Sunroof
All the other R/T stuff.
Likes:
Great handling
Acceleration gets better and better. Just did the first oil change and put synthetic in it, and it is very quiet and smooth. The acceleration has improved A LOT, more than any other vehicle I have owned through a break in period. I am guessing its because of the new engine and the CVT takes time to adjust. It also takes time for the computer to "learn" your driving style.
Gas mileage is better than advertised in the city. I get 24.8 or better all the time, that included pretty heavy footed driving.
Highway I have had some trouble with though. At 70 MPH at under, I have been able to average 28-29 MPG. But go above 70, and the MPG drops like a rock. I was getting 21-22 at 75-80. Kind of a disapointment considering my 4.0L 4x4 Sport Trac got 23 making the same trip last year, doing 80 too.
Great having the cargo area. I have a big storage bin back there I throw my school stuff in so it isnt sliding around the back seat. I also had the rest of a case of oil from the oil change, and managed to fit a bunch of groceries we went and got so we would stop eating out so much. :P. All if it fit in the cargo area with no need to put anything in the back seats.
All the seats are very comfortable, and the height adjust on the R/T is great to have.
Speakers are good for the base system. I dont have the soundgate package and just the standard radio.
Sirius rocks, but I knew that going into it.
The sunroof is great. Very low wind noise when fully open, and it doesnt let too much air in. Its damn near perfect IMO, everyone should get one.
The AWD is nice and responsive, as well as smooth. I had it kick in just last night driving back from Indiana. We hit a really bad storm and there were some big big puddles. Well going through them caused for some loss of traction to the front tires, and you could feel the car shift over to AWD for a bit. Car went through the puddle with no drag to either side and was like a tank. Great job by Chrysler.
The CVT is a lot of fun, and Autostick adds a whole new world of performance to the car.
Fits full grown adults over 6'2" perfectly, not bad for a "compact".
Cons:
That cooling system in the glove compartment is kind of annoying. You pull back this tab thing that is supposed to open it up to let cold air in, but anytime you stop, especially if it is heavier braking, the thing seems to close again. It is very loose and does not seem to want to stay open. A big PITA.
The power inverter plug (AC plug), as cool as it may be, is only a two prong, and gives no wattage rating on it. Any power inverter you buy has a three prong connection. I dont understand why its only two. I tried getting info on the watt rating, and the lady said it was 115 Volts and 115 Watts, that seems convenient... I hope she is right.
So because of its lack of three prong and lack of info on whats its capacities are, it has only been used once.
I hate. HATE. My NUMBER 1 complaint about this damn car, is the fact that the power points dont stay on when you shut off the vehicle and get out. What a useless "Feature". Makes it really hard to let your cell phone, iPod, whatever, charge when the vehicle is off. Because of school and work, I dont get to spend a lot of time near outlets, so sometimes its easier to just let the plugs stay in the vehicle for the DC sources and charge my stuff. That way its all set and I dont have to carry around AC plugs everywhere. Well thanks to the geniuses at Dodge, I cant do that anymore. It cant be about battery rundown either because EVERY Ford vehicle I have owned had a rundown sensor in it and if the power levels dipped too much it THEN cut off the power to the vehicle so you could still charge it. Even then I have never had that have to kick on, an iPod does not take that much to charge...
Man that bugs me.
The highway gas mileage is annoying too. My big 4x4 Sport Trac's and Explorer should not be getting better highway MPG than this car above 70 MPH. I dont know what the deal is there, but its ridiculous.
The use of hard plastic in the interior makes it tough, but they could have put SOME padding on the center console and the driver/pass door handles. I have always rested my elbows there, and still do, and the lack of padding can make for some more painful longer trips. Never seen a vehicle that lacked padding. Its void everywhere in this car except the seats.
We went to get a new oil filter for the car, and nowhere in the manual does it state the oil filters part number. It gives a long part number, at least we think its a part number, but we cannot find what it means anywhere. Googled it, called Chrysler, it doesnt show up. So we think its the standard Chrysler S16 oil filter, but just like the AC plug, this cars manual is very void of information. There isnt even a section on the AWD.
The tires kind of suck in the rain, I read this before I got the car from someone on this forum, but it is very true.
Those are the bullet points of the major things I like and dont like about the car.
Some of them that I dont like really stand out, and it sucks that the stuff I dont like is in some cases more important than all the Pro's because I use that stuff more. But whatever, I hope when the modding community takes hold there are some work arounds to these issues.
Thanks for reading! I plan to add to it as I remember stuff.
Anyway, just a recap for those that may not know:
Caliber R/T
Driver Convenience Group
Security Group
Sunroof
All the other R/T stuff.
Likes:
Great handling
Acceleration gets better and better. Just did the first oil change and put synthetic in it, and it is very quiet and smooth. The acceleration has improved A LOT, more than any other vehicle I have owned through a break in period. I am guessing its because of the new engine and the CVT takes time to adjust. It also takes time for the computer to "learn" your driving style.
Gas mileage is better than advertised in the city. I get 24.8 or better all the time, that included pretty heavy footed driving.
Highway I have had some trouble with though. At 70 MPH at under, I have been able to average 28-29 MPG. But go above 70, and the MPG drops like a rock. I was getting 21-22 at 75-80. Kind of a disapointment considering my 4.0L 4x4 Sport Trac got 23 making the same trip last year, doing 80 too.
Great having the cargo area. I have a big storage bin back there I throw my school stuff in so it isnt sliding around the back seat. I also had the rest of a case of oil from the oil change, and managed to fit a bunch of groceries we went and got so we would stop eating out so much. :P. All if it fit in the cargo area with no need to put anything in the back seats.
All the seats are very comfortable, and the height adjust on the R/T is great to have.
Speakers are good for the base system. I dont have the soundgate package and just the standard radio.
Sirius rocks, but I knew that going into it.
The sunroof is great. Very low wind noise when fully open, and it doesnt let too much air in. Its damn near perfect IMO, everyone should get one.
The AWD is nice and responsive, as well as smooth. I had it kick in just last night driving back from Indiana. We hit a really bad storm and there were some big big puddles. Well going through them caused for some loss of traction to the front tires, and you could feel the car shift over to AWD for a bit. Car went through the puddle with no drag to either side and was like a tank. Great job by Chrysler.
The CVT is a lot of fun, and Autostick adds a whole new world of performance to the car.
Fits full grown adults over 6'2" perfectly, not bad for a "compact".
Cons:
That cooling system in the glove compartment is kind of annoying. You pull back this tab thing that is supposed to open it up to let cold air in, but anytime you stop, especially if it is heavier braking, the thing seems to close again. It is very loose and does not seem to want to stay open. A big PITA.
The power inverter plug (AC plug), as cool as it may be, is only a two prong, and gives no wattage rating on it. Any power inverter you buy has a three prong connection. I dont understand why its only two. I tried getting info on the watt rating, and the lady said it was 115 Volts and 115 Watts, that seems convenient... I hope she is right.
So because of its lack of three prong and lack of info on whats its capacities are, it has only been used once.
I hate. HATE. My NUMBER 1 complaint about this damn car, is the fact that the power points dont stay on when you shut off the vehicle and get out. What a useless "Feature". Makes it really hard to let your cell phone, iPod, whatever, charge when the vehicle is off. Because of school and work, I dont get to spend a lot of time near outlets, so sometimes its easier to just let the plugs stay in the vehicle for the DC sources and charge my stuff. That way its all set and I dont have to carry around AC plugs everywhere. Well thanks to the geniuses at Dodge, I cant do that anymore. It cant be about battery rundown either because EVERY Ford vehicle I have owned had a rundown sensor in it and if the power levels dipped too much it THEN cut off the power to the vehicle so you could still charge it. Even then I have never had that have to kick on, an iPod does not take that much to charge...
Man that bugs me.
The highway gas mileage is annoying too. My big 4x4 Sport Trac's and Explorer should not be getting better highway MPG than this car above 70 MPH. I dont know what the deal is there, but its ridiculous.
The use of hard plastic in the interior makes it tough, but they could have put SOME padding on the center console and the driver/pass door handles. I have always rested my elbows there, and still do, and the lack of padding can make for some more painful longer trips. Never seen a vehicle that lacked padding. Its void everywhere in this car except the seats.
We went to get a new oil filter for the car, and nowhere in the manual does it state the oil filters part number. It gives a long part number, at least we think its a part number, but we cannot find what it means anywhere. Googled it, called Chrysler, it doesnt show up. So we think its the standard Chrysler S16 oil filter, but just like the AC plug, this cars manual is very void of information. There isnt even a section on the AWD.
The tires kind of suck in the rain, I read this before I got the car from someone on this forum, but it is very true.
Those are the bullet points of the major things I like and dont like about the car.
Some of them that I dont like really stand out, and it sucks that the stuff I dont like is in some cases more important than all the Pro's because I use that stuff more. But whatever, I hope when the modding community takes hold there are some work arounds to these issues.
Thanks for reading! I plan to add to it as I remember stuff.
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 377
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From:
RE: My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
The AC Plug is only designed for low powered devices, which most (not all) only use the 2 prongs. Its really only made to power something like an iPod, Cell Phone, electric shaver, etc., not a vacuum cleaner or something like that. So I don't really see that as a fault in the car, but thats just my opinion. Also, I also don't think its a good idea to charge a device off the cars battery, hence why Dodge didn't allow you to do that. Most Dodge vehicles have battery run down protection (at least my Stratus Coupe does), but its really not a good idea to run the battery down all the time in your car either. So again, I don't see that as a fault. It sounds like you're trying to do more than what was intended with the AC outlet. If you look at the Pontiac Vibe, the electric outlet in that also only has 2 prongs for the same reasons.
Remember that this is a completely brand new car, so auto parts stores won't have anything like that on the Caliber right now. You'll have to do your best to match the Chrysler part number up to another brand of oil filter.
I wouldn't doubt that the tires suck in the rain. The tires they put on the R/T, and SXT for that matter aren't rated very good at all for anything really.
As far as gas milage goes, your Caliber will get better, and better gas milage as you continue to put miles on the engine. Even though its a month old, and it more than likely passed Chrysler's engine break-in milage, its still a brand new motor and is still wearing in so gas milage and power for that matter may be slightly disappointing for a few more months.
The gas milage of the R/T is what really steered me away from that model and into the SXT Sport. I could really care less about the extra 15 HP it has as it seems to use a lot more gas to do the same thing as the 2.0 or 1.8 liter.
Remember that this is a completely brand new car, so auto parts stores won't have anything like that on the Caliber right now. You'll have to do your best to match the Chrysler part number up to another brand of oil filter.
I wouldn't doubt that the tires suck in the rain. The tires they put on the R/T, and SXT for that matter aren't rated very good at all for anything really.
As far as gas milage goes, your Caliber will get better, and better gas milage as you continue to put miles on the engine. Even though its a month old, and it more than likely passed Chrysler's engine break-in milage, its still a brand new motor and is still wearing in so gas milage and power for that matter may be slightly disappointing for a few more months.
The gas milage of the R/T is what really steered me away from that model and into the SXT Sport. I could really care less about the extra 15 HP it has as it seems to use a lot more gas to do the same thing as the 2.0 or 1.8 liter.
Joined: May 2006
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RE: My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
the power rating is 150 watts i did read it in the book somewhere, could not tell u where, but i did. will look for it again
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Joined: May 2006
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RE: My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
Wow, no live power points when the car is shut off?! Man, I don't think I like that at all either! I drive a 99' Dodge Ram which has always been my main source of charging my Ipod and cell phone. I guess I'll have to learn to adjust. I bought the sunburst orange caliber (fully loaded) two weeks ago, and can't wait to receive!
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Joined: Mar 2005
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RE: My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
I think the reason they do that is so you can't drain your battery inadvertantly when you leave the car.
Several of the cars I've driven in the past couple of years have done the same thing..and I wondered why and this was the reason I was given.
Then again, its not like MOST people would plug in a high-drain device..but you never know. I do like the two prong outlet in the Caliber though, I think its in a really convenient spot underneath the center console too. I could bring my wall charger for my phone or iPod if I wanted to...blender...whatever you want I guess!
I wish more cars had the pronged AC/DC outlets like that!
Several of the cars I've driven in the past couple of years have done the same thing..and I wondered why and this was the reason I was given.
Then again, its not like MOST people would plug in a high-drain device..but you never know. I do like the two prong outlet in the Caliber though, I think its in a really convenient spot underneath the center console too. I could bring my wall charger for my phone or iPod if I wanted to...blender...whatever you want I guess!
I wish more cars had the pronged AC/DC outlets like that!
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 377
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RE: My Caliber R/T 1 Month Review
Yeah...remember that the Caliber is NOT a full blown generator. I don't think the idea of the AC Plug was to be a permanent charging device for your low powered devices, but rather only when the car is in use (or when the car is turned to the "On" Position). Its usually not a good idea to keep running the battery down and I think thats the reason why it doesn't power anything when the car isn't in use.