Is the Dodge Caliber a crossover?
I know that truck-based SUVs are slowly being superseded by car-based crossovers. Instead of a body-on-frame design with lots of off-road ground clearance, we’re getting more reality-based vehicles that use the standard way of constructing a car – the unibody – to produce a lighter, still durable vehicle. It used to be thought that 4-wheel-drive capability was an integral part of defining the SUV, and by association, the crossover. Yet, there are plenty of SUVs available with rear wheel drive, and lots of crossovers come in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions.
What got me thinking about these arbitrary distinctions was the tall seating position of my front-wheel-drive bright silver metallic Dodge Caliber Mainstreet. I remember its predecessor, the Neon, as being a cute little car with a friendly face. The Caliber looks much more … well, butch is the word that comes to mind. The tall body, short greenhouse design has some family resemblance to the large 4-door Dodge Challenger. The overall profile sort of looks like a Dodge Journey. Finally, the hatchback and 60/40 split fold down rear seat does provide the Caliber with some of the utility one would expect from a small SUV.
But it was the driving-down-the-road experience and not feeling like I was in a vertically-challenged car, such as a Miata, that got me pondering the Caliber’s place in the Dodge arsenal of vehicles. Plus, every time I swung my feet around to get out of it, I was always surprised for a fraction of a second just how far down the ground was.
The 2-liter in-line 4-cylinder engine proved to be up to the task of shooting the Caliber off the line with moderate alacrity. Thanks to double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and dual variable-valve timing, the motor makes a reasonable 158 horsepower at 6,400 rpms, and 141 pound-feet of torque. It’s rated at 23/27 when equipped with the continuously variable transmission (CVT) as my tester was. For 2011, the 5-speed manual equipped cars get a bump up in their highway mileage from 31 to 32 mpg. City mileage remains the same at 23 mpg.
You can choose from four trim levels of the Caliber. The Express starts at $16,880, and shares the 5-speed manual with the $17,995 Caliber Heat. Both the $18,060 Mainstreet and the $19,995 Uptown get the CVT. I found that this transmission did keep the engine revs up quite high when I pressured the car for more performance. It wasn’t an unpleasant sound, but nor did the car act as if anything but sedate motoring was its cup of tea.
The 215/60×17-inch all season tires seemed better suited to giving a quiet ride than sheer cornering power. The suspension tuning agreed that the Caliber is best enjoyed when the pace is kept up to and below moderate. The brakes proved to be quite decent despite the rears being drums instead of discs. ABS is standard along with a goodly amount of other safety equipment. Not only are there front airbags, but both the front and rear seat occupants are protected by side curtain airbags.
My tester had a couple of useful items included. The $690 Media Center provided a 6.5-inch touch screen display and a 30 GB hard drive. It’s nice to know that if I wanted to have 6,700 songs stored in my Caliber that there’s room. I would rate the sound decent.
For $550, you can get the driver convenience group, which includes heated seats and a universal garage door opener. The tire pressure warning is upgraded to a display with actual tire pressures, and there are various statistics displayable through the electronic vehicle information center. The total with the destination charge was $20,050.
For 2011, some of the changes include a 6-way power driver’s seat standard on the Mainstreet. There are six new colors from which to choose. Electronic stability control now comes as standard equipment. If you like the Uptown package, you can add the optional 18-inch chrome-clad aluminum wheels. Finally, the steering’s been retuned for “a more direct and precise feel.”
So after all this pondering, have I decided that the Dodge Caliber is a crossover? Probably not, but it’ll be interesting to see where the crossover/sedan line is finally drawn.
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