Dodge Caliber SXT 2007 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
>> Engine, drivetrain and chassis: 3.0/5.0
>> Packaging and practicality: 4.0/5.0
>> Safety: 3.0/5.0
>> Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
>> X-factor: 4.5/5.0

Smallest in the local Dodge line-up, Caliber is nonetheless huge in Australia. Chrysler says they're selling faster than it can land them and Caliber dwarfs fellow local segment offerings for size, versatility and features. Its SUV stature, 1000lt-plus cargo space and unique standards make Caliber many things for small car shoppers to size up.

Of the four-model line-up, the $30K SXT we tested was equipped with the Hyundai/Mitsubishi co-developed 2.0-litre petrol engine from DC's 'World Engine' family. This is coupled to a six-step continuously variable transmission (CVT). The SXT level comes standard with a 1.8-litre engine with a manual tranny, while a VW-sourced 2.0-litre turbodiesel version is expected soon.

The SXT is fitted with 17-inch wheels and a 'leather interior group' which includes leather upholstery, steering wheel audio controls and heated front seats. Or, as featured in the test car, customers can opt for the Sport and Sound package in exchange for the leather and heated seats, and be treated to the MusicGate premium sound system with subwoofer and speakers that swing down from the liftgate.

The nine-speaker system sounds good and the package includes colour-coded cloth trim which makes a nice change from ubiquitous grey, and complements Caliber's stand-out exterior styling.

Interior build quality and surfacing is workmanlike. If it were a painting you'd term it naive. It's plasticky and doesn't look likely to weather well. Are we being too picky? Not when the quality of interiors of even cheap and cheerful 'Asian' offerings are so much better than they were just a few years ago.

Caliber looks imposing from the outside and is grand scale inside, with generous, full-size seats up front and good headroom to the rear. Seating is upright, more truck-like, and therefore comfortable for the long-legged and the deeper footwells will accommodate growing children.

Rear seat space is cramped for any more than two adults but there's decent cargo area behind, which can be loaded high due to the tall roof-line. The rear seats fold flat for 1013 litres of  cargo and the front passenger seat will also fold flat.

The 'wagon' part of 'crossover hatch' we get, and can't help picturing it beachside.

Caliber's 2.0-litre works happily under 2000rpm at highway speeds, but the engine is loud and lacks low-down urge up against Caliber's weight (1425kg kerb) and consumption-conscious CVT. The CVT manual function works left-and-right via a well-positioned shift and is decent in semi-manual mode but can stick around too long when left to its own devices.

Dodge says it's a good match for economy: our best for a highway-city cycle was 8.9lt/100km, but that was while using air-con, which works so well it's little wonder designers could factor in a cooled glovebox by simply redirecting a vent.

As noted in CarPoint's launch review, Caliber is bigger inside than small car segment stars Toyota Corolla/Holden Astra/Ford Focus/Mazda3. With its 17-inch wheels it's also taller than any hatch but ingress/egress resembles a car so that you're not 'climbing' in and out, SUV-style.

On the road you're level with the likes of Subaru Outback. That's where benefits of a higher ride ends, however, as vision over Caliber's bonnet and rearwards takes a lot of squirm and trust. Parking sensors ($600, fitted) are a must.

Caliber has tough looks but offers only a soft drive, with dulled dynamics for want of comfort and economy. The pseudo SUV exhibits the same handling traits of the four-wheel-drive softroaders it resembles: there's body roll in anything more than slow cornering and steering is blunt. At least the ride over poor surfaces is good.

If you don't care about getting to the campground quickly, Caliber's usefulness as a cargo hauler and economical family truckster offsets its uninspiring performance.

Caliber is tops for CarPoint's X-factor. It is many things at once and accommodates a market that enjoys recreation and good times with music 'round the campfire... wherever. Figuratively, at least, that market has a lot of life in it.

It would've been nice to choose among so-called niche vehicles when we were surfing, back in the boring old days when a wagon was a wagon and a hatch, simply a hatch.