A dozen years ago word was that Chrysler had taught the Japanese a thing or two by giving the then-new Neon a healthy dose of style and a very low $8,995 base price. It seemed that an American company could still create a viable small car. Sales were very strong for a couple years before a reputation for shoddy quality began to take its toll. A redesign added solidity and improved reliability, but yielded much less distinctive styling.

Sales slowed, and the profits were never really there. So when the time came to redo the Neon once again, Chrysler decided not to. There was no 2006 small Dodge. And as an early 2007 we now have the Caliber.

The Caliber is far more than a Neon replacement with a new name. Developed using a new Mitsubishi platform, it's essentially a small "crossover," a cross between a car and an SUV. The Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix are somewhat similar, but the Caliber has a huskier character than those cars. It better, as Jeep will be selling two new models off the same platform, a similar Compass (which arrives this summer) and a boxier, Cherokee-like Patriot (coming in the fall?).

My wife's PT Cruiser had been recalled to replace a power steering hose, so I had an hour to kill at a Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealer. As luck would have it, their first two Calibers had recently arrived. My detailed impressions follow.

Styling

The Caliber succeeds in looking like nothing else. Part hatchback, part SUV, it's a true crossover. It's as if a Pontiac Vibe hit the gym and acquired the appearance of a shrunken Durango in the process. The front end is especially truck-like, with a large grille and butch wheel arches. You'll find similar wheel arches on the new Mercedes S-Class. They work better here.

Appended to the truck-like front end is the rear of a hot hatch. the rear roofline slants more than that of the Vibe/Matrix, and the way it is trimmed makes it look as if roofline curves continuously down to join the beltline. The total is an odd yet intriguing mixture of SUV and hot hatch.

Yet I had the lingering suspicion that I've seen something like this before. A couple weeks after first posting this review, I suddenly realized where: the AMC Eagle of the 1980s, especially the hatchback SX4 version. The Eagles were cars whose ride height had been raised to fit truck-type four-wheel-drive systems. In a sense they were the earlier crossovers. Chrysler bought AMC back in 1987; did the Caliber benefit from some surviving AMC DNA?

I've seen the Jeep Compass at the Detroit auto show, and it's downright hideous. With more than a little resemblance to the heavily ridiculed Pontiac Aztek, I must wonder what Jeep was thinking. The Patriot is a much more viable product; they should just quietly cancel the Compass and hope no one notices.

When I first saw a Caliber in person, I was especially struck by how large it looked. Well, looks can be deceiving. The Caliber is just a couple inches longer than a Vibe, and is actually about an inch narrower and lower.

Inside the mini-Durango thing continues. As in the large Dodge SUV the instrument panel is deep and massive. The door panels similarly have an oversized appearance, and the various handles and controls seemed to be designed for large hands shod with gloves. Flat surfaces joined by blunt edges and finished in hard plastic predominate. A few people will be attracted to the impression of durability and low maintenance. More will scream "cheap!" I fear I fall into the latter bunch. The hard plastic front armrest feels especially chintzy.

The car I drove, like many recent Chrysler products, had a stark gray interior. Red or blue color-keyed seat and instrument panel inserts available in the Sport Appearance Package (which also includes alloy wheels and fog lamps) should liven things up a bit, but won't make the interior feel any less cheap.

Accommodations

The driving position is much more like that in a Durango than any other small car I've driven. You don't sit as high as in an SUV, but you sit quite a bit higher than in a car, and from the size and styling of the instrument panel and A-pillars you'd think you were sitting in something far larger than the Caliber actually is. The base of the windshield is far, far away. As in Chrysler's large cars, the windshield header is also further away than in the typical car. Finally, the pillars are quite thick. It's Chrysler's recent rolling fortress theme, now in a compact exterior.

I personally don't like sitting so far from the base of the windshield, as it disconnects me from the road and makes a vehicle feel larger and less agile. A more practical issue: it's very hard to tell where the front end is--you can't see the hood at all unless you raise the driver's seat a lot.

The seat itself is very soft but well bolstered. I'd need a long drive to tell whether it will prove comfortable on, well, a long drive. Maybe the next time I rent a car from a trip I'll try to get one of these. Around town the seats felt sufficiently comfortable, though I'd personally like a moderately firmer cushion.

I drove with the seat near its lowest position, partly because I like to sit low but mostly because raising the seat also tilts the cushion forward. The ability to separately adjust the height and tilt of the cushion would be welcome. Especially since the range of adjustment is very large, at least three inches.

The rear seat is mounted moderately high off the floor, affording decent thigh support, and there's plenty of room for feet under the front seats. However, knee room is limited. The Vibe/Matrix and PT Cruiser are roomier in back. And the Scion xB box on wheels is much roomier. Based on the Caliber's appearance I expected more here. On the plus side, the rear seat manually reclines.

As in the Vibe, the cargo area is finished in slick hard plastic. Expect unrestrained cargo to do a lot of sliding about. The rear seats fold flat without tilting the cushion or removing headrests. Cargo volume falls a bit short of the Vibe/Matrix: 48 cubic feet vs. 54. My wife's PT Cruiser has a smaller exterior, but can hold 64 cubic feet of stuff--if you first remove the rear seats. Blame the sloping roofline and the fashionably stubby rear end.

As in the PT and Vibe/Matrix, the front passenger seat also folds to enable long objects to be carried. I've used this feature a number of times--nearly every car should have it.

Chrysler did a better job with interior storage compartments. The glove compartment has three roomy levels. The middle one is air-conditioned and has space for four 20-ounce soft drive bottles. The storage areas in the doors and center console are also usefully large.

The front armrest contains a slot for a cell phone or iPod, while the stereo includes an input jack for the latter. The car I drove lacked what might be the Caliber's niftiest feature: a $495 "MusicGate Power" sound system. This system includes a pair of speakers that swivel down from the open liftgate to point rearward. Boston Acoustics provides the speakers, so they might actually live up to their promising appearance. Lloyd Dobler should have had one of these...

On the Road

Eventually four four-cylinder engines will be offered: a 143-horsepower 1.8-liter, a 150-horsepower 2.0, a 173-horsepower 2.4, and a 300-horsepower turbocharged 2.4. The 1.8 won't be available until the summer, and the turbo won't be available until fall. The 1.8 comes only with a five-speed manual, the 2.0 and 2.4 only with a CVT, and the 2.4 turbo only with a six-speed manual. The 2.4 is all-wheel-drive, the others--including the SRT--are front-wheel-drive.

The only cars at the dealer were SXTs with the 2.0 and CVT, so that's what I drove. With 150 horsepower moving roughly 3,100 pounds (plus me) through a CVT, acceleration is a bit tepid right off the line but while never thrilling is generally adequate. When gaining speed with the typical flow of traffic the CVT holds the engine at about 3,500 RPM. Floor it, and the CVT will hold the engine at 6,000 RPM. Either way you'll find a fair amount of the noise typical of a half-decent but thoroughly pedestrian four-cylinder. Nothing to get the blood pumping, but also nothing too grating.

Despite the modest amount of torque, under hard acceleration there is some torque steer, in this case a mild pull to the right. Hopefully the equal-length halfshafts in the SRT will work wonders. The setup in the SXT I drove would be a handful with 260 foot-pounds of torque surging through the front wheels. A limited-slip front differential will help the turbo four get power to the ground, but these devices tend to amplify rather than reduce torque steer.

Cruise along at 60 and engine speed drops to about 2,000 RPM. This bodes well for fuel economy. The EPA ratings of 28/32 are impressive for a 150-horsepower, 3,100-pound vehicle. The Vibe/Matrix do a bit better, but get by with just 126 horsepower and weigh a couple hundred pounds less.

The 1.8 with five-speed manual earns the same EPA numbers, making me wonder why they bother with the smaller, slightly weaker engine.

The CVT does provide the option of selecting L rather than D. This holds engine speed in the 3,500-4,000 range when cruising along. In either D or L the transmission reacts smoothly and promptly when more power is summoned, though the directly connected feel of a conventional transmission is absent. Overall the CVT does a good job extracting decent performance from a 2.0-liter four in a moderately heavy vehicle.

The R/T adds an AutoStick function to the CVT. By moving the shift lever side to side you can make the CVT behave like a six-speed clutchless manual. Audi and Nissan offer a similar feature with their CVTs.

Throw the Caliber through some turns and it sticks fairly well despite being shod with Firestone Affinity tires. Despite the tall body lean is moderate, and despite the nose-heavy weight distribution the front tires don't simply roll over on their sidewalls and plow towards the curb.

Still, this is not a sporty vehicle to drive. Though quick right off center, the steering feels heavy and numb, again much like the steering in a Durango. It lends the Caliber a massive rather than an agile character. Sitting so far from the base of the windshield doesn't help.

The Vibe/Matrix might be similar in size and concept, but the Caliber could hardly feel more different. The Dodge feels larger, heavier, and altogether more solid. The twins feel like tall economy cars, the Dodge like a shrunken SUV.

Some people will appreciate this. Others, including myself, will wish the new Dodge felt more like a Mazda3. There is some hope that SRT will work wonders with the steering, but then tossability wasn't the Neon SRT4's strong suit. Let's just say I wouldn't mind being pleasantly surprised.

The low top ratio makes engine noise while cruising a non-issue even at highway speeds. Unfortunately, from 50 on up wind and road noise are higher than in the average compact these days. I've never thought of my wife's PT Cruiser as a quiet car, but it's quieter than this one.

The Caliber rides pretty well for a compact. As I've said already, it feels solid and larger than it actually is. The interior feels cheap, but the body structure doesn't. Then again, with a curb weight of 3,100 pounds it should feel solid.

Dodge Caliber Price Comparisons and Pricing

Any pricing evaluation depends on whether you see the Caliber as a hatchback or a tall wagon.

Compared to the PT Cruiser and Ford Focus 5-door (with a $2,500 rebate), the Caliber is similarly priced.

Compared to the Mazda3, the Caliber is $900 to $1,500 less after adjusting for feature differences. The Mazda3 has a nicer interior and is much more fun to drive, so the Dodge doesn't fare well in this comparison--unless you need more cargo room than the Mazda provides.

However, if you compare the Caliber to the Vibe or Matrix you'll find that the twins are about $2,500 more expensive.

But--is the Caliber a bargain, or are the twins simply overpriced? Since every other potential competitor is priced like the Dodge, the latter seems more likely.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the Caliber:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/Caliber.php

Last Words

The driving experience didn't blow me away, but then I guess that's what the upcoming SRT is for. Performance is certainly adequate, and the EPA ratings are impressive for a quasi-SUV. The interior is generally very functional, but the driving position isn't my cup of tea, and the materials seem overly plain and in some cases simply cheap.

My mixed feelings aside, the Caliber is certainly far more interesting than the typical compact car. The Pontiac Aztek was also interesting, but the Caliber is better-looking, more fuel-efficient, and much less expensive. Like the Pontiac and the somewhat similar Honda Element it's aimed at youthful drivers, but at a price these drivers can more likely afford. Now we'll finally learn if the market for such a vehicle exists.

I'm on the fence with whether to recommend this one. I've identified quite a few shortcomings. But there's enough character and substance here that the Caliber feels like a vehicle people will buy because they genuinely like it, not just because it's cheap. So I guess I'll recommend it, even though a Honda Fit--which I don't recommend--is technically a superior car.

A Note on Dodge Caliber Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a Caliber rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Dodge Caliber reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the Caliber--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. For non-participants, this access will cost $24.95.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

If you're an Epinions member, and you want to receive an email when I post a new review, click here.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Dodge Neon SRT-4 reivew
Ford Focus ST review
Honda Element review
Mazda3 review
Pontiac Aztek review
Pontiac Vibe review