Thursday, January 3, 2008

Dodge Caliber Speaks Loudly and Carries a Big Stick





Fast Forward
By Marcus MacFarland

OVERVIEW

These days, the automotive landscape is full of reasonable, practical choices. In fact, the burgeoning crossover market is a great example of this. Our busier and more demanding schedules combined with escalating oil prices seems to be shifting demand towards vehicles featuring smaller displacement engines and lots of cargo space. However, sometimes our vanilla lives need a shot of something more exotic, like mango guava berry. Of all of the vehicles that I would imagine to fit this analogy, the Dodge Caliber would have been one of my last guesses. Stranger things have happened though when you factor forced induction to the equation.

PERFORMANCE

SRT, which is Dodge’s skunkworks group, has placed a heavy emphasis on brute horsepower in all of their vehicles. The Caliber SRT-4 is no exception. In fact, horsepower is likely the awkward Caliber’s greatest attribute. It comes equipped with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder that benefits greatly from a turbocharger. Its 285 horsepower is enough to catapult this hatch to 60 mph in the low six-second range. For the record, the trip to 60 mph, while quick, isn’t easy. The car wants to make a hard right turn under full throttle. This raucous torque steer is quite a bit more overstated than the Mazdaspeed 3 or the Subaru WRX.

HANDLING

Driving the SRT-4 around corners with any speed is a lot like driving it fast in a straight line. It goes fast, to be sure. But, the way it goes around corners approximates wrestling an alligator. When you’re done, you’re excited and maybe exhilarated, but mostly it’s because you’re just happy to be alive.

STYLING

Have you ever seen one of those dogs that is just so darn ugly that it’s cute. My feelings about the exterior looks of the Caliber SRT4 are just that way. When I laid my eyes on this…well, whatever it is, sitting in my driveway, I was strangely excited. Not sure if it’s the 19" rims, ground effects, or the funky spoiler, but I love it. Unfortunately, once I climbed inside the beast, the interior that lay before me wasn’t so impressive. The SRT embossed leather seats are impressive pieces, with great lateral support. However, the abundance of black plastic makes for a rather cheap-looking interior.

JUDGEMENT

This quirky automobile has several great attributes. The combination of brute horsepower, cheap sticker price, and reasonable gas mileage are all quite appealing. The only problem is that other competitors, namely the Mazdaspeed3, feature some of the same attributes without the awkward packaging and low-grade interior.

New Dakota has Big Horsepower in a Small Package

Fast Forward
By Marcus MacFarland
OVERVIEW

There are precious few certainties in this life. However, one thing you can certainly count on, besides death and taxes, is that automakers will always compare apples to oranges. By that, I mean our fast-moving, sound byte-driven existence, makes catch-lines starting with "best in class" or "first in class" more and more pervasive. And, what better way to ensure you can make these kind of claims than to blur the lines within the classes. Such is the case with the Dodge Dakota, which was introduced way back in 1987. If you can remember back that far, the two major players in the small pickup truck category were the Ford Ranger and the Chevy S10. The Dakota was designed so that it was markedly bigger than the Ford and Chevy, but still smaller than a full size F150 or Silverado.

PERFORMANCE

A major difference between the Dakota and the rest of the field can be found in the engine bay. While you can certainly opt for the standard V6, a bigger, beefier 4.7-liter is optional. Thankfully, my tester came with the V8. While not as much fun as the Hemi, this V8 makes plenty of horsepower. If you plan on using this truck for towing, it’ll haul up to 6,700 pounds and has a payload capacity of 1,151 lbs. Also, this V8 can run on E85 gasoline.
HANDLING

Well, the Dakota corners like a truck with a solid rear axle. If you hammer the fun pedal going around a corner, you’re almost sure to end up facing the wrong way. There is also pretty noticeable wheel hop on bumpy roads. All of this is par for the course. Otherwise, its ride is pretty good. I did actually get to use the Dakota to haul a bed-full of junk to the dump, which it did without any difficulty.
STYLING

As usual, my tester came loaded with nearly every option. The exterior featured manly-looking 18" chrome wheels, which go a long way towards making a smaller truck look rugged. The interior, which was shod in leather and included DVD navigation, was also packing an abundance of plastic. For a truck that stickers north of thirty grand, the plastic makes it seem rather cheap.
JUDGEMENT

If you are looking for a smaller truck that is capable of real work, the Dakota’s V8 makes it a real competitor. However, fit and finish in both the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier are better.

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