2007 Dodge Caliber: Model range comparison (Video)

2007 Dodge Caliber SXT Sport (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com)

Seat comfort is one of the Calibers' strong points. Nobody was impressed with the optional leather in the R/T, but the cloth in the others is of good quality, and the seats offer good support. In addition, the driving position is high and gives the impression that we're driving a bigger vehicle. Space is surprising up front, but in back, three people will feel pretty tight, a typical problem in compact cars. However, the rear cupholders could have been located in a better place, as they limit foot space for the middle passenger. The reclining rear seatback is appreciated. As for visibility, we find it pretty good, although certain have complained about a blind spot with the rear pillars.

The hatch opening is wide, and there is a good amount of room with the rear seatback up. By folding down the latter, the amount of space is impressive. The trunk floor is made of plastic; objects will

2007 Dodge Caliber R/T AWD (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com)

slide around, but we can easily tie them down with the numerous hooks, and it's easy to clean.

The Caliber offers a variety of sound systems. The CD player with an auxiliary jack for an MP3 player is standard, and you can also get yourself a set of flip-down speakers attached on the hatchback, although we unfortunately didn't have time to get a party going and fully appreciate them. In addition, the sound of all the radios in our test Calibers pleased us.

Kudos to DaimlerChrysler for all the security features. Every Caliber is equipped with dual front airbags and an inflatable knee blocker for the driver, as well as side curtain airbags. Even the size and stature of the car gives a feeling of solidity and security when we're on board.

On the road

The manual-transmission SE pleased us; it's relatively quick, the shift lever works well, and it's rather fun to drive. All the other Calibers in the test had continuously-variable automatic transmissions. However, performance-wise, the CVT gearbox really surprised us by its slowness to execute shifts and its incapacity to take advantage of the engines' full power. Launches are disappointing and passing times are endless.

The quickest of the test was the automatic SE. As for the manual SE, it seemed to be faster than the results we obtained in our acceleration tests, but this Caliber had only 40 km on the odometer when we picked it up, and was still in its break-in period. In addition, we had to upshift to

2007 Dodge Caliber R/T AWD (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com)

3rd gear at around 90 km/h, which ate up precious fractions of a second. We expect manual-transmission Calibers to provide 0-100 km/h times of 10 seconds.

However, the promised fuel economy was there: even if our numbers aren't very low, they are reasonable, and we spent the whole week with the pedal to the metal, trying to demystify the CVT. The manual gearbox fared better, but we were rough to it while ventilating our frustration over the automatics.