[Ironside]

Here's another question for all you lucky bastards who have a brand new Caliber sitting outside your houses... (i hate you all... jk )

The Chill Zone that Dodge keeps bragging about; could you fill in the rest of us poor saps with information on exactly HOW this thing works?

I have heard that it uses the air conditioning to keep an alreay cooled beverage relatively cold; does this mean that the A/C has to be ON to cool off your drinks? If that IS the way it works, that might be a pretty big waste of gas in the summer when you want to just roll down your windows and leave the A/C off.

Dodge has also stated that the glovebox can be heated? i.e. for gloves i guess? Is that true?

What is everyone's overall impression of the 'gimmick' features the Caliber has to offer, things like the Chill Zone, the L.E.D. flashlight in the domelight, the flipdown speakers... all that jazz.

First off, do they all work as they're intended... secondly, are they anything to 'write home about'.

 

[Ramsport47]

well...I test drove a Caliber on a very cold day with the heater on...the shill zone was cold inside...you could feel the mechanism putting out cold...can't tell you about the heater, but the Music Gate is cool, although I'm way too old for it LOL

 

[nygiantzz1]

I played around with the Chill Zone in the SXT I drove. It works when the A/C is on. You have open the glovebox door, reach up, pull a sliding door forward to allow airflow and load it with drinks. When you're done, close the sliding door and the A/C bypasses it. It's pretty simple. If you look at posts from SilverFox, he demonstrates how it works in his video.

 

[OUWxGuesser]

I'm pretty sure the duct is the same for both AC/heating, so it should also get warm during times when the heater is on (if the grate is open)

Aaron

 

[Jerome81]

I rarely drive with AC on unless sweltering out. So I wonder too. I don't want the AC running all the time just to keep the (ususally) empty chill zone cool. but I would like it to run just the chill zone if I want, while I leave the windows down.

sounds like its simple. A/C has to be on with vent open. no ac, no chill.

 

[caliber4whoosh]

Yeah, as far as I understand, that's how it works.

 

[Amandyke]

Like everyone above said. It's just an air vent inside the thing. You can open it or close it. So it heats or cools based on whatever you told the ventilation system to do.

 

[Xtreme Thunder]

I should go on another test drive with a 20oz bottle and ask if I can drive it and see how good the chill zone works. Sounds like it does what it is designed to do, and like what all has mentioned, very easy to use. I saw the sliding vent on one of my test drives.

 

[Amandyke]

It works alright. You'd have to really have the A/C going to make the drinks really cold. Best option is to just put cold drinks in there and let the A/C or simply the insulation keep the drinks at that temperature.

It only gets as cold as the A/C.

 

[Silverfox]

The ChillZone's vent is rather large in comparison to the rest of the ventilation system. It's about ten inches or so wide, and encompasses the entirety of the storage compartment's ceiling. It also appears to be a seperate entity from the ventilation system, as heated air will not enter the ChillZone with the heater on.

Since the ChillZone's vent is so large, it's possible to cool the compartment without cooling the rest of the car. When you have the vent open, turning on the A/C with only one notch selected on the fan switch will cool the ChillZone, but not the rest of the car. Cooled air entering the cabin is at a minimum because you're using a majority of the air to cool the ChillZone. Turning it to two notches will chill the ChillZone faster, and you will get a slightly larger amount of chilled air in the cabin. My tests confirm this, but your results may vary.

 

[Harley]

Speaking of hot and cold stuff:


A co-worker of mine drives a PT Cruiser.

Last week, he asked me what the "strange cylinder thing" is that I occasionally bring to work when I have a lot of running around to do.

I replied "It's a thermos".

He asked "A thermos? What's a thermos?"

I said "It's a container that keeps HOT stuff HOT, and COLD things COLD".

He said "Well, imagine that - what will they think of next?" (Side note: He's a South Carolina native - I'm not. ).

So anyway, the next morning, he pulled up beside me in his PT Cruiser and excitedly announced: "Hey! Guess WHAT? I went over to WalMart last night and bought me one of them there 'keeps hot hot and keeps cold cold' thermos gizmos! Got it right here!".

"Hey, that's great" I said, "What do you have in it?".

His reply:

"Two popsicles and a cup of coffee..."

 

[Amandyke]

*groan* that's terrible. lol

 

[caliber4whoosh]

You have got to be shitting me!

 

[Xxsrt4xX]

That's either a really old bad ******* joke, or you need to move!

 

[GOT]

I don't think my "Chill-zone" works very well.

For one thing that sliding plate thing on the ceiling of the chill-zone keeps sliding forward whenever I come to a stop (thus closing the vents). And then when I have the thing slid so where it's supposed to be chillin, there is barely any air flow.

I haven't tested whether or not it'll remain cold when the heater is running.

I'm also wondering if this gadget was designed more for extended driving trips... such as a vacation, road-trip or a campout. Can't imagine it being of much use in the city... is it? I don't plan on using it that much but if it was created with long-drives in mind then I'm good with that.


What's everyone else's real-life test of this thing?

 

[pyro]

i aggree with you on that one ...not designed for city (ecxept to keep your lunch cold till you get too work )


i have to say i am worrired about that (sliding two hole trap ) its real easy to go back forward if you brake in a hurry

they should of done it the other way around push forwrad style to open so if it open on its own its would not be that bad, allot less room for error if you want a real cold one ....lol

but lets talk seriously a warm can of soda will be drinkable after about one hour of chill zonin"" at the second fan settin with no vents open

its a smart idea if im ever stuck in trafick and would be thursty and no can or bottle of water i will hate myself

 

[Harley]

Yes, I've noticed that the "sliding plate thing" moves VERY freely - something like the console between the front seats. Pretty much on their own, along with the vehicle's momentum, in many cases.

I did do a QUICK test by running the heat - and the "chill zone" was still pumping out COLD air. Seemed to verify that theory, although I didn't check it later to make sure it didn't change.

 

[pyro]

these are probably smal kinks that will be fixed later this production year or for sure 2008 its not very complicated to fix

 

[Harley]

I agree. I just haven't had time to see if I can do a quick and easy fix on these myself yet, but I'm sure they will be improved on as you stated.

 

[pyro]

for sure but they are defenetly on the right track lol