I'm not the owner of a Caliber just yet, but I want to know this before I decide on the SXT or the R/T:
Supposedly, the characteristics of the CVT in the Caliber hinder the vehicles overall performance. My understanding of CVT technology in general is that when accelerating aggressively, the the CVT ratio should allow the engine's rpms to hover around the peak horsepower of the engine, providing maximum acceleration. I also imagine that when towing or climbing, the CVT should allow the engine to hover around the peak torque.
Naturally, because this is a small engine, you don't want to be spinning 4k or more rpm at all times, but does anyone know if reprogramming the CVT's computer (I assume it has one) will allow better utilization of the engine's performance values? Really, more to the point - does anyone know if reprogramming the CVT is possible?
Or - does anyone who owns a Caliber disagree with the reviews I've read about it? They assert that cars that are (admitedly) 300lbs lighter but have ~50 fewer horsepower are posting similar acceleration times, and that especially the R/T should be much faster given that it puts out about 175 horsepower. I only test drove the SXT with the 2.0, and was unimpressed with its acceleration, although I liked the car overall (and despite the cheap plastic used on the interior, too).
So basically, if this is an option (I'm new to the CVT world) in the future, I would probably go for the R/T - but if there's no way the CVT could be altered, I would rather pay less money for an equally slow car.
Supposedly, the characteristics of the CVT in the Caliber hinder the vehicles overall performance. My understanding of CVT technology in general is that when accelerating aggressively, the the CVT ratio should allow the engine's rpms to hover around the peak horsepower of the engine, providing maximum acceleration. I also imagine that when towing or climbing, the CVT should allow the engine to hover around the peak torque.
Naturally, because this is a small engine, you don't want to be spinning 4k or more rpm at all times, but does anyone know if reprogramming the CVT's computer (I assume it has one) will allow better utilization of the engine's performance values? Really, more to the point - does anyone know if reprogramming the CVT is possible?
Or - does anyone who owns a Caliber disagree with the reviews I've read about it? They assert that cars that are (admitedly) 300lbs lighter but have ~50 fewer horsepower are posting similar acceleration times, and that especially the R/T should be much faster given that it puts out about 175 horsepower. I only test drove the SXT with the 2.0, and was unimpressed with its acceleration, although I liked the car overall (and despite the cheap plastic used on the interior, too).
So basically, if this is an option (I'm new to the CVT world) in the future, I would probably go for the R/T - but if there's no way the CVT could be altered, I would rather pay less money for an equally slow car.
