It was suggested over at Dodgeforums that I repost this here, nice site btw!
Well, I believe I am a few days short of actual month, but its long enough. This Friday should be the one month.
Anyway, just a recap for those that may not know:
Caliber R/T
Driver Convenience Group
Security Group
Sunroof
All the other R/T stuff.
Likes:
Great handling
Acceleration gets better and better. Just did the first oil change and put synthetic in it, and it is very quiet and smooth. The acceleration has improved A LOT, more than any other vehicle I have owned through a break in period. I am guessing its because of the new engine and the CVT takes time to adjust. It also takes time for the computer to "learn" your driving style.
Gas mileage is better than advertised in the city. I get 24.8 or better all the time, that included pretty heavy footed driving.
Highway I have had some trouble with though. At 70 MPH at under, I have been able to average 28-29 MPG. But go above 70, and the MPG drops like a rock. I was getting 21-22 at 75-80. Kind of a disapointment considering my 4.0L 4x4 Sport Trac got 23 making the same trip last year, doing 80 too.
Great having the cargo area. I have a big storage bin back there I throw my school stuff in so it isnt sliding around the back seat. I also had the rest of a case of oil from the oil change, and managed to fit a bunch of groceries we went and got so we would stop eating out so much.
. All if it fit in the cargo area with no need to put anything in the back seats.
All the seats are very comfortable, and the height adjust on the R/T is great to have.
Speakers are good for the base system. I dont have the soundgate package and just the standard radio.
Sirius rocks, but I knew that going into it.
The sunroof is great. Very low wind noise when fully open, and it doesnt let too much air in. Its damn near perfect IMO, everyone should get one.
The AWD is nice and responsive, as well as smooth. I had it kick in just last night driving back from Indiana. We hit a really bad storm and there were some big big puddles. Well going through them caused for some loss of traction to the front tires, and you could feel the car shift over to AWD for a bit. Car went through the puddle with no drag to either side and was like a tank. Great job by Chrysler.
The CVT is a lot of fun, and Autostick adds a whole new world of performance to the car.
Fits full grown adults over 6'2" perfectly, not bad for a "compact".
Cons:
That cooling system in the glove compartment is kind of annoying. You pull back this tab thing that is supposed to open it up to let cold air in, but anytime you stop, especially if it is heavier braking, the thing seems to close again. It is very loose and does not seem to want to stay open. A big PITA.
The power inverter plug (AC plug), as cool as it may be, is only a two prong, and gives no wattage rating on it. Any power inverter you buy has a three prong connection. I dont understand why its only two. I tried getting info on the watt rating, and the lady said it was 115 Volts and 115 Watts, that seems convenient... I hope she is right.
So because of its lack of three prong and lack of info on whats its capacities are, it has only been used once.
I hate. HATE. My NUMBER 1 complaint about this damn car, is the fact that the power points dont stay on when you shut off the vehicle and get out. What a useless "Feature". Makes it really hard to let your cell phone, iPod, whatever, charge when the vehicle is off. Because of school and work, I dont get to spend a lot of time near outlets, so sometimes its easier to just let the plugs stay in the vehicle for the DC sources and charge my stuff. That way its all set and I dont have to carry around AC plugs everywhere. Well thanks to the geniuses at Dodge, I cant do that anymore. It cant be about battery rundown either because EVERY Ford vehicle I have owned had a rundown sensor in it and if the power levels dipped too much it THEN cut off the power to the vehicle so you could still charge it. Even then I have never had that have to kick on, an iPod does not take that much to charge...
Man that bugs me.
The highway gas mileage is annoying too. My big 4x4 Sport Trac's and Explorer should not be getting better highway MPG than this car above 70 MPH. I dont know what the deal is there, but its ridiculous.
The use of hard plastic in the interior makes it tough, but they could have put SOME padding on the center console and the driver/pass door handles. I have always rested my elbows there, and still do, and the lack of padding can make for some more painful longer trips. Never seen a vehicle that lacked padding. Its void everywhere in this car except the seats.
We went to get a new oil filter for the car, and nowhere in the manual does it state the oil filters part number. It gives a long part number, at least we think its a part number, but we cannot find what it means anywhere. Googled it, called Chrysler, it doesnt show up. So we think its the standard Chrysler S16 oil filter, but just like the AC plug, this cars manual is very void of information. There isnt even a section on the AWD.
The tires kind of suck in the rain, I read this before I got the car from someone on this forum, but it is very true.
Those are the bullet points of the major things I like and dont like about the car.
Some of them that I dont like really stand out, and it sucks that the stuff I dont like is in some cases more important than all the Pro's because I use that stuff more. But whatever, I hope when the modding community takes hold there are some work arounds to these issues.
Thanks for reading! I plan to add to it as I remember stuff.
Well, I believe I am a few days short of actual month, but its long enough. This Friday should be the one month.
Anyway, just a recap for those that may not know:
Caliber R/T
Driver Convenience Group
Security Group
Sunroof
All the other R/T stuff.
Likes:
Great handling
Acceleration gets better and better. Just did the first oil change and put synthetic in it, and it is very quiet and smooth. The acceleration has improved A LOT, more than any other vehicle I have owned through a break in period. I am guessing its because of the new engine and the CVT takes time to adjust. It also takes time for the computer to "learn" your driving style.
Gas mileage is better than advertised in the city. I get 24.8 or better all the time, that included pretty heavy footed driving.
Highway I have had some trouble with though. At 70 MPH at under, I have been able to average 28-29 MPG. But go above 70, and the MPG drops like a rock. I was getting 21-22 at 75-80. Kind of a disapointment considering my 4.0L 4x4 Sport Trac got 23 making the same trip last year, doing 80 too.
Great having the cargo area. I have a big storage bin back there I throw my school stuff in so it isnt sliding around the back seat. I also had the rest of a case of oil from the oil change, and managed to fit a bunch of groceries we went and got so we would stop eating out so much.
. All if it fit in the cargo area with no need to put anything in the back seats. All the seats are very comfortable, and the height adjust on the R/T is great to have.
Speakers are good for the base system. I dont have the soundgate package and just the standard radio.
Sirius rocks, but I knew that going into it.
The sunroof is great. Very low wind noise when fully open, and it doesnt let too much air in. Its damn near perfect IMO, everyone should get one.
The AWD is nice and responsive, as well as smooth. I had it kick in just last night driving back from Indiana. We hit a really bad storm and there were some big big puddles. Well going through them caused for some loss of traction to the front tires, and you could feel the car shift over to AWD for a bit. Car went through the puddle with no drag to either side and was like a tank. Great job by Chrysler.
The CVT is a lot of fun, and Autostick adds a whole new world of performance to the car.
Fits full grown adults over 6'2" perfectly, not bad for a "compact".
Cons:
That cooling system in the glove compartment is kind of annoying. You pull back this tab thing that is supposed to open it up to let cold air in, but anytime you stop, especially if it is heavier braking, the thing seems to close again. It is very loose and does not seem to want to stay open. A big PITA.
The power inverter plug (AC plug), as cool as it may be, is only a two prong, and gives no wattage rating on it. Any power inverter you buy has a three prong connection. I dont understand why its only two. I tried getting info on the watt rating, and the lady said it was 115 Volts and 115 Watts, that seems convenient... I hope she is right.
So because of its lack of three prong and lack of info on whats its capacities are, it has only been used once.
I hate. HATE. My NUMBER 1 complaint about this damn car, is the fact that the power points dont stay on when you shut off the vehicle and get out. What a useless "Feature". Makes it really hard to let your cell phone, iPod, whatever, charge when the vehicle is off. Because of school and work, I dont get to spend a lot of time near outlets, so sometimes its easier to just let the plugs stay in the vehicle for the DC sources and charge my stuff. That way its all set and I dont have to carry around AC plugs everywhere. Well thanks to the geniuses at Dodge, I cant do that anymore. It cant be about battery rundown either because EVERY Ford vehicle I have owned had a rundown sensor in it and if the power levels dipped too much it THEN cut off the power to the vehicle so you could still charge it. Even then I have never had that have to kick on, an iPod does not take that much to charge...
Man that bugs me.
The highway gas mileage is annoying too. My big 4x4 Sport Trac's and Explorer should not be getting better highway MPG than this car above 70 MPH. I dont know what the deal is there, but its ridiculous.
The use of hard plastic in the interior makes it tough, but they could have put SOME padding on the center console and the driver/pass door handles. I have always rested my elbows there, and still do, and the lack of padding can make for some more painful longer trips. Never seen a vehicle that lacked padding. Its void everywhere in this car except the seats.
We went to get a new oil filter for the car, and nowhere in the manual does it state the oil filters part number. It gives a long part number, at least we think its a part number, but we cannot find what it means anywhere. Googled it, called Chrysler, it doesnt show up. So we think its the standard Chrysler S16 oil filter, but just like the AC plug, this cars manual is very void of information. There isnt even a section on the AWD.
The tires kind of suck in the rain, I read this before I got the car from someone on this forum, but it is very true.
Those are the bullet points of the major things I like and dont like about the car.
Some of them that I dont like really stand out, and it sucks that the stuff I dont like is in some cases more important than all the Pro's because I use that stuff more. But whatever, I hope when the modding community takes hold there are some work arounds to these issues.
Thanks for reading! I plan to add to it as I remember stuff.
