My favorite Jumex is Guayaba.

you know whats funny about six months ago when they redid the interior on the patriot/compass people on this site were saying wow that looks good its about time. this is the SAME interior. most of the people on here should definitely get a life. that being said, i like the caliber just wish it got better mpg and i am not a fan of any cvt transmission from any manufacturer. i sold my mother a used 07 maxima almost two years ago and it too has a cvt trans. it has been reliable but you dont want to know the cost of the trans svc on that or any other cvt. nissans owners manual says 36k to service their techs said wait and do it at 200k

Does anybody know the Technical differences between Euro 5 and the current EPA standards for oil-burners?

These guys need to learn how to make interior

I always liked the exterior design of the Caliber, but Chrysler was foolish to replace a traditional compact car with a CUV wannabe. Chrysler should have brought out a traditional compact sedan and coupe along with this product. Hopefully, this upgrade fixes a lot of the missteps Chrysler has made with this product. From what I understand, Chrysler failed to properly nail the details with this vehicle.

What changed anyway?
It’s like playing “where’s waldo?”

Must be the EU model, as it has a switch there for adjusting the headlamp level.

Pointless feature for an outdated halogen headlamps.

Somebody should tell Dodge that its interiors looked better in the 90s than they do now.

Hahaha, I just noticed the cruise controls are behind the steering wheel, as when it is added as an aftermarket accessory. Dodge, ever heard of putting it on the steering wheel, like, the rest of the world does?

Actually, Sprockkets, if you’ve ever used Chrysler’s standard cruise control, it’s very effective the way they build it. I find it easier to use because you don’t have to hunt for buttons or anything. Instead, you flick it up, down, or towards you, and it does what you want.

I think they should have done away with that ugly steering wheel! The dash and shifter area don’t look too bad for the cheap price it has.

did anyone else notice the Headlight adjustment dial? I think thats so weird seeing that in the row of dash buttons they have there, I will say this though, it looks better then what was offered before, however if they can do that dash without the cheap looking and easily scrachable plastics chryslers are becoming know for then I say its an improvement until they get the replacement for it on the road.

—– a rechargeable LED flashlight will also be available

Thank goodness! Now sales will really take off

Huge improvement, but does not compare w/the likes of the 2011 Cruze.

Still nicer than say…Scion Xb or Nissan Cube interior.

It is sad that this is considered an upgrade…

I never saw so much hard plastic in my life.

Is your name MOPARSALESMAN or NISSANSALESMAN. Why in gods name would you sell her a Nissan? I am not understanding, I betcha she has had nothing but problems with the injectors and coil packs.
All day we hear about you selling the **** out of Chrysler Product and how it is a far superior product. And now we all find out that you sell your family (the people you care about) One of the inferior products that you are always speaking about. You just had to sell her a Nissan didn’t you. Not a ford, or a Chevy? I am ashamed, I have lost my faith in humanity, I am off to find a razor now… I don’t think I can live in this cruel cruel world anymore.

Good Day

lol @ JJ….good stuff.

@mopar…. to each their own. CVTs seem to be a polarizing thing. I for one actually really like the CVT in my nissan. Also I really like my nissan. Every ChryCo product I have ever driven feels like a boat inside a retarded sperm whale.

http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/101609/2009-Jeep-Compass-001A.jpg

why do they look similar? get away from the bubble center stack…

I have to admit the interior is much improved, but I’m not diggin’ all that gray. Just looks depressing to me. If CHRYSLER would invest in more interior colors, brighter more vibrant, less glum colors, it would really help ENORMOUSLY.

“You get more Flies with Honey (colored leather)…”

Seriously, adding aluminum and upping the quality are a major pluses, but work on the colors. Dark gray just is not doing it for me.

After that, get some people on making the Caliber a more positively exciting vehicle. I mean really it looks like it could be a rally car, especially with the AWD. Understand that a most people want a kick-ass car off the lot. They just don’t want to or can’t afford to set it up in a garage for a few months to get it up to stuff. This goes for the Challenger as well.

Despite what some of these people will say the VIPER is a totally whup-em car. It is scary fast and handles like a race car (Quite the opposite of a GT-R35 which is more like a racing game on easy mode). Weak and under or unskilled drivers, however, need not apply.

The Challenger gets good marks across the board until you start the take a corner. If Rolls and Bentley can get a 5200lb car to handle like it weighs about 3800lbs, I would think DODGE can make it happen for a 4200 lbs car. Tuner Challengers are like a dream come true, so why can’t they be like that from the factory?

The Caliber has potential but it is buried and marred under deeply polarizing styling (Note I never will claim to like the cars looks. I actually like the current WRX. shows how OMG that IS bad the Caliber styling is), less than spectacular performance (F/econ, 0-60, 60-0, handling, et al), and the interior (I HATE gray!).

Chrysler is sitting on great talent and they make great cars… If only they would act like they are great cars and make it so and stop coming up short because… that’s a problem I don’t know how to finish that sentence. They have no reason to keep coming up short like this.

For a split second, from a distance, the center stack reminds me of one out of a VW Golf. Then my eyes go a bit left to the steering wheel and it’s all over.

Love the numbers that Diesel engine is putting out. Now if only they fixed the CVT so that it’s more durable under stress…

@blakkar, it all comes down to cost.

Caliber Rally — I see where you are going with this, but it won’t sell. Subaru and Mitsu have a pedigree on the WRX and Evo for rally racing, Dodge doesn’t. So I just don’t see a $25k-30k caliber tuned to compete with those 2 to do so well.

Viper — yes its scary. But its not all about fast 0-60, its about how you take corners (without dying). Also its clearly a limited market car that won’t save CryCo…..not a bad “attainable halo” tough along the lines on NSX. GTR and ZR1.

Callanger — you said it yourself, you’re fine on straights but will die on your first corner. The reason why it doesn’t handle as well is because RR and Bently work on $100K+ budget per car (and millions more in R&D). Dodge’s budget isn’t quite as massive. If a tuner puts in some time (and $$$) it can be fixed, but it won’t come like that from the factory because it wiill cost more than that type of car demands on the market.

There you go man, economics.

I think we all understand what the Caliber was trying to be and that was a very functional small car with much bolder styling than most other offerings in its class. The problem is they already had that and still do in the form of the PT Cruiser. What pisses most Chrysler loyalists off is that it took the place of the Neon in the food chain and despite the shortcomings of both generations they were still very popular cars. It’s not hard to go back and lay blame when it comes to the Neon because the decision to eliminate it clearly came under Daimler’s watch. And it was inexcusable no matter what the circumstances. Everybody needs one small, more conventional car and the absence of the Neon left a gaping hole in Chrysler’s already top heavy lineup.

Fiat will no doubt fix this. They’d better hurry. Just look at the sales numbers for the Focus. Obviously it doesn’t take much to be successful in this segment.

So when will Chysler release the “updated” pictures?
Because I sure hope these aren’t it. Right?

orangecones @ 09/01, 10:22p

The Caliber can be given a more sporting edge than it has now. I don’t think I ever said that the car had to compete directly with the WRX of EVO. But on that note, The EVO X, in case you missed it out live outside the NA auto market, costs around $40K. The Rallisport would be more about what I’m talking about, about $25K. The Impreza WRX (I can see why they called it that. Subaru couldn’t decide whether to make the car a family car or a race car. It used to be Impreza or WRX: Pick your poison.) is just a shadow of it’s former self. Only the STi is worth discussing and it still falls notably short of the “Mini GT-R” that is the EVO X.

A middle of the sporty 4-door CALIBER AWD “Rally” would fit in nicely in with the Lancer Rallisport and the Impreza WRX. You are right that it is not likely to happen, like the AVENGER STORMTROOPER. But it would be more like it for a car that decidedly looks the part.

The Viper can handle, and I’m not talking about the ACR. The problem is that the only VIPER vids anyone really ever sees are the ones with the VIPER drag racing or crashing. They never see the ones with the VIPER handing a hard corner like a slot car, in the hands of a competent driver. It does lead to some perception issues. And I do understand that the CHRYSLER will not be saved by $90K, 1500 units a year, sports cars. But again it is a perception issue. Why would anyone buy a car for that much that can’t handle? Thing is, it can but unless you drove one hard you would never know.

The CHALLENGER is a simple matter of a simple suspension update. It happens, or used to, all the time a decade ago. A car goes a couple of years and gets revised shocks, springs, and sway bars. Its not a big thing for cost. Or they can do what FORD does for the MUSTANG: $1500 for the race pack and the your ‘STANG becomes, at least by virtue of handling, a race car. The CHALLENGER would be better served by a simple update through.

And seriously do you think that tuners sell tuned CHALLENGERS for cost? Do you really think it costs $50K to tune a CHALLENGER? Do you how much it would cost to update the CHALLENGER Base, SXT, and R/T? About $2500 a piece. Subtract cost of parts no longer being used and it is maybe $250. One of the biggest irks about upgrade packages is that you typically have to pay for the parts that were put on the car before the new parts were added. You are buying shocks and springs and brakes you are NOT using on top of the better parts you are. Run out the old parts and use new ones and the cost of improvement is minimal.

Cost is not so much the issue. But inaction. CHRYSLER can do better for relatively little and make huge gains. Stop buying the parts that aren’t working and, like I said, run them out and used better parts.

“You have to spend money to make money.” A simple law of investment.

BTW, Fiat,

Diesel Caliber. US market. 2010. Good F/econ. If you don’t mind..

Move along people,nothing special.

Contrary to popular belief, the Viper is one of the stickiest cars on the road, easily out-gripping cars famous for their handling such as the NSX. Yet even with the massive tires and extremely wide stance, the Viper’s incredible torque quickly separates the men drivers from the boy drivers. Sure, it’s a rough machine, but there isn’t much that can really out-handle a Viper.

This interior would be acceptable if it were in a pickup truck, but compared to other cars in it’s class, this new Caliber interior is dull and uninspiring.

Let’s get some Italian seasoning over to this boring American dish.

Now if they could only do something about that godawful CVT.

We drove a 2005 Caliber to the beach over the weekend. I like the car… roomy, nice highway ride… but I can’t stand the transmission. It’s like a bad case of turbo lag, you have to think 3 seconds ahead. Mash the gas, count to three while the CVT picks the right ratio, then the car accelerates. Makes maneuvering on the highway or pulling out in traffic a complete nightmare. It was also horrible in 20MPH traffic on the beach strip… it can’t hold a slow speed, so when you let off the gas it either goes for a higher ratio and slows you down, or stays in the low ratio and you coast. You never know what is going to happen next… and I find unpredictability in an automobile to be very unnerving. A traditional automatic would be much nicer.

@ orangecones
the used nissan i sold my mom was a mistake. she has replaced the coil packs and injectors as jjr pointed out. the reason he knows that is he is my finance guy and spun the deal. thank god for extended warranties cuz that nissan is a hunk of pooh and people talk about our products.

its just fugley

I believe in God now. I believed that the 1969 Mets was a miracle in our times. I believe that God is somehow intervening to keep Chrysler afloat. This car still looks outdated, even with a refresh. It’s like their two years behind and trying to catch up…slowly.

she is cute, that car sux!

the only thing god about this update is that they surprised us with a decent chick!

It’s better, but still have to do something w/the ugly exterior.

Especially the grille/headlights. Too big. It’s not a Dodge Ram for Christ’s sake; why does Dodge have to have everything look like that?

I can’t kaat at da6 caar, bcuz I’m lookiung at dat gurl

C’mon, grab that stick… now work it like you mean it. You can do it… show me where all the gears are….

Slight improvement still looks like a rental car, oh I forgot that’s because it IS a rental car.

I didn’t originally start this thread telling everyone that Guayaba Jumex was my favorite. There are a lot of posts missing. But that sure started it off with a rather funny vibe.

Ktulu is totally right. The girl completely draws your attention away from the interior of the Caliber, and that’s a good thing. I’m not too fond of this new interior. It still looks like a 10-year-old plastic truck.

a viper may pull more lateral g’s than an nsx, but that doesn’t mean it handles better…at all, really…