Dodge Caliber
On sale July 2006

When I lived at home our house always rang to the strains of some cowboy yodeller, with John Wayne riding across the television screen hurtling after a band of savages whilst brandishing his shot gun. My dad lived and breathed the world of virile broncobusters, saving fragile cowgirls, and I have inherited his fascination with everything the American Wild West can produce.

So when I was asked to attend the launch of the new Dodge Caliber, I jumped at the chance. Admittedly it wasn’t in Grand Canyon country, but it was an American creation. The Caliber, a 5 seater sport utility vehicle, is the first of a series of new Dodge products coming into the UK over the next three years.

It will compete with the Ford Focus and the Peugeot 307, but what it has going for it, is that it offers something completely different. If like me, you delight in big and bold styling and anything from the US of A, then you will adore the new Caliber.

It is actually so big and butch, with the ram’s head branding standing prominently to attention on the bonnet, that initially I thought it was an SUV. From the side it looks almost coupe like, with a curved roofline and extra quarter windows, which provide excellent visibility. The tailgate is light to lift and the sill sits low to the ground, giving good loading access. The boot will hold 524 litres with the seats in position and when the seats are lowered flat to the floor, the cargo capacity increases to 1340 litres.

In fact storage on this C segment car has been well thought out. The interior has cupholders, which illuminate when the headlights are operated. There is a large air conditioned glovebox which holds at least four bottles of water and there is space underneath for other items. Standard equipment includes AM/FM radio with single CD, heated and powered folding mirrors, and huge 17” wheels.

The cabin is light and airy and the instrument dials are white with black numbers so are easy to read at a glance. The range starts with the S trim but Dodge suggests that the next trim up, the SE, will be more popular, as it includes air conditioning. Of course, when you are home on the range or barbecuing with friends, then a good sound system is a priority. The Caliber has a nine speaker Boston Acoustics premium sound system with subwoofer and articulating speakers, two of which are in the tailgate and swing down to face rearward and play music.

The only sound you will hear in the cabin will be this MusicGate Power, which costs just £400 extra, because you certainly will be hard pushed to hear any engine noise, either from the two 1.8 litre and 2 litre petrol engines, or even the 2 litre diesel. The interior is a very quiet relaxing place to be, and I could hold a conversation without having to raise my voice.

The driver sits a good four inches higher than the driving seat in any of the competitor vehicles and seats are very comfortable. Rear leg room would easily accommodate six footers.

There are more than twenty advanced safety technologies available on the Caliber, which include side curtain air bags, standard driver and passenger front airbags, electronic stability programme and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

The Dodge Caliber will appeal to those wanting something far removed from the bland offerings currently available and it is affordable, costing from £11,495, for the 1.8 litre S trim, rising to £15,430 for the 2 litre diesel.

Dodge sells more cars than both Chrysler and Jeep put together in the USA, so comes with a guaranteed pedigree. We can look forward to seeing more of this brand too, as by 2007, the rams head will adorn a new SUV, the Nitro, a Caliber SRT4 and a larger saloon, which will compete with the Ford Mondeo and will appeal to fleet market customers.

Dodge hopes to sell between 5-7000 units in a full year, split 50/50 between petrol and diesel. Look out for the rams head, which will be ‘over here’ in July!

By Sue Cooke