2006 Dodge Caliber SE from North America - Comments

Yes, I agree with you. That is why I titled my Caliber report, "Too big & not enough MPG. But CVT is wonderful".

The Caliber doesn't give good mileage readily. Only real good featherfooting can get good MPG on the Caliber, & some Calibers still won't. But the CVT is very smooth. & if you let that smoothness lead you, featherfooting your way away from stops, you have a chance for good MPG that the engineers didn't put in the space in-efficient Caliber. You won't get the 50MPG that my Ford Festiva has given me. But that "fantasy" 35MPG is very possible. You can't let drivers around you determine your acceleration. You must accelerate slower than they want to push you down the road. & the drag coefficient of the Caliber is high. If you travel fast, you will pay for it in much less MPGs. If you have a tachometer, try to accelerate at around 2800rpms. If you accelerate at faster than 2800rpms, the torque curve of the Caliber engine drops a little meaning you will not be as efficient & MPG will be lower. The torque of the Caliber engine only increases above the 2800rpm level near 4800rpms which is no rpm for economy. I have an SE Caliber without a tachometer. I want to install a trip computer w/tachometer, so I can keep my Caliber as close to 2800rpm while I accelerate as I can.

<<Well, golly gee, I suppose the mileage lead-footed car magazine testers get is supposed to mean something!! When those folks test a car they red-line it thru every gear (if it HAS gears, which the Calibre doesn't) and make every possible attempt to beat the car to death. That is NOT a good way to get decent mileage and anyone basing their idea of fuel mileage on cars being drag-raced by Car and Driver needs to talk to more real drivers who actually own the cars.>>

Well, golly gee, tell us how many people actually drive their cars to achieve outstanding gas mileage? Answer? Not many. Even if they try they CANNOT because of the clogged roads and other obstacles. Or is your theory that every car driver can simply set the cruise control when commuting? Doubt it.

The REALITY is if you want good CONSISTENT gas mileage you get a car that GETS good gas mileage to begin with. The Caliber is NOT that car for its class.

And autowriters often achieve high gas mileage depending on the test. One review of a diesel BMW 5 series (obviously not sold here, but the car was brought over on a press junket) returned 41 mpg.

A very excellent example of achieving good gas mileage was a demonstration by Toyota of how to drive the Prius Hybrid. Virtually NO ONE gets anywhere NEAR the advertised mileage for the Prius. Most drivers get HALF the advertised mileage. In the demonstration it was STRONGLY ADVISED that the accelerator be regarded as an egg, and not enough pressure be applied to crack it. Yes, this makes for very dismal acceleration, but you get great dollar returns in much better mileage.

As for car magazine ratings of mpg, talk about FANTASY!!! Burning rubber from every stop and red-lining the engine does NOT give a very realistic picture of fuel mileage!!

Anyone can very easily get 35 mpg or better out of a 2.0 Caliber with the CVT or manual transmission. I get a kick out of lead-footed drivers who can't get 20 mpg out of their Corollas and then bash other people's mileage claims. If I can get 25 mpg out of a mid size, 6-cylinder SUV, anyone can get 35 out of a Caliber.

The Calibre is definitely capable of achieving 35 mpg without sacrificing much in the way of performance. It's sad that most people are not aware of proper driving techniques to achieve high fuel mileage. Most Chrysler products can achieve better than EPA rated fuel mileage, as do many GM models. My brother's Chevy Impala V-6, which is a fairly large car, routinely gets 33 mpg on trips.

<< It's sad that most people are not aware of proper driving techniques to achieve high fuel mileage. >>

No, it's sad that most people are not aware of proper BUYING techniques to achieve high fuel mileage.

There are no cars in the Caliber's class that get any better fuel mileage. What "better buying" techniques would someone choose, a mo-ped??

I'm the one with the original report here replying to the previous question for possible higher mileage vehicles. Actually your comical statement about mopeds isn't too inaccurate. Mopeds are worthless, but real motorcycles are cool. I had a 1980 Suzuki 450 that was powerful for its time & class...4+seconds to 60mph. Of course, its nothing with today's hot bikes, but it got 75mpg! On a tour of the western U.S. it used 120 gallons of gas in 8000 miles of riding. Now that was real freedom.

The Caliber is a C platform car. However, the Caliber is a bit space inefficient. There is one smaller car, the Nissan Versa which is based on the smaller B platform that has almost the interior space of the Caliber. & right where the Caliber needs some extra space (the rear seats) the most, the Versa has more rear seat room than the Caliber. The Versa has a CVT transmission built by Jatco, the same company that built Caliber's CVT. Mileage for the Versa is 15 to 20% more than the Caliber.

<<There are no cars in the Caliber's class that get any better fuel mileage. What "better buying" techniques would someone choose, a mo-ped??>.

EVERY car in the Caliber's class gets better gas mileage:

Civic, Sentra, and so on.

And since they have the same interior room and price points, you can include Yaris, Fit, Versa.

Caliber has a HIGHWAY rating of 30 mpg. ALL of its direct main competition has CITY ratings higher than that.

I wrote the original report here. Yes, you are right to say that many cars have better mileage than Caliber. But no other low priced car in America had a CVT tranny! Hope that will quickly change. I really left my ecology roots to buy the Caliber. But I still have my 50+MPG econo car! So I do have the best of both worlds. My econo car serves the majority of my needs. But the Caliber has this unique magic carpet ride that makes pleasure drives stunningly alluring. Beautiful country & mountain trips are capped by the Caliber's sensually genteel drive. I had high hopes for the CVT & it is more splendid than I hoped for. & with equally genteel caress of the gas pedal, I have managed mid 30 MPG, 15% higher than EPA estimates. Yes, the CVT has seduced me. But my featherfoot has made my indulgent sin of lesser consequence than many sins!

I'm glad you like your Caliber, and thank your lucky stars you bought it instead of the Civic, Corolla or Sentra. It is a much better car and will last much longer. It also has better safety features and costs THOUSANDS less.

Wrote the original report here. Yes, my wife & I are very pleased with the Caliber for all the reasons I've mentioned above. Our pleasure is still great despite some of Caliber's shortcomings (also mentioned above). The commenter for 2/1/07 tho reminds me of another Caliber shortcoming. Caliber does have front airbags & 2 side curtain airbags to reduce front & REAR occupant head injuries... even has a driver knee blocker airbag. However, I would trade the driver knee blocker airbag for full side airbags to protect front & rear occupants' torsos in a side collision. & I miss Electronic Stability Control. But for the cheapest car w/CVT, ABS, & A/C ($10,000+ less than a hybrid), ya jest can't git everthang ya wants.

<<I'm glad you like your Caliber, and thank your lucky stars you bought it instead of the Civic, Corolla or Sentra. It is a much better car and will last much longer. It also has better safety features and costs THOUSANDS less.>.

Proof please since the Neon was one of the worst subcompacts you could buy.

I rented an SXT for 2 days and was pleasantly surprised. Yes, I noted the lack of power below 15mph, but it suited my driving style.

Two things that strike me as negative relative to the Pontiac Vibe I am considering is gas mileage and reliability. I am not sure of the unproven Caliber reliability and the similar sized Vibe reliability is proven. But then it is based in the reliable high mpg Corolla.

I am glad to read that mpg on the Caliber is not so bad. We shall see about the reliability. I DO like the CVT.