Or should I say what the MS3 should have been... I'm sure everyone is going to slam the looks of the Caliber, but it's growing on me and the practicality of a small hatch is tempting and the performance will be impressive. I also think if you lose the front grill it would make a huge improvement.

"Dodge Caliber SRT4 boosts 300hp !!


The outgoing Neon SRT-4 was a pocket rocket. Now as Neon has been replaced by Caliber, the new SRT4 is also revealed. At a glance, the Caliber SRT4 seems using the same engine as its predecessor - both of them are turbocharged 2.4-litre four-pot, but in fact they have no relationship at all. Like the regular Caliber, the new SRT4 employs the new World Engine jointly developed by Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai. It differs from the old Mitsubishi-based engine by using all aluminum construction, twin-cam, dual VVT and twin-balancer shafts. A turbocharger and intercooler boosts its power to an astonishing 300hp at 6000rpm, while a flat torque curve returns 260 lbft continuously from 2000 to 6000rpm. This is far more than Neon SRT-4 (215hp initially, then upgraded to 230hp finally).

The new engine mates with a 6-speed gearbox instead of the previous 5-speeder. Best of all, it finally got a limited-slip differential to help transferring the power through its front wheels to the road. Yes, this is the most powerful front-drive hot hatch in the world. For comparison, Alfa Romeo 147GTA has "only" 250hp.

Brakes are equally impressive because they come from the 300C Hemi. The front discs measure 340mm diameter while the rear discs measure 302mm. 19-inch wheels are shod with 225/45 tires."

http://www.dodge.com/caliber/caliber_srt4.html

 

Yeah it's ugly. IMO
________
Bigbustysex Live

 

WTF is it? An SUV?

 

And even more importantly....how much does that thing weigh?

 

I'm not a fan of the looks, sorry. I guess I'm spoiled by the RX-8's 10/10 asthetics.

 

Fast it shall be...good looking it shant...lol

I'm confused by this car, what is it trying to be a small suv, small sadan, a wagon, a cross over veh....gosh, I just dont agree with the style of the car. It will be fast but fwd still sucks, why can't they make a new SRT-4 like Mitsu is doing a new EVO. The concept EVO looks REALLY GOOD...the SRT-4 will be better quality wise and performance wise, but I like sports cars not sport wagons/suv's/cross over veh...etc etc.

It should do well for them...but we will se if enough people will like the looks, I'll bet they wont care since alot of people just care about those straights regardless of how it looks getting there.

Just my thoughts on it.

 

I found that it's called a CUW, "Crossover Utility Wagon". And weighs 3300+ lbs. 0-60 in 5.9.

Ew.

 

I don't care WHAT they think they are calling it, a wagon is a FREAKEN WAGON...PERIOD!

By the way...300HP and it's only getting 5.9???? That has to be wrong or conservative...

 

khtm...oohhh, I'm not mad at you buddy...lol, I'm just yelling at the "name" system now a days.

 

no LSD is gonna cure torque steer w/ 300hp to the front wheels

 

Conservative, keep in mind the last SRT-4 did 0-60 as fast as 5.3. Also, I look at it as a hatch and like that part of it, seems something very few Americans can appreciate though.

 

All the Dodges are starting to look like each other...

 

The funny part is the Caliber, Outlander (or maybe its the Endeavor) and Evo X will share the same platform. The sportback shown below is based on the same platform as well (essentially a hatch version of the Concept X). Amazing what a little sheetmetal can do.






And look at the intakes and vents on the hood:

 

Like trucks... You can blame BMW for all the manufacturers trying to make their car lines look similar across the board and adopting corporate grills.

 

The weight?

 

Everyone is reporting 3189 not 3300+

 

The numbers dont make sense

 

Are we supposed to guess what you mean by that or do you plan on explaining yourself?

 

Well I think he means that for 3189lb vehicle with 300 hp it should be faster than a 5.9 sec 0-60.
________
*** Cam

 

That's just a conservative manufacturers claim, it will most likely be much faster than that.

 

Pretty cool idea. It would look a lot better without the dodge grill. I don't know who it's supposed to appeal to though? the tuner market or the supermarket crowd? maybe both. I like seeing cars like this in NA though.

 

I dunno... quality and reliablilty concerns keep me away from DCX, but if this thing had AWD I'd at least test drive one. FWD... bah... might as well consider a GTI or *shudder* Civic Si.

As far as the wagon thing... wagons rocks. don't knock 'em until you've owned one. My Familia S-Wagon (Protege5) is great for picking up my bicycle on rainy days, carrying boxes and other junk. My old Honda Ascot had a bigger trunk, but couldn't do all of that. The tight handling on my wagon also helps... just wish it had a stick and some *****. Oh well... next car...

 

Where were all these out-of-the-box fast, cheap cars when I was 20, and I cared only about horsepower over looks?

 

With those numbers it SHOULD be much faster than that so we will have to wait for test results.

Just think of it (this still does not make sense to me), the Mustang get's 13.5's in the 1/4 mile comming in at 3,500 pounds so the SRT-4 weighing much less "should" be significantly faster but then again I am yet to understand how the Mustang pulls off those numbers considering it's weight.

No offense to the wagon people, but for me...I just can't stand them. I like the utility of the RX8's rear seats and big trunk (minus the small opening) so I can understand wanting a fast car that also is useful to carry stuff but I just can't come to grips with the wagon look.

 

well there's one pic that states AWD, is that not on the SRT trim level?