Neon to Caliber comparison

moparknighthawk · Post by **moparknighthawk** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:28 pm

Did a little car "looking" today in Hagerstown. Took some interesting pictures as well. (I always have an awesome time doing this) Anyways, here is my 2000 Salsa Red ES fronted to a 2007 Sunburst Orange Caliber SXT. You can see the height difference, and the other differences, but look how close the colors are. Given that it was a cloudy drizzly overcast day. In the sunlight the Sunburst Orange is a few shades lighter than my Salsa Red. The SXT here was almost fully optioned like I like it. It was 18K but was missing the sunroof I want. They also had a white SXT there. The white looks really good on the Caliber. Enjoy!

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:51 pm

Eh... Still don't like it. SRT version will be a different story, though, I'm sure.

lilolneon · Post by **lilolneon** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:17 pm

with 300hp it better be a dif story

J-Villa · Post by **J-Villa** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:41 pm

yea i stopped at cvm dodge and looked at one....i really didn't like it at all....just seems like a mini durango to me...even though i love durangos

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:19 pm

They are very nicely built, they are quite, interior fit and finish is better quality than the 2g's.

The 2.0L engine on the other hand, not as good as what I thought it would be. The CVT does a nice job of getting every last bit of power out of the engine, but it just has no low end grunt. The 1.8L w/5spd should be up to the task, and the 2.4L should be better as well.

With all that said, I'm still looking into getting one. I like how it looks, it's not a small compact car anymore. It's a mini-ute, the storage capabilities are great, and features are pretty cool too. I've always like the PT Cruisers, but wanted something that looked more muscular, and less wagon-like.

It's a nice car/truck/suv...

~Amit

ChrisRT · Post by **ChrisRT** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:20 pm

03_SXT wrote:They are very nicely built, they are quite, interior fit and finish is better quality than the 2g's.

The 2.0L engine on the other hand, not as good as what I thought it would be. The CVT does a nice job of getting every last bit of power out of the engine, but it just has no low end grunt. The 1.8L w/5spd should be up to the task, and the 2.4L should be better as well.

With all that said, I'm still looking into getting one. I like how it looks, it's not a small compact car anymore. It's a mini-ute, the storage capabilities are great, and features are pretty cool too. I've always like the PT Cruisers, but wanted something that looked more muscular, and less wagon-like.

It's a nice car/truck/suv...

~Amit

You're pretty spot on! I haven't had the chance to test drive one with the CVT, but I'm really not interested in the CVT, as I'd rather row my gears.

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:29 pm

I think I am having doubts about the 2.4L as well, all the engines are pretty close in displacement and power.

The CVT on the other hand, it takes some time getting used too. It'll go be at 4k rpm and then start to decrease to 3k and eventually 2k, all while not feeling the jerk of a true transmission. It also likes to hold 6.5k rpm while flooring it, which is scarry.

It looks I'll just go straight to the SRT

~Amit

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:27 pm

It's really nice (CVT). The car just keeps going and never gets any louder as you accel, if it were not for the MPH, I would never have known I was excelling - problem though, I did not like that it "felt" slow.

J8t4m · Post by **J8t4m** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:00 pm

It should be "better" for that much money -