+ Click to Enlarge BARRELLING IN: No doubt that the new Dodge Caliber, first of the brand to be sold in South Africa in 25 years, is a manly hunk but it has a host of unusual features - and we're sure women will love it too.

August 18, 2006
By Les Stephenson

Dodge is back. Thing is, 25 years after the last of its previous cars was sold here, is it going to make it in a market where 30 brands are battling for market share by punting engines and gearboxes that can barely reach the national limit without a long run-up?

The company, operating under DaimlerChrysler's banner in South Africa, has come back with the Caliber – a "crossover" car that you can argue is either a hatchback or an SUV with a body design that complements both and looks really great on the road.

This is a handsome machine: bold, wide wheel arches over big wheels and tyres, an assertive grille with the corporate and proud-of-it mountain sheep badge, a number of original cabin items (such as a three-level glove box that incorporates a four-can chiller) and a full house of crash-protection items.

Frankly, when I saw it for the first time at the Detroit auto show early in 2006, I thought: "SA will love it." Now, having driven it up on the Highveld, I'm not so sure: looks, after all, are not everything.

First I tried the two-litre petrol SXT version with a CVT (constantly variable) auto transmission. CVT's are notorious beasts that seem to choose their gear ratios as they fancy even when, as on the Caliber, they come with a manual/sequential override.

Performance-wise, this model just didn't hack it – 22-wheelers a couple of kays away come up awfully quickly when overtaking and punishing the gear lever doesn't really help. All of which is surprising when Dodge quotes 115kW at 6300rpm and 190Nm of torque at 5100 from the four-cylinder, quad-valve engine.

On the afternoon's return trip, driving the baseline 1.8 manual – Dodge calls it its "world engine" - that claims to have 110kW at 6500rpm and 170Nm at 5200 on tap, two-up along the northbound N1 just south of Johannesburg, we barely managed 130km/h on a very modest gradient, foot flat, and had to change down to fourth.

Again, this is a sophisticated, fuel-injected, quad-valve engine with variable valve timing and should do better than that. Both engines will certainly perform better in Durban and Cape Town where the air is denser and the oxygen more plentiful but Gauteng is by far the country's largest auto market and, financially, that's what counts.

So that leaves one more engine and it's in the most expensive of the cars at R219 900 – a two-litre, quad-valve CRD turbodiesel that's been slotted into SXT models. And diesel, somehow, fits the "manly" image of the Dodge Caliber – even if it is (don't tell anybody, now!) a VW unit. Dodge explains that it has a number of co-operative alliances around the world, including one with South Korea's Hyundai.

Diesel's the way to go

It's a honey of an engine that overcomes the failings of the other two up on the Reef by being turbocharged and by having a whopping 320Nm of torque from 1750rpm to back up its 103kW at 4000rpm (the rev limiter comes in at 5000rpm).

The diesel's standard six-speed gearbox is also excellent and makes the most of the engine's 320Nm; this car will have no trouble hauling the family up from Durban or Cape Town and easily holds its cruise speed – yes, cruise control is standard on all models except the 1.8.

Here's how the prices read:

Dodge Caliber 1.8 L SE - R169 900
Dodge Caliber 1.8 L SXT - R179 900
Dodge Caliber 2.0 L CVT SXT - R189 900
Dodge Caliber 20 L CRD SXT - R219 900
Optional extras:
Power sunroof - R9 900
Metallic paint - R800

The Caliber, Dodge tells us, is at the leading edge of the brand's expansion into markets outside of North America; places where, traditionally, the ram badge has never been seen in large herds. The cars will be sold alongside DaimlerChrysler and Jeep products in South Africa and other markets.

Adding Dodge to its South African portfolio, the Chrysler Group says, will increase its market share, and spokesman Guy Franken explained: "South Africa has seen a huge increase in (automotive) brands, models and derivatives - we undoubtedly have one of the best-supplied markets in the world.

"This, along with the significant growth patterns of the last few years, adds up to a buoyant vehicle market that everybody is eyeing to achieve significant global volume gains.

"DaimlerChrysler’s foray into the market with Dodge is at the forefront of this expansion. The Caliber will be followed soon by the Dodge Nitro SUV."

Target customer

The Caliber, Dodge says, will appeal to buyers looking for an entry-level vehicle that stands out from the crowd and gives them the flexibility to do more in terms of seating friends and storing gear.

The Caliber target customer, the automaker adds, has a high identification with the Dodge brand’s core values (outdoors, rugged, sporty), will be aged from 28 to 45 and from the male sex – though women buyers might make up 30 percent of buyers. Which statement, of course, will have estate agents across the country rampaging into a DaimlerChrysler dealer near them…

And if you read the model details below, you'll probably see why they might buy.

Standard across the range are side-curtain crash bags, illuminated front cup holders, 12-volt power outlet, centre console with sliding armrest (it's pretty shabby and needs work) that moves forward 76mm to accommodate shorter drivers and has a flip pocket for a cellphone or MP3 player, a dual-purpose rechargeable/removable roof light, vinyl load floor (no carpet, rubber mat optional), power windows, power locks, power folding exterior mirrors and remote keyless entry with Sentry Key® engine immobiliser.

The Caliber SE has fabric seats, 60/40 split rear seats that fold flat and recline (up to 12 degrees), a fold-flat front passenger seat, manual driver’s seat height adjuster, boot curtain, AM/FM CD radio with MP3 compatibility, tachometer, air-conditioning, tiltable steering wheel, cabin and boot lights and 17" steel wheels with wheel covers shod with 215/60 tyres.

No-cost options

The Caliber SXT adds cruise control a drinks cooler for four tins, bright silver instrument bezels and switches, body-colour side mouldings and front fog lights. But it doesn't all stop there…

No-cost options for the SXT include two factory-assembled packages – Luxury as well as Sport & Sound – customer chooses, and it's likely that the younger buyers will go for the Sport & Sound. Here's what they're about:

"Luxury" includes leather-trimmed and heatable bucket seats, auto-dimming rearview mirror, AM/FM six-disc CD radio with MP3 compatibility, audio controls on the leather-wrapped steering wheel and tyre pressure monitors.

The Sport & Sound Package has colour-keyed seat inserts, instrument panel and gearshift trim accents, black B and C pillars, AM/FM six-disc CD radio with MP3 compatibility, Musicgate Power sound system that includes six Boston Acoustics speakers, a sub-woofer and "articulating" boot-lid speakers) and audio controls on the leather-wrapped steering wheel.

The boot speakers are, Dodge says, built for outdoor partying: the tail hatch lifts, the two speakers are unclipped and the pair hang down to blast music while the kids hang out.