New Chase Vehicle - Dodge Caliber

[Andrew Revering]

I bought a 07 Dodge Caliber, finally put my 97 purple dakota to rest.

I like the vehicle for several reasons. Here are its chase-worthy features:

1) It gets about 32 MPG on the highway from what I've been able to measure so far. Only about 700 miles on it though, so we'll see how it goes.

2) its pretty comfortable inside (heated seats even)... once you get in. I'm used to pickups so dipping down into a car is going to take some getting used to, although it's not sitting as low as most cars I don't think.

3) It has a built in 150 watt inverter with 2 prong AC outlet.

4) Has a 4 can/bottle beverage cooler built into the dash that is suppose to act as a mini fridge.

5) Passenger seat folds down almost horizontally for napping on the way home. Rear seats recline 35 degrees or so for more comfort in the back.

As with most cars rear seating isn't outstanding for leg room, however I found that if I set my front passenger seat to be comfortable for a 6 foot person (me), and get in the back, I can sit in the back seat without my knees touching the seat in front of me... given normal manly leg separation.

6) Rear cup holders, front cup holders are lighted

7) Built in thermometer, MPG, compass, and tire pressure readings in dash.

8) Has a sunroof which I think may be nice for viewing clouds above and perhaps sticking out any sort of anemometer or hygrometer on the fly. Downside is if you like to play with big hail, which I've never been a fan of. I always try to avoid hail at all costs.

I have some questions about the car that I'm addressing on other forums regarding this particular car, but figured I'd post here in case anyone had any ideas.

1) I wonder the range of the thermometer. So far I saw one person from canada post he saw it get to -16 f. I'd like to think it would be capable of measuring in the -40 range, but that may be unrealistic to ask for in a digital thermometer.

2) I intend to use a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter to use the 150 watt inverter built into the car for powering my laptop. I wonder what the consequences would be regarding risk of shock without grounding by using that, or if I should jump through some hoops to ground the 3rd prong.

3) There is limited room to mount a ham radio, however I'll probably end up doing it. There is a nice cubby hole below the radio that fits my 2 meter ham pretty snugly. If I take the center console apart I can probably cut the back of the cubby hole out, set the ham in there more snugly and then run wires to the battery. My question here would be what the proper way to power a ham is... I have never run my ham to the battery before, I always sliced into the DC plug, but was always lacking enough power to go to 50 watts. What size wire/fusing, etc. would I need?

4) Also does anyone know of a good way to drill a permanent mount for the antenna, or know of someone or some company to do it professionally, so I can hide all wires and not worry about leaks?

5) I'm also considering one of those small amplifiers that you can get to attach to your stereo for better am/fm reception. Does anyone have any experience with these devices. Are they are worth it, and what is their performance in big city and out in the country?

I should have my personalized plates within 2 months... look for a black caliber with minnesota plates that say "F5DATA".

 

[Jason Boggs]

Congrats Andrew! It's always nice to get a new car. I'm going to try to hang on to my Nissan Frontier for about 3 more years and then it will be time for me to do some car shopping.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

That 30MPG will get better - get 5,000 on the clock and you should get @ 33 - 35

It looks like US cars are starting to use Europe technology - more power at better fuel rates.

FYI I get 240BHP @ 34 MPG on my UK spec VW Golf GTI.

 

[Jesse Risley]

I've had some experience with the radio installs. DO go with a permanent mount, NMO style antenna. They make special drill bits for autos. If you don't have experience with these installs, shop around and find a professional shop to do it for you. I'm guessing you can have it done for less than $50 if you do your homework.

I would direct wire the ham radio to the battery. [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]The main feed from the front battery should be at least number 6 AWG, and preferably 4 AWG. Make sure the wire is properly sized and fused. Running ham radios from an existing wiring harness runs a greater risk of starting a vehicle fire if the harness gets burned.

Do you have a remote head with the ham radio? If so, you can mount the radio itself in the trunk or under the back seat. Remember to use that wire loom to keep things neat and avoid the presence of wires running everywhere, just waiting to be knicked or severed.
[/FONT]

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

I've ~26k on my Caliber. It has worked out great so far. Although I just got the software flashed (which supposedly increases mpg), I typically get 27-31mpg on the highway depending on speed. Beware, however. The car absolutely hates headwind due to the high drag coefficient. In 1 case, I ended up averaging 21mpg on a tank in a 25mph sustained headwind + gusts to 40mph (while traveling 75mph). If you can keep the tach below 2500rpm, you'll get good gas economy in my experience.


I added a roof rack to mine for kayaking. I suppose I could eventually mount an antenna to that if I wanted. The rack used rivnuts to mount to the roof... drilled around 10 holes total. No water issues. Just make sure you have a tight fit plus plenty of silicone sealant. check out caliberforums.com... several hams on there have posted pictures with their ham installs.

Car dislikes:
-thin sheet metal. My caliber looks like it has been to hell and back. Dings and marks keep showing up.

- While it has plenty of room in the interior (all the seats fold down), the rear hatch is rather small... this ends up being the limiting factor when loading the car.

- Has the typical American-made rattle syndrome. Little to no insulation is used in the vehicle.

 

[Andrew Revering]

I appreciate all of the advice on the installs.

and regarding the software update that increases gas mileage, I've read up on that and expect to take it in on probably Monday or Tuesday to get it done. I'm pretty excited as I've read such huge differences in acceleration and even a couple MPG on the gas mileage. I'm currently quite impressed with what I'm getting. Driving 45 min to my brother's I get about 33 mpg before having the software update done... and that was with my tire pressure 10 psi below max psi.

I think there are a lot of varying differences with what you end up with in a car, even if they are all the same model. Some do better than others, and I just feel like so far I've been lucky to get one with higher end performance. I hope it lasts.

Aaron, have you had experience with it in snow yet?

I'm a little worried about that. I'm not getting a good feeling from reading forums about its handling in snow. I didn't get the AWD version, and it doesn't have ESP so those were probably two features I should have sprung for.

 

[Jerry Prsha]

I appreciate all of the advice on the installs.

and regarding the software update that increases gas mileage, I've read up on that and expect to take it in on probably Monday or Tuesday to get it done. I'm pretty excited as I've read such huge differences in acceleration and even a couple MPG on the gas mileage. I'm currently quite impressed with what I'm getting. Driving 45 min to my brother's I get about 33 mpg before having the software update done... and that was with my tire pressure 10 psi below max psi.

I think there are a lot of varying differences with what you end up with in a car, even if they are all the same model. Some do better than others, and I just feel like so far I've been lucky to get one with higher end performance. I hope it lasts.

Aaron, have you had experience with it in snow yet?

I'm a little worried about that. I'm not getting a good feeling from reading forums about its handling in snow. I didn't get the AWD version, and it doesn't have ESP so those were probably two features I should have sprung for.

I'm curious about the acceleration. My best friend's parents are in town and they rented a Dodge Caliber. Perhaps they rented a lemon but, it's been the joke of many a conversation that they step on the gas pedal and the engine makes a growling noise but doesn't go anywhere.

Any truth to that from what you've experienced?

 

[Andrew Revering]

Yeah from a stop there is hessitation on all vehicles manufactured prior to April 15, 2007. But this is a simple software upgrade that the caliber needs. From many accounts that I've read on forums this greatly fixes this problem. It also reduces what feels like shifting on what is supposed to be a non-shifting vehicle, or at least no feel of shifting, and is suppose to add some gas efficiency. Reports are people are getting about 2 mpg better with this software upgrade.

I guess it just better regulates gas/air intake or something.

Before I bought one I rented one for a week in Las Vegas, and absolutely loved it. We didn't have any of these issues with that vehicle at the time.

 

[Martin North]

I have a Euro Spec Ford Focus ST 2.5 litre Turbo. Not too bad on the juice and it's do 330 miles maybe off a tank of gas depending on speed.

I think I have a photo or two....

 

[mrobinett]

Andrew, welcome to the Caliber community! I love my 07 Caliber SXT. compared to the 03 Astro I was driving its like a fighter jet. And double the gas mileage.
It has plenty of acceleration, I bought it used it had 21k miles, Im at 26k+ now. I purchased an extended warranty, just in case. It adds another 48K miles to the 21k it had.
As for the ham radio install, the best way is always to go to battery directly. I havent installed one yet in my Caliber, I do require some DC power for recharging the lithium packs on my electric helicam setup, I actually use a deep cycle battery placed on the passenger floorboard to keep from drawing too many amps from the car's battery.
I think you made a good choice, overall.
Mike

 

[Jerry Prsha]

Yeah from a stop there is hessitation on all vehicles manufactured prior to April 15, 2007. But this is a simple software upgrade that the caliber needs. From many accounts that I've read on forums this greatly fixes this problem. It also reduces what feels like shifting on what is supposed to be a non-shifting vehicle, or at least no feel of shifting, and is suppose to add some gas efficiency. Reports are people are getting about 2 mpg better with this software upgrade.

Let's just hope Microsoft doesn't get into the car software business. I can hear the call now...

"Umm.. Yeah.. I think my car has a virus. Boobs showed up on the dash cam and it stalled... Can someone pick me up?"

 

[John Erwin]

Let's just hope Microsoft doesn't get into the car software business. I can hear the call now...

"Umm.. Yeah.. I think my car has a virus. Boobs showed up on the dash cam and it stalled... Can someone pick me up?"

Too late.. .they've teamed up with Ford (heheheh) with "Sync"; a new OS intended for the dashboard (entertainment & communications etc.).

 

[Jerry Prsha]

Too late.. .they've teamed up with Ford (heheheh) with "Sync"; a new OS intended for the dashboard (entertainment & communications etc.).

(shaking head...) I'd say "Poor Ford" but they seem to be terminally stupid lately anyway...

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

As far as acceleration goes, it isn't a Porsche or anything, but it gets me to where I need to go. I think the acceleration is much better when you are at highway speed and need to pass someone. FYI I had it up to 113 on a straight away. Rode pretty nice given the speed ;P

As far as snow, my Caliber has been through one winter with no issues. Just drive on snow like any other car (I don't have AWD). The higher clearance gives it a little bit better performance than normal sedans.