NEW YORK TIMES By MICHELLE KREBS - -At a rest stop on the New York Thruway during a Detroit-to-Syracuse road trip, my children and I chuckled at the sight of another family traveling the same route. They were crammed into a Ford Country Squire wagon with fake wood on the sides. One member of the family was stuck in the cargo area, nearly buried in belongings.
The sight reminded us of ?National Lampoon?s Vacation.? ?The only thing missing,? my daughter said, ?is the dead aunt on the roof.?Their wagon, built sometime before 1992, was markedly different from the modern model I was test-driving: a 2007 Dodge Caliber, which went on sale in the spring. Chrysler executives say the Caliber, which replaces the venerable Neon in the Dodge line, was designed with road trips like ours in mind. To drive that point home, Dodge held a promotion that challenged college students to take road trips in the Caliber, raising money for charity along the way.
The Caliber has some cool features that make it a pleasant tripmobile: a glovebox rack that keeps water bottles chilled and rear-hatch speakers that flip down to provide entertainment for tailgate parties, to name two.
On our journey, the audio system, available with a jack for an iPod or MP3 player ? Sirius Satellite Radio is offered, too ? keeps the music playing. Optional heated front seats, unusual in the price class, warm the front occupants.
A cellphone holder is built into the lid of the console, the cargo floor can be removed and hosed down and a self-charging removable flashlight is a handy detail.
The four-doors-plus-hatch configuration is versatile, with 48 cubic feet of space in the cargo bay once the back seat is folded. While smaller on the outside than the Neon sedan it replaces, the compact Caliber has significantly more interior space. It can accommodate up to five passengers, though only four will be comfortable. Its folding split rear seat also reclines for comfort. The front passenger seat folds forward to form a flat surface that lets you haul a ladder or surfboard.
The Caliber comes only as a hatchback wagon, a body style popular in most of the world, though never fully embraced in the United States. Still, Americans have taken to the Caliber?s big brother, the Dodge Magnum, proving that wagons have a future in a post-S.U.V. world.
So far, the Caliber has sold well. Dealership inventories are low, with Calibers moving out quickly from showrooms. Chrysler has added a third shift at its Belvidere, Ill., plant to produce more Calibers as well as two Jeep models.
For now, I?m reserving judgment on the Caliber?s styling, having initially disliked the Chrysler 300 sedan and Dodge Magnum wagon ? though now they turn my head. Some family resemblance to the big wagon is evident in the Caliber, though it is chunkier, more angular and less elegant than the Magnum.
The Neon, with a friendly face and wide-eyed headlamps, was self-consciously perky, and it was promoted with a tag line that read, ?Say hi to Neon.? In contrast, the Caliber works hard to be macho. One advertising spot features a fairy who spreads cuteness over everything she sees, but she can?t transform the Caliber, which is described on its own Web site as ?anything but cute.?
With its angular, serious lines, the Caliber certainly stands out from hatchback competitors like the Mazda 3, Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, as well as from small, traditional sedans. My teenage children thought the curving, matte-black roof of our orange test car looked like a turtle?s shell.
Indeed, many of the plastic surfaces inside the little Dodge were as hard as a turtle?s shell. The plastics don?t feel rich, but the interior?s look and layout are pleasing.
The seats proved comfortable on our 1,000-mile round trip. And the Caliber is loaded with safety equipment; side curtain air bags are standard, to provide head protection, as is a knee bag for the driver. But shorter drivers who pull the seat forward will bump their knees on the bag?s housing. Other safety features include optional electronic stability control ($250) and a tire-pressure monitor ($250).
The Caliber did well in recent crash tests, receiving the highest ratings for side and front crashes from the federal highway safety agency.
Calibers come with various versions of a new four-cylinder engine design jointly developed by DaimlerChrysler, Hyundai and Mitsubishi and put together in Michigan. The base SE and mid-level SXT have a 148-horsepower, 1.8-liter version, paired with a five-speed manual transmission. This combination is rated 28 m.p.g. in the city and 32 on the highway.
The SE and SXT also offer a 158-horsepower 2-liter engine paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission (rated 26 m.p.g. in town and 30 on the highway).
The tested R/T, with all-wheel drive and the variable transmission, merged ever so slowly onto Highway 401, Canada’s version of the autobahn, as big trucks whizzed by.
The R/T felt so slow that when I returned home I drove the SXT without all-wheel drive, which adds significant weight, to see if there was a difference. The SXT did indeed accelerate a little better, despite its smaller engine, but it was no rocket.
Fact is, in contrast to several of today’s Dodges, which the company promotes as vehicles that “take life by the horns,” the Caliber isn’t much fun to drive.
That may change next spring when a high-performance 300-horsepower Caliber SRT4 goes on sale. It replaces the Neon SRT4 that has been popular among the sport-compact tuner crowd.
The Caliber has a second-generation C.V.T., but the gearbox still leaves much to be desired. On those freeway merges it revved to uncomfortable levels, producing more roar than forward motion. It reminded me more of the short-lived C.V.T. briefly offered by Saturn than of the smooth, polished variable gearbox now available in several Nissans.
With the AutoStick option you get a shifter that gives you some manual control of the transmission.
The R/T, which has a sportier suspension and firmer ride than other models, felt extremely stable on the road, even during torrential rains. The ride, though firm, was comfortable. The steering was adequately responsive, if somewhat numb.
No one can argue with the base price: the SE starts at $13,985 including delivery, or $410 less than the defunct base Neon. The tab rises quickly, though, as you move up the trim levels and add options. The midlevel SXT I tested topped out at $20,130; the R/T test car was $21,300.
With nifty features, a strong safety rating, a versatile interior and an attractive base price, the Caliber makes a lot of sense. It just doesn’t provide a lot of pleasure.
For all of the Neon’s faults — and it had many — that car was notable for its spirited driving dynamics and fun-loving spirit. The Caliber is a more serious car, and a better one, but it is not nearly as friendly and it probably won’t make you smile.
INSIDE TRACK: Say “bye” to the Neon and “yo” to the Caliber.
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