Dodge Caliber
These days if I hear the word, “Green,” images of polar bears drowning in melting ice caps come to mind before grass, that awful shirt my aunt got me for Christmas and even St Paddy’s day. And the connotations attached have become a world wide phenomenon greater even than The Beatles or Facebook. Anyone who is someone has an opinion on the environment and even people who are no one throw in their two cents every now and again – 5fm’s “Eco-Brother” for example.
“Going green” has even become somewhat of a trend, with those in Hollywood making the biggest style statements. (Although that’s more than likely all they do) Everyone has one of those truly awful Toyota Prius’. Everyone supports some or other save the whale, dolphin, seal, polar bear and south Guatemalean pink flamingo cause. It’s become somewhat of a competition in fact.
And who likes a competition more than a bunch of politicians? Al Gore made a particularly impressive surge to the front of this field when he came along with “An Inconvenient Truth.” A fire and brimstone type documentary about the climate change the earth is currently experiencing, along with what we can do to help ease the damage.
Unfortunately it seems no one else in the US government ever got round to watching their colleague’s film. Probably as it embarrassed the yanks somewhat, pointing a big finger at them as the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases. It may even have singled them out for not joining the Kyoto Protocol, although that’s a story for another day.
One bunch who apparently did take notice however was Dodge. Without help from Al Gore I have no doubt the the Dodge Caliber would have turned out to be a typically American, gas-guzzling, overweight, underpowered barge-like piece of scrap, without the “S.” However with the help of a photocopier set to 50% scale, the Caliber is a mid-size hatch.
Mid-sized hatchbacks are normally quite easy on the eye, some are even referred to as cute…or sweet. Like puppies for example. The Caliber though does rather remind me of a dung beetle, which is not cute, or sweet, or easy on the eye. Unfortunately it’s no better on the inside either. Awash with typically poor quality plastics and an overall feeling of having been put together by a three year old with a Fisher-Price tool kit.
However this dung beetle has one incredibly redeeming factor. The engine. Obviously when the blokes at Dodge woke up to the fact that they couldn’t wedge a big-block V8 in the scaled down Caliber, they decided to go the full nine-yards with the whole “green” story and found officially the best diesel engine in the world.
The 2.0 litre turbo charged four cylinder motor – stolen from VW – had power and torque enough to have me inadvertently spinning the wheels every time I pulled off, however point blank refused to ever allow the fuel consumption to creep above 6.2l/100km. No matter how much I thrashed about, braked for no good reason and subsequently stamped back on the throttle, the engine sipped at the fuel tank more frugally than the Queen would her tea. I have no doubt that, driven carefully, this car could achieve around 5l/100km.
I was distinctly torn during my week with the Dodge. On one side I disliked the affect it had on fellow road goers – who sported an initial look of confusion, followed by one of amusement. But on the other I was immensely impressed by the Germanic-American combination, well more the German than American but impressed none-the-less.
My conclusion is that the Caliber is aimed towards people who don’t give a damn what others think of them. So if you’re the kind of person who wonders around shopping malls barefoot, or only eats vegetables, or wears tie-dye for that matter, but you still have an inkling for a bit of grunt under your right foot then this is the car for you.
Price: R274,900
Engine: 2.0 DOHC 16V 4-cylinder turbo diesel
Power: 103 kW
Torque: 310 Nm
Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 9.3
Top speed: 196 km/h
Fuel consumption: 6.1/100km (actual and claimed – there really is a first time for everything)
Verdict – an eco-hippie-petrol-heads dream
Miles Downard
Photo Credit: Quickpic