GLEN HILL

The Dodge Caliber was introduced into the South African market in mid 2006 and its time for an upgrade.

The obvious weakness of the range was a lot of hard touch plastic in the interior and entry level derivatives that were very underpowered.

Dodge have gone some way to addressing at least the interior of the Caliber by changing the look significantly. The black interior with chrome finishing not only looks far better, but with a change to relatively soft-touch plastics feels a lot better.

In terms of drive trains I am less sure of the improvement.

TWO ENGINES

The range has been rationalised and there are now only two engines, a two-litre petrol with either a five-speed manual or continuously variable transmission (CVT), and a 2.4 petrol with a five-speed manual transmission.

It was only this latter derivative that was available for me to drive.

With a 2.4-litre engine and manual gearbox the Dodge Caliber has adequate power and a gearbox that will suit most needs.

Power output is claimed to be 125kW @ 6000 rpm and 220Nm @ 5100 rpm. Fuel consumption is a claimed 7.7l/100km and carbon emissions are 182g/km.

For the other two derivatives, despite a launch over two days, I have no idea.

The 2-litre engine is said to produce 115kW @ 6300rpm and 190 Nm @ 5100rpm. The manual uses 7.4l/100km and produces 176g of carbon per kilometre. With the CVT gearbox it uses 8l/100km and produces 190g of carbon every kilometre.

The cars are well specced and I believe they offer good value for money. There are a couple of options, like a sunroof, but most of what you would want is already there.

This is important should you do comparisons. Some manufacturers make almost everything not required for roadworthy an optional extra.

The price you thought you were going to pay, and the one presented on the quotation, differ by about the amount of an entry level car. With a Caliber you can dodge this trap. It comes with heated leather seats at no extra charge.

STABILITY CONTROL

On the safety side there is ABS with electronic stability control (ESC), driver, passenger and side curtain airbags back and front as well as active head restraints.

The 60/40 split rear seat can recline and the passenger seat can fold to form a flat load space when combined with the back.

The air-conditioning system feeds a Chill Zone which is a cool drink shelf inside the glove box. If you are British you can use the heater to make it warm your beer.

On the outside the most notable change is possibly the 18 inc wheels, even bigger than on the outgoing model. There are also standard fog lights.

Optional is the Uconnect TM Navigation, an easy to use functional GPS system and MusicGate Power premium sound system which features articulating lifegate speakers.

Pricing: 2.0 manual R226 900; 2.0 CVT R236 900; 2.4 manual R246 900.