<![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @TexanIdiot25: Er, has anybody really ever street raced a 5.0 Mustang with a turbo anything? Hate to say it, but even a 5.0 stocker would wipe the floor with this thing until 50 mph or so...

...and yes, I do have one for a track toy, but I also have a Cobalt SS, so I know a lil bit about high strung 4 bangers.

gessvt

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @acarr260: I've had that dream, it's deepy unsettling. Better to stay awake and drive.

bruxell

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Steel_ETC: You sir are my hero, long live the El Dorado ETC, and the Northstar V8.

Whopping up on rice boys and 5.0 Mustangs since 93(ish)!

TexanIdiot25: A/C is for for wusses. Real men have T-Tops

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> My buddy who just bought this car, he was going to get the AWD R/T, but found that the SRT4 minus navi, was actually a couple thousand cheaper than the R/T

Not bad bang for the buck.

@PeteJayhawk: I havent driven the Speed3 yet, but I have tried the 3sport. I would agree the interior is more pleasing to look at in the 3 for sure, i dont care for the basic shapes in the Caliber. I wouldnt say its that much better to justify the price difference though.

Depends how much you value a soft touch dashboard.

danio3834

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> The original SRT-4 didn't even have rear power windows! The first SRT-4 was based off the Neon..which was a more capable platform. However, I think the Caliber appeals to people who are a little older.

I bought a fully loaded PT Cruiser GT with the SRT-4 motor and a stick..off lease for cheap (14k) I upgraded the computer, the plugs,the wires, and the supsension. It hauls ass...even though it is a hatchback/wagon. The interior is nicer, it has leather, and seat heaters.

The Caliber is a lot like the PT Cruiser GT with suspension upgrades. It is aimed at a slightly older crowd.

It reminds me of the old turbo K cars back in eighties.

Bluegoose

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Was Nate in Royal Oak and riding the specialized P2 I sold him?

I miss Detroit.

All_Thumbs

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Steel_ETC: I love that. Isn't it nice having a car that can go [redacted] mph?

dculberson

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Matt Hardigree: Please tell me they involve a strange form of magnetism.

Mad_Science

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @charles_barrett: Thanks, he's got some interesting theories I left out.

Matt Hardigree

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> We just had that exact ride at our office two weeks ago.

There's a special level of hell for the Chrysler interior designer who put a goddamn CORNER right at the point of the instrument panel that intersects with my right knee. X-(

Roadster_Guy

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @mytdawg: I see one of the "Shelby Chargers on occasion around Royal Oak. They provoke a similar response in me.

Ray Wert

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Great writeup Matt...! I especially enjoy the way you incorporate young Nate as a sort of accidental muse... clever and entertaining...!

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Ray Wert: Makes 'em hard to see out. I went home and checked the price on that thing after I saw the little panty weasel in it over by Frandor. $35K for a Lancer? Sure it's nice but damn.

I'm not going to run right out and buy an SRT anything either. I guess I like the idea that it exists more than I actually like the vehicle itself. For people that need a fast-ass mini van. But my grown up side likes the practicality...

I still haven't forgiven Dodge for that Satan spawn Shelby Charger from nineteen aught screech.

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @MazdaEric: Is that why you're MazdaEric and not AcuraEric?

Mad_Science

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Ray Wert:At least have the decency to look like you may have to occasionally shave.

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> If you drive any car like a 17 year old you'll end up just as I did when I was 17 -

in my 2-week old Acura Integra...T-boned by a Dodge Ram.

Capt. Mazda Sisko

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> I can't understand it, but my wife, who is double some of y'all's ages, likes it.

Personally, I think it's one of the homelier vehicles MOPAR has made, and that's saying something.

I need to be on the lookout for a '67 300 convertible...that'd counteract a Caliber in the fleet.

Kelly

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> This car tempts me with a strong engine, and what seems to be ample space for a single adult. Nice. I can live with hard plastics if they clean up well.

HarleyDrifter

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> The new SRT4 just doesn't cut it. It comes close, damned close, to the raw awesomeness that was the previous car. But, in the effort to make it more civilized, they cut corners and compromised too much, imo.

The Caliber SRT4 should never have been built. Just because it was the only platform the SRT guys had to work with is not a good enough excuse. It made about as much sense as the SRT10 Ram, but with price targets to meet, too many compromises were made. The brake-LSD-wannabe is a perfect example.

I'm forced to admit that the MS3 is the better car out of the two. And once optioned up, let alone add on the ridiculous markups some dealers are charging, the Caliber sails past the MS3 in price.

toasteroven

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @mytdawg: Shit, was that me? Sorry, I'll try to keep the Evo under wraps next time.

Ray Wert

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Steel_ETC: Anything can be a dorkmobile with a dork behind the wheel. I live close to MSU so it's often a mid or even high end exotic 'round here. Nothing worse than having some kid younger than your kid pull up in a new Evo. Dang, did that come with your pull-ups?

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @danio3834: Also the Speed3 is a much, much, much, much, much nicer car.

Pete Gaines

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Mad_Science: @ϷЄαѣѲʆʯ Ȝ6Ȣ4: Youse guys flatter me. Not that I'm complaining.

I like it. I liked the SRT-4 Neon. I like the Cobalt SS. Put a stonkin' motor in a mediocre car and sell it cheap enough so people like me can use them to dust much more refined vehicles that have much nicer interiors.

You can sit back there at the light and enjoy your high tech Ipod whilst having your butt swaddled. I've got nowhere special to go but I'd like to get there quickly.

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Steel_ETC: I've experienced the same thing. Well, except it was a Magnum SRT8. With toddlers standing in the hatch, pointing at me as it went past. Then looking angry as I passed them.

My inner 17-year-old is alive and well.

Matt's inner 17-year-old, on the other hand, barely even has a layer of dust on it.

Stud Beefpile, sitting in for Deartháir

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> if parallel parking is part of your life?

you mean, if i don't live in sprawlburbia?

Unregular

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @gotsmart: Heated seats? That's some funny shit right there. I bought an '03 SRT-4 and didn't even get power rear windows.

sho220

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Mad_Science: GOtcha@danio3834: They feel nearly as fast and, I can tell you, the inside of a base 3 is a nicer place to be.

Matt Hardigree

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Ford needs to bring back the Focus wagon, and fill the snout with something fierce. I don't want to see them falling behind in the gawky testosterone wagon segment Dodge and Chevy (the HHR SS) have created for themselves.

For the record, I don't read healh labels, I don't watch my diet, and I'm not especially interested in refinement.

Maymar the technophobe

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @gotsmart: Speed3 is more costly and a tad slower, depends how highly you regard that Japanese aura

danio3834

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> It's definitely the best-looking Caliber (which isn't saying much). Just the subtle difference to the hood cutline alone makes the SRT-4 much more visually appealing than its lesser brethren.

Too bad it has an interior with some of the worst plastics i've ever seen, and no option for heated seats.

Anyone buying one of these over a Mazdaspeed 3 is, well, i don't know what the word for it is. Stupid?

gotsmart

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> A buddy just ordered one of these. Ill be sure to beat the shit out of it and report back.

danio3834

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Even though I'm not English, there is only one word that comes to mind when I see this car, and that word is "wanker".

dolo54

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Between this and the Nitro, I think they are pumping redneck hormones into the drinking water at Dodge.

This thing is like pure pointless machismo.

mackenzie

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Bumblebee: no photoshop, just gre(a)y backing to the writing.. hahah does make is look weird!!

om nom de plume

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> This is a yobbo's car, pure and simple - no offense to Mr. Hardigree's 17-year-old self, of course. I just hope he didn't drive it with his hat turned backwards.

I actually had a guy attempt to race me on the highway in one of these about a month ago. I was driving to the Detroit auto show in the ETC and I passed him, only to watch the SRT-4's teenage wanker owner blow by me on the right with his middle finger raised five seconds later. I caught up and passed him easily; he seemed disappointed when he realized that the Caliber's blocky shape makes accelerating beyond 120 mph nearly impossible.

Steel_ETC

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Matt Hardigree: The big picture that runs on the top-right of the main page for the site.

What it really is is the gray/black background behind the text obscuring the headlights.

Mad_Science

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Is 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT-4 Part Two going to involve a trip to the dealer because you wheel hopped so bad you broke a motor mount? Drive it like a 17 year old and it'll happen!

sho220

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @Bumblebee: ad for this post?

Matt Hardigree

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @mytdawg: christ that was an amazing comment!!!

om nom de plume

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @mytdawg: I'll go with COTD, right there.

Well put, Matt. I'm always pissed when cars (or other things, for that matter) aren't reviewed in the context of their purpose.

The purpose of this car is clearly to cause the confiscation of driver's licenses of 17-22 year old males. ...But only after a smoking a couple of Civics or 5.0s light-to-light.

Mad_Science

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> @jeremyc: I helped myself to some Gino's while I waited. I'm only human.

Matt Hardigree

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Don't feel bad too bad about that pothole. They're ridiculously bad this winter. That's the Shell station at Lincoln and Racine!

jeremyc

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Uh huh. But why photoshop out the headlights on the ad for this post?

Also: You're 24 and work at Jalopnik. I'm 28 and work here.

Conclusion: I hate you.

Bumblebee

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Would the universe collapse onto itself if your adult self met your kid self?

acarr260

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> Spectactularly done, young Matthew.

Pete Gaines

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, Part One]]> For all intents and purposes your adult self should never be consulted regarding vehicle purchases or breakfast cereal.

That is all.

mytdawg

]]>