Am I the only one here?

[iTurbo]

Was just wondering if I am the only one here with a Caliber SRT-4? Seems unfortunate that the "old-skool" crowd never caught on with this car at all. I've owned this car for a little over two years now and I gotta say I love the damn thing. My only gripes so far are the lack of rear view visability and no USB or iPod connectivity. Other than that, this thing is a blast!! I guess I'm a little surprised that the 2.2/2.5 crowd gives the car such a bad rap but I gotta say I love this thing! It is seriously the fastest car I have ever driven. That may sound a little wierd but compared to my old turbo dodges it is seriously better in every way (except for rear view visability).

So far the only mods I have done as far as performance is the Mopar Stage I ECU. It helped a lot, especially with regards the the throttle response which sucks big time (stock) thanks to the drive-by-wire bullshit. I have been thinking of getting the new RealTune "MS1K" (Mopar Stage 1 Killer) tune though. That is supposed to help out a lot as far as t he throttle respone, even more the the Mopar S1 ECU. Other than that, I'm not sure I want to do anything else to the car. I thought of getting a high flow downpipe from NeedsWings or RealTune but I gotta admit I really like having a quiet car for once! All of my older turbo mopars have 3" exhaust systems and this CSRT with stock exhaust is faster than all of them! It's just not right, hence my decision to go 16v with the fleet. I mean, I buy this CSRT and right off the bat it's way faster than any of my old skool turbo-mopars despite all that I have done for them; it's just not right dammit! I mean seriously I can only hope that a TIII in my Omni GLH will keep up with the damn thing!!!

[BadAssPerformance]

They are nice cars, i have seen a couple on here?

[boost geek]

They'll catch on when they hit the junk yard. Newer cars are too much $$$ to mess around with and blow up.

[contraption22]

Weren't there less than 2000 of them sold? Rarity might be a reason. Also a completely new engine family and lack of aftermarket support and limited DIY upgrade ability. Replacement tires cost more than some of us wrapped up in entire project cars.

I sat in one at the dealership back in the day. Loved the seats. Didn't like the shifter or the overall looks of it. The sticker price didn't help matters, as there was a slightly used Magnum R/T on the lot for less money.

[iTurbo]

Yeah, I can see that as far as warranty goes. I bought the extended 7/70 warranty since the Lifetime Powertrain Warranty wasn't available for the SRT cars. So far I have only had to bring it in for warranty work for:

1. Control arm bolts. Everytime I hit the gas at full torque it would clunk loudly! Or if I hit even a mild pothole! I brought it in to the local dealership at 8AM and they found a TSB regarding the issue and had it fixed by by lunch break. Never heard it since.

2. Black-out tape on door pillars. Only the CSRT Calibers got the blackout tape and mine started wrinkling/chipping because they bunched up at the corners of the pillar. The local dealership had it fixed in no time with new black out tape and so far it's been fine.

3. Brakes pulsating. I had a problem with the brakes pulsating a few thousand miles after I got the car. Found out the front brake rotors were slightly out of spec so I had the local dealership resurface them and they have been great so far.

I gotta admit though, I only have about 11k miles on the car since buying it two years ago. It's pretty much pleasure vehicle only and I don't dare deliver pizza in it. That's what my Regal and Shelby Lancer are for!! Haha. No wonder I'm building a 2.5L TIII for the SL and 2.2L TIII for the Omni, they gotta show the Caliber who's boss!!! But I don't think a stock TIII turbo is gonna cut it!

[glhs727]

Our caliber srt-4 has 50K on it, and still running great!........

[Keito]

I really liked the car when it came out and thought about selling my SRT-4 Neon to get one, but I couldn't
justify selling my car that was paid off and had 15,000 miles on it to get a new car payment.
Today it sits in the garage, sun is shining and I don't even have insurance on it yet, now has 18,000 miles.

[Mopar318]

Nice cars, but I here they don't hold up well to lots of boost like their older iron block ancestors. Ive seen a few that have cracked the blocks.

[ScottD]

I can't attest to the accuracy of these numbers but they probably present a reasonably accurate snapshot of how limited the production was.

http://homepage.mac.com/mouser/CSRT4R/Caliber_SRT4_Registry/CSRT4R.html

I am in the same boat as Keito, I drove a new one and while I really liked it, at the time (2008) there was no blue CSRT-4 available and my NSRT-4 had under 20k on it.

[contraption22]

I will say, that my attitude towards it has softened. Especially since I really miss having a hatchback daily driver. Especially lately.

[Keito]

Wow, I remember when you had nothing good to say about it!

[89FerrariShelby]

Had a "regular" version for a rental car when traveling for work one time. Lack of visibility was a killer for me. I would never drive a car that I dont feel like i have damn close to 360 degree visibility, and that think i felt like i had maybe 180.

and its not very good looking imo....you can make anything go fast...but there's only so much you can do about appearance on any given car....

glad you're enjoying it, at the end of the day, that's what's most important

[Vigo]

I may be taking a shot in the dark here but i think the lack of AWD curtailed the customer base by a lot.

[dodgeshadowchik]

They'll catch on when they hit the junk yard. Newer cars are too much $$$ to mess around with and blow up.

+1 This is turbo-mopar, after all. I think most of the people here dislike car payments. ;)

---------- Post added at 11:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 AM ----------


I may be taking a shot in the dark here but i think the lack of AWD curtailed the customer base by a lot.

This too.. With the EVO and WRX... it seems that they should've offered an AWD version. They had one on the R/T, so I don't think it would've been that far fetched. Also, these newer cars and all the electronic garbage on them make them less user-friendly to modify and work on. See above comment about $$

[Vigo]

Again im not certain on this but i think it was originally considered and tested as AWD but they were breaking things and caught a case of the WAAAAAAAAs and gave up instead of making it work.

[iTurbo]

As far as I know, the other Calibers that were AWD equipped could only come with the dreaded CVT transaxle, and that would have never held up to the 2.4L Turbo. I doubt they would have even bothered testing that setup in the CSRT.

Also, I heard they were originally going to come with the Quaife LSD like the NSRTs did, but the bean counters decided it was better to go with an electronic traction control system. So far I think it actually works quite well and it keeps the cars tires from spinning out of control through the gear. You can turn it 'off', and the car is more fun to drive but you burn up the tires a lot more then.

Actually, I don't mind the lack of a real LSD. There are videos on YouTube of Neil Emiro's Caliber that he has installed his own traction control system and he was cutting very consistent mid-to-high 5 second 0-60 MPH times measuring with the built in performance computer in the cluster.

[ScottD]

I will say, that my attitude towards it has softened. Especially since I really miss having a hatchback daily driver. Especially lately.

Two words my friend - Turismo 2.2!

[Juggy]

my buddy dynoed 332whp and 353? tq on 18 psi with a mopar stage 1.5 (test computer?)
only mod was the computer and 3" from turbo back. car ran 13.0 @ 112 with 2.1 60 footers....

mary beth has a beautiful picture of it smoking the tires up at SDAC 15 (the pic made it into a magazine......)
i got the video somewhere too.....the car was still filled with smoke when we opned the hatch 6-7 hours later to get some things out of the car :lol:

[135sohc]

Thought I spotted one yesterday. Did they also come in black or just that orange color ?

[iTurbo]

I think I remember seeing that one. Was it black? Somebody should post up a pic of that.

Would like to mod my CSRT further, but I got too many things going on so I am not letting myself buy anything for it until I bring my older cars back to life with TIII transplants. As much as I love the car, I would like nothing more than to put the hurt on it with my Shelby Lancer and the world will be a little more right.

---------- Post added at 09:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 AM ----------


Thought I spotted one yesterday. Did they also come in black or just that orange color ?

You could get them in orange, red, black, silver, and blue. Orange was '08-only and blue was '09-only though. I'd post a pic of my car but my site (turbosedan.com) is down.

[135sohc]

Ok so then it most likely was one. I also see an orange one around here every so often so they are out there.

[Juggy]

Ok so then it most likely was one. I also see an orange one around here every so often so they are out there.

black, orange, silver and red are the colors they came in. there *may* have been a blue one too, but i dont recall ever seeing one....

[rich tideswell]

Deep Water Blue

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/cto/2398721925.html

[JamesL]

I drive my 2008 everyday 60+ miles and it now has 50K+ miles. Over all I like the car. Early on I put a coil over setup on it that improved the launch and handling considerably. I ended up taking it off because the sway bar fit was so tight it clunked and knocked around if you ran over a pebble. It was worse when turning up an inclined drive like the parking garage at work and forget about speed bumps. Nothing I hate worse then a car with a clunking suspension, especially a fairly new car. It busted the end link connection tab on one of the struts and bent the other. I was looking at designing something to fix that but just decided to go back to stock. Wow, what a difference. Massive tire spin, torque steer, and body roll. Actually in stock form their not that bad but I was definitely spoiled by the after market setup. I’m just now used to it again. Ours is a Stage 1, with an AGP actuator, custom charge pipe, Turbo XS BOV and three inch turbo back. If you want any of these parts, call Cindy at the shop 281-288-4411. It holds a steady 16psi which is up considerably over stock. Performance wise, my only complaints are A/F related. At part throttle boost, say heading up an entrance ramp in third gear I’m seeing 14.5 on the wideband at 12-15 psi and 3500-4000 rpm. If I don’t jump on it or shift, I can feel the flat/lean spot in the pedal. And at WOT, 5th or 6th gear, 10.2. A/F. I have not really invested any time to doing anything about it. Perhaps with a simple map clamp / fuel controller there’s a lot of room for improvement. When I first got it, I played with it a little on the dyno but, I decided I wanted a car that was mostly OEM upgrades and it became apparent that the car was going to be a very limited run. I am still a little surprised that Mopar hasn’t released some revision for the S1 or a S2 for the car to fix that AF. With a few tweaks, I think there’s another 20 hp there.


http://youtu.be/qvjeAUw2qj8

[tazaroo]

Iturbo,

I love both my Csrt4 and my older td's. My Csrt4 is stock except for MS1 and is a nice, very fast daily driver for me. Compared to my older cars, its quiet, much more refined and just pleasant to drive. That being said, there is something to getting these older td's running fast. I'm sinking a lot of money in my Spirit rt right now for a rebuild. I almost let my car go because more money in it is not justified, but I just could'nt do it.
As fast as my CSRT4 is, my Spirit rt is faster when it runs right. Of course it has been modified with gt30 turbo, intercooler and associated mods. Running 20lbs in that setup will make a t3 run like a raped ape. Do a few mods like that to your tIII's and you will catch and pass your caliber if its remains mostly stock. Don't race often but I did blow away a srt4 with my spirit rt causing them unbelief.

Of course, throw on a ms1k, rtstb or other turbo, downpipe, injectors with a fic on your CSRT4 and you will be at 400 or more whp and from what I've heard the stock block and internals hold up fine till about 25+ boost anyway. I probably won't mod mine for a while except maybe ms1k. These old school td's are all I can handle budget wise to keep them going that for sure. LOL

[strang3majik]

I test drove one and fell in love with it. Scared the crap out of the salesman too with the whole tire spinnage thing...haha.

But, I couldn't justify the 18k they wanted when I could get the NSRT for around 7k. Now, that car only had 5000 miles on it and this is just last summer, but, still.

I did like them for the fact they remind me a lot of the Omnis, though. They're ugly and fast...a very amusing combination :)

[Orangetona]

2. Black-out tape on door pillars. Only the CSRT Calibers got the blackout tape and mine started wrinkling/chipping because they bunched up at the corners of the pillar. The local dealership had it fixed in no time with new black out tape and so far it's been fine.

Actually we have an 08 R/T AWD and it has this too. Its also wrinkling.

---------- Post added at 09:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 AM ----------


I may be taking a shot in the dark here but i think the lack of AWD curtailed the customer base by a lot.

We have one? Or do you mean the fact that there arent many?

[contraption22]

We have one? Or do you mean the fact that there arent many?

AWD was never available on the Caliber SRT-4.

[Orangetona]

Ohhhh I gotcha, sorry I thought he meant as a whole. LOL...

[iTurbo]

Iturbo,

I love both my Csrt4 and my older td's. My Csrt4 is stock except for MS1 and is a nice, very fast daily driver for me. Compared to my older cars, its quiet, much more refined and just pleasant to drive. That being said, there is something to getting these older td's running fast. I'm sinking a lot of money in my Spirit rt right now for a rebuild. I almost let my car go because more money in it is not justified, but I just could'nt do it.
As fast as my CSRT4 is, my Spirit rt is faster when it runs right. Of course it has been modified with gt30 turbo, intercooler and associated mods. Running 20lbs in that setup will make a t3 run like a raped ape. Do a few mods like that to your tIII's and you will catch and pass your caliber if its remains mostly stock. Don't race often but I did blow away a srt4 with my spirit rt causing them unbelief.

Of course, throw on a ms1k, rtstb or other turbo, downpipe, injectors with a fic on your CSRT4 and you will be at 400 or more whp and from what I've heard the stock block and internals hold up fine till about 25+ boost anyway. I probably won't mod mine for a while except maybe ms1k. These old school td's are all I can handle budget wise to keep them going that for sure. LOL

My car only has MS1 as well at the moment. Sounds like our cars are pretty much the same; isn't yours orange as well? I would have to agree 100% with your comparison of between the CSRT and the older turbo mopars I have. It sure is nice to have a quiet car and it is so much nicer to cruise around in. I gotta admit my SL will out handle it any day of the week, but it can be a bit much to drive everyday. I have a couple Spirit R/Ts too...but they are both waiting for new drivetrains which I'm building at the moment. Gonna start them off with stock turbo so it looks like my CSRT is going to be king of the hill until I get either my CSX or GLH done and then it will be game over (yay!)

Don't get me wrong, I love my CSRT, but I've always thought it's just not right that the car blows away my older stuff with nothing but MS1. Sounds funny but it's only strengthened my resolve to make my older turbo mopars kick it's ---. I may have to get the RealTune MS1K though.....the reviews are really good and I'm pretty much sold on it considering Dave at B&G Chrysler is behind it.

[Force Fed Mopar]

20+ years newer w/ all of Chrysler turbo experience behind it, I would hope they are faster than an 8v :D There is an orange one around here I've been trying to get a run with, has loud a$$ BOV on it :)

[iTurbo]

Haha good point. What do I gotta do to make the old cars catch up?

Funny you mention the CSRT with loud BOV..... I seriously can't BUY a race in my CSRT. I've often thought the car could use an RFL bark.

[Force Fed Mopar]

Haha good point. What do I gotta do to make the old cars catch up?



I think you're on the right path w/ the 16v Dohc idea :thumb:

[tazaroo]

My Csrt4 is red actually and I couldn't resit buying it during Chryslers Fire Sale. I don't regret it one bit but.... I can't wait to get my rt back on the road took keep it in line LOL.

[Kimonoskunk]

Thought I spotted one yesterday. Did they also come in black or just that orange color ?

There are 2 here in town, one silver and one black. I'd say the silver looks better.
But then I did also see a bright red, and blue one in Delaware County, Pa. :thumb:

I do like the look of the CSRT4's a lot, I would not mind having one at my home to compliment my 89 Turbo Mini coming this week. (Heeeee) But I might have to wait a LONG Time for that to happen, as they are still quite expensive. :(

I did rent one a year ago when I got my first Mini, rented one from town here to Gettysburg, Pa, and the CVT Trans was HORRIBLE gas mileage-wise. :mad: I mean the car had NO guts to it whatsoever. It was because the CVT made the engine race, and the car felt like it was over-revving itself to death. :confused:

I would consider a CSRT4, BUT ONLY if it had the manual transmission. :D

bows,
Kimmyskunk

[Mopar318]

There are 2 here in town, one silver and one black. I'd say the silver looks better.
But then I did also see a bright red, and blue one in Delaware County, Pa. :thumb:

I do like the look of the CSRT4's a lot, I would not mind having one at my home to compliment my 89 Turbo Mini coming this week. (Heeeee) But I might have to wait a LONG Time for that to happen, as they are still quite expensive. :(

I did rent one a year ago when I got my first Mini, rented one from town here to Gettysburg, Pa, and the CVT Trans was HORRIBLE gas mileage-wise. :mad: I mean the car had NO guts to it whatsoever. It was because the CVT made the engine race, and the car felt like it was over-revving itself to death. :confused:

I would consider a CSRT4, BUT ONLY if it had the manual transmission. :D

bows,
Kimmyskunk

Not too difficult since all of the NSRT4's and CSRT4's have manual trans.

[daytonaracer90x]

Hell i 've been toying with the idea of finding a CSRT4 in a junk yard and putting that engine in my 90 tona :) stock 285 hp and a hell of a lot lighter too !! just gotta find one . .

[shelbydave]

I haven't been around for a while, but I still have mine, and love it. As far as fast, its a lot FASTER than my SC, but nowhere as quick..

[iTurbo]

I still have mine too. I just hit 15k miles yesterday. Did oil change #4 and rotated the tires again. The F1 tires seems to be wearing very well and have lots of life yet. That's nice because I know replacement tires are going to be expensive on this car. They do seem like a good quality tire though and I give some credit to the ESC function for letting them last longer.


So far all I have on the car is still just Mopar Stage I ecu. While I was under the car yesterday I was looking at the downpipe and noticing how easy it would be to swap that out. Would love to get more toys for the CSRT but my 'old' turbo mopars are still taking over here. Really wanting the Needswings DP and intake but it will just have to wait until the Omni can move under it's own power again.

[RoadWarrior222]

Hmmm never thought about tires and ESC, a thought occurs now though, wonder if it will have people driving their tires down to the belts, because it just covers up loss of grip.

[shelbydave]

I think he meant that the esc helps perserve tread, but you got a point.

[capev86]

Am I the only one here?

Do you want the truth or a little white lie?!!!

i was vaguely interested when they were first introduced. then i heard that the 2.4 in them was not the fabulous DODGE 2.4 as seen in the Neon SRT-4 and PT Cruiser, but instead that Hyundai "world engine" piece of @%$&*# crap!! I refuse to ever drive a hyundai, kia, daweoo, etc unless i'm in a demo derby! add to the fact that the car is kinda heavy, gas mileage suffers as a result and it looks like they took a Durango and sucked the "TRUCK" out of it!!!

[shelbydave]

Do you want the truth or a little white lie?!!!

i was vaguely interested when they were first introduced. then i heard that the 2.4 in them was not the fabulous DODGE 2.4 as seen in the Neon SRT-4 and PT Cruiser, but instead that Hyundai "world engine" piece of @%$&*# crap!! I refuse to ever drive a hyundai, kia, daweoo, etc unless i'm in a demo derby! add to the fact that the car is kinda heavy, gas mileage suffers as a result and it looks like they took a Durango and sucked the "TRUCK" out of it!!!funny... I never liked the Neon... Probably because most of my exposure was 1st gen. Always thought of it as a chick mobile

[Punish'nRice]

I have a '08 Brilliant Black CSRT4. Bought her new. I'm new to the turbo-mopar forum but I belong to the calibersrt4.net forum (name is the same). Is any of you guys/girls members on there too.

iTurbo you really should get the MS1K flash. It's an awesome flash. I had it for a while. Best mod I ever did to my car. I sold it to help with bills.

I had a good bit done to my csrt4. MS1K, 1 step colder plugs, Needswings o2 housing, modded dp w/pipe through 2nd cat, hushpower muffler, exhaust depot short ram, bwoody check valve, agp catch can, breather catch can, Mopar blow off plate, my best time in 1/4 was a 13.67 @ 105.90, I was having problems with traction. She was dynoed at: 323.8 whp & 353.9 ft.

I had some cosmetics too.
Pic of car
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i464/PunishnRice/Car%20Thread/DSC02427.jpg
Car was dropped on road magnet drag springs with Realtune camber arms. CBD c/f hood.
Engine bay pic
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i464/PunishnRice/Car%20Thread/DSC02500.jpg

I also have;
'86 GLHT
'06 Pt Cruiser GT

[Keito]

Pics of the GLHT?

[Punish'nRice]

Pics of the GLHT?

Here's one I need to upload more from computer later.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i464/PunishnRice/GLH001-1.jpg

---------- Post added at 10:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 AM ----------

Here's one of Pt Cruiser GT convertible
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i464/PunishnRice/Mis%20Pics/DSC02218.jpg

[capev86]

funny... I never liked the Neon... Probably because most of my exposure was 1st gen. Always thought of it as a chick mobile

so was the A/C Ace until Shelby came along. heck, check out Monster Miata and you will see how ungirly a girl's car can be. actually i always thought they were more a unisex car. girly cars for me would be the jetta and civic. the neon had far better handling and performance than a domestic economy car would be expected to deliver. it was a worthy successor to the K body / A body legacy. only complaint i had about the neon was the tiny gas tank and the fact that they never offered the 2.4 n/a motor in them (like the 2.5 in the dodge aries). the srt-4 was the best looking but the first gen cars were lighter and didn't have frames around the door glass. my buddy had a 96 Expresso dohc/5spd followed by an '03 Srt-4 so i had some exposure to them. i prefer the old school fwd's and it is an insult to see a Hyundai power plant in a Chrysler product. that alone will keep me from ever buying one. if i didn't have my K wagon already, i'd consider the uber expensive, gas guzzling magnum as the only other way to get a true mopar wagon.