Archive for the ‘Caliber’ Category

For 2010, Chrysler has slimmed down the choices on its Dodge Caliber hatchback and spiffed up the interior, to make the car more competitive with the best of its class. It now offers just two engines and two transmissions, slightly improving the gas mileage.

We've never rated the Caliber particularly high among compact cars, due to its below-par fuel efficiency and a grim, dismal, hard-plastic interior. The revised 2010 Dodge Caliber addresses both those complaints.

The base engine is now the 2.0-liter four, replacing a previous 1.8-liter option, with either a five-speed manual gearbox or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). EPA...

Want American-made and fuel-efficient? A small car, too? You don't have many choices.

Shoppers are valuing fuel efficiency more than before, especially now that they might be able to take advantage of a $4,500 Cash-for-Clunkers incentive. While there are plenty of stars-and-stripes-waving larger vehicles, the list of smaller, frugal American-made cars is very limited.

And at a time when you're likely wondering how you can do your part to support the economy—whether locally or nationally—chances are the dealership salesperson will be of little help to some nagging shopping questions like "Where is this car built?"

Luckily, you'll find...

If you want to get an automatic transmission—as most car shoppers prefer—on a Nissan, you'll most likely end up with a CVT. That's, to put it as simply as possible, a belt-and-pulley system rather than gears and hydraulics.

Nissan has just announced that the CVT it uses across most of its lineup in place of conventional automatic transmissions will soon get some important drivability and performance improvements.

Relative to the current-generation CVTs that are available in most of Nissan's car and crossover lineup, including the 2009 Nissan Cube, plus the Nissan Sentra, Rogue, Altima, Murano, Maxima, and some Versas, the new transmission...