Mac3150

I'm not missing the point. My first statement was I wanted to like this car but the interior is crap for a $25,000+ car.

It doesn't matter what the base price of the car is. Your payments aren't based on $14,000 are they, NO, if you pay $25-$28,000 for a car, the interior should not be a plastic piece of crap like the Caliber is.

After you put an exhaust, headers, etc., on this car as most are talking to improve performance even more, you will end up spending another $3,000 easy and now you've spent between $28-31,000 for a Dodge Caliber that might have 330hp and run pretty quick but it's still a Dodge Caliber. For that kind of money you could buy a WRX STi or even a Pontiac G8 and you will have gotten much more for your money.

You sound like the the extras that they put on the car are custom performance parts. With all the suspension modifications they put on it, it still doesn't handle that good because it's top heavy and putting 19's on it simply to fill the wheel wells wasn't the best choice either. Have fun spending over a grand for tires every 15-20000 miles. Read the reviews on this car they are fair at best and most everyone who wanted to like this car states Chrysler missed the boat on it. They could have refined this car very easily and they chose to put out an ok at best product.

Again I wanted to like this car. It looks great, has great power and good gas mileage but simply is not worth the price compared to other cars out there.

GreaseMonkey

Yes, you are still missing the point. It's a cheap entry level car. That's all it is. That's what the unibody and interior are. The price is the result of everything else. You're still missing the point. You're looking solely at the price, and not what the car IS. The interior is base model because that's the car it comes out of. Dodge doesn't build a car like this so people can get their jollies off on a feminine metrosexual interior.

Real car people don't give a shit about interiors, as long as they work. I prefer function over style, and the interior of this car has much more function than style. Everything is laid out where it should be, easy to use, and the gauges are nice. I could care less about having velvety soft touch materials on my dash.

I can't believe your honestly taking magazines that get paid with advertising dollars from manufacturers opinions to heart. So many of these damn magazines will complain that a Hummer H1 doesn't have enough cargo room. They put every vehicle on the same playing field and that just doesn't work. Different strokes for different folks.
Truth is, I own the car and I don't need a bunch of armchair auto queers to review my car for me. I can go out and make my own reviews and create my own opinions. I pity those who can't.

Several other independent reviewers that don't get swayed by advertising money love the car.

This car doesn't handle good? Are you kidding me?
For the tires, I run 35 psi and have maybe a 32nd off the tread, and I'm at 9,000 miles.

Please list other cars at $25,000 that have what the CSRT-4 does.
If the interior is the only gripe for the car, go buy an import and enjoy your Starbuck's.

__________________
'08 Caliber SRT-4
Motorcycle: A fun way to acheive 50 mpg without looking like a queer in a hybrid.

frankrizzo81

Could someone please find a Mazda forum for this guy to post on I literally got a headache reading this guys post bashing in my obviously biased opinion the best car out there for the money all the plastic is fine for me when everything becomes a blur when I mash the gas all else is meaningless so please find a MS3 forum because you are obviously in the wrong place and by the way these are performance cars so sticking to what these cars are made for I have yet to see a MS3 beat me on the street so enjoy your lovely interior when your in my rearview.

HIGHBRED8

a g8? blah, and from a roll this car pulls a sti stock, with 3k in it it would destroy one.

still a caliber, lol anyone here from the nsrt days?

look at the internals of this engine, the tranny, and everything drive train on this car. its already proven to over 400hp without fail. whats a ms3 fail at, i think the norma ive seen is 350ish. the suspension might not be as good as some of the others but its a hell of a lot better then any other caliber. srt's are always built from a base model and improved upon. so yes this was a regular caliber that they turned into an srt. no your not paying based off of 14k because all the other shit on this car is worth 10k easy.

read the reviews? who cares what they say. they also said the car ran 1/4 miles in 14.4 and 6.x 0-60. while most of us have gotten 14.0 and all the way down to a 13.8. the reviews didnt mention that though the interior of a ms3 might be marginally better that the csrt's engine and power train are far superior than it did they? have you ever read a c&d caparo that included a bmw? the bmw always wins, ask yourself why. car companies pay tons of money to these mags and get preference for it. lets not bench race, thats just gey.

what other cars in its class? the ms3, the gti, the cobalt ss, and thats about it. the ms3 is a nice car, but on avg costs a little bit more than the csrt, and again t might handle better and have a marginally nicer interior it it looks plain, and is no where near a csrt's potential in the hp/trq department. the vw you might might be best suited in. it has a nice interior, plaid seats, and 85hp less than a csrt and in a year will have gotten left in the dust by the other cars in this class. the cobalt, probably a decent car, too bad it looks like a rental with a big wing. the csrt is not the best in every area. but if you want a tuner car, its gonna be at the top of the pack just like the nsrt was. i mean show me a competitor that has an 11 sec car already?

but seriously, go check out the vw youll love the plaid. itll go great with that sweater.

ianmcp

lol i leave for 5 min and i have all this wonderful stuff to read...

first off, to rizzo, go ahead and bash the MS3 all you want, im not gonna get into you with that. sometimes it's pointless to try and refute fanboi smack with real logic. that said, everyone gets their specific car for different reasons... i liked the interior and seats in the MS3 a lot more than the dodge, as well as a couple other things, thus i drive a mazda now. as far as you blowing the doors off of every MS3 you've seen, its a driver's race. with the cars as evenly matched as they are in acceleration, just about every time those 2 cars go head to head its gonna be the driver who wins, not the car that wins the race.

second, greasemonkey is right. each car targets a certain audience, and you can not expect to get everything for nothing. with the srt4, dodge has compromised lush interior so that they could get a beastly car out the door for under $25k. it IS essentially an economy car, because of its roots, and just because it costs $25k doesnt mean you can dismiss it as one. its a beefed up econohatch, so unless they bumped the cost up, you can't possibly get a car like that with the amenities you want. other companies have decided to spend a little more attention to the interior and as a result had to sacrifice elsewhere to keep prices comparable.

long story short: if you want a quick turbo hatch in the $25k range that has a really nice interior, go get a volvo C30 stripped of options.

your sacrifice: over 50 hp less than the dodge.

my final point: if you only want to pay $25k, you can't have everything. horsepower, handling, amenities, reliability... you just gotta figure out what's most important for your dollar, and get it. complaining won't get you a dodge with fewer rattles and less plastic in it.

frankrizzo81

I am sorry I must have missed your real logic in my fanboy mind which was? Oh yeah you're paying $25000 for a car that underneath it all it is still a dodge caliber with a crappy interior so it makes more sense to pay $30,000+ for a MS3 with a great interior? Also if you want a quick car with a hatch get a Volvo STRIPPED of options for $25,000 with a nice interior and more like 60hp less that seems like real logic to me I don't know what I was thinking I apologize Ian.

ianmcp

if someone payed $30k for their MS3, then that's a complete joke. i dont know where you're getting your info, but the MS3 retails for pretty much the exact same price as your caliber. my 08 GT was just over $25k out the door, TTL and everything included. so inform me who is paying $30,000 for theirs so i can laugh at them too, because that's just ridiculous.

as for the volvo comment, that was for our sweater-wearing friend, had nothing to do with you. he seems to be obsessed with his interior quality, so something along those lines would seem like a pretty good option for himself.

as for the fanboy comment, anyone who gives their car unrelenting praise and everyone else's car is a joke in their mind, thats a fanboy. im not refuting that you have beaten any MS3's you've seen on the road. im saying that if you think it's because your car is so superior to the MS3, you're mistaken. stock for stock, its pretty much 90% a driver's race. whoever can launch their car better and throws better shifts will usually walk away with that one.

you'll never see me trashing a CSRT4 or any other car without due reason. its ignorant.

GreaseMonkey

I'm with ya on this one.

__________________
'08 Caliber SRT-4
Motorcycle: A fun way to acheive 50 mpg without looking like a queer in a hybrid.

DRHEMI

I think some people are getting a little too emotional and butt hurt in this thread I swear....

First off, mac, you make it seem like the interior of the CSRT4 is down right crap. It isnt sorry to break it to you the MS3 interior isnt that much better in my opinion, and if you look at it isnt the MS3 interior almost the EXACT same interior in a regular mazda 3? So much for a 25,000 dollar interior.

I personally like the CSRT4 interior (and no I dont own a CSRT4), Im still in the boat on what car I will be buying. Second for a guy who drives a 30,000 dollar car MSRP you really cant be comparing about interiors, because your cars interior for that price range lacks completely. For a few thousand more then an SER Altima you could have gotten a BMW 125I/135I, EVO X, STI, 350z, Infinity G series all for a little more then what the SER sells for. Now compared to those cars you car would have a "crappy" interior as well. For the money the only reason you would buy a Altima SER is because its a Nissan. BMWs have better interior, better handling, better performance, and its a BMW.

So now I ask you why did you buy a 30,000 dollar car with a 20,000 dollar interior?? I mean dont get me wrong, I dont say any of this to get your undies in a bunch. Im trying to help you put into perspective, it sounds like you already have Dodge at a lower standard by your posts, so why even look at the CSRT4? YOU KNOW you didnt like their interiors so why hold it in consideration when looking at a car designed for something else?

Is it just me or does every say the car is 25,000 dollars last I checked its 22,000 dollar car. For 22,000 dollars you get a turbo'd 4 cylinder that makes over 250HP to the wheels bonestock, (they didnt slap 19 inch wheels on there to make it fit the wheel well) the wheels are so it clears the brake rotors, if you havent forgotten straightline isnt everything the bigger brakes help it on the track.

Dont like the way the interior is? Then buy a GTI, which has a better interior but is slower then the CSRT4, you make compromises at this price range your not going to get everything you want out a 25,000 dollar car, you make it sound like 25,000 is a lot of money for a performance vehicle which sorry it isnt even your 30,000 SER performs on the same level as the CSRT4 and MS3 running in the 14s with average drivers for 30,000 dollars you better get something more or it wouldnt be worth it now would it.

ianmcp

thanks grease.

rizzo, not trying to pick a fight here or anything, just voicing my opinion and trying to shed some light on something i thought was wrong. i realize im obviously in the minority here as an MS3 owner, but i try not to let that influence my reasoning behind the things i say.

drhemi, you're right, last i knew they both are priced under $23k, but for the sake of comparison the difference between a MS3 and CSRT4 is usually negligible, and by the time you get out the door with them, its usually closer to a $25k price tag anyway, depending on options, and your state's taxes and such.