Let's swing straight to the punchline. The Dodge Caliber 1.8 can be yours for £11,495. While I appreciate that this sort of denouement usually comes at the end of road tests such as these, I feel compelled to let you know the price because virtually every person I spoke to figured that this Dodge was at least £16,000 worth of car. With that sort of erroneous preconception usefully filed away, it's easy to see why you'd buy a £15,000 Focus or Astra over one of these. I would. Now that you know the asking price, the game could well swing in the favour of the big-hearted American.,

While Dodge like to stress this car's young, dynamic image, the opposite seems to be he case. Older buyers, attracted by its upright stance and keen value, are flocking to the Caliber. In a stRangely prescient press launch, Dodge chose to unveil the car in Pacha nightclub on the party island of Ibiza. Seeing a legion of grey-haired motoring journalists looking patently affronted by the sounds of drum and bass perhaps should have told the importers a thing or two. The Caliber is actually more Radio 4 than they might care to admit.

The shape is conspicuously divergent from the usual family hatch norm, with a sharply rising window line giving the Caliber a real wedge shape that tapers into some rather cubist tail light architecture. The bold wheelarches, huge grille with the traditional Dodge crosshairs and the in-your-face stance means that this is far from the usual rather apologetic and inoffensive hatchback. This car has a dose of attitude.

Quickly grabbing a set of keys to a test car, I realised with some horror that I'd chosen a car fitted with an optional Mopar styling kit that didn't do it too many favours, the bright blue plastics on the centre console resembling the sort of thing you'd buy for a mobile phone at a car boot sale. After sampling a standard car, I'd recommend that you keep your money in your pocket when it comes to options time. Otherwise things looked good. The interior quality was nothing to give Volkswagen a fit of anxiety but it's certainly a long way removed from the typical LAX hire car standard. An obviously Mercedes-sourced LCD display looked conspicuously slick, in much the same way that the BMW-sourced stereo systems rather stood out in the old Rover 75.

"The entry-level 1.8-litre Dodge Caliber costs less than some 1.4-litre Fiestas"

I'll level with you and state that the engine is no great shakes. On paper it looks to be the pick of the petrol-engined Range, its 2.0-litre sibling offering only six more horsepower than the 148bhp 1.8-litre four, which in any case is way more powerful than a 123bhp Focus 1.8 or a 125bhp Astra. The theme is repeated amongst 1.8-litre cars virtually across the board and this Caliber is even more powerful than the 2.0-litre engines fitted to the Renault Megane and Peugeot 307. So why the lack of enthusiasm? Well, for a start, it's not that quick. You'll need over 12 seconds to get to 60mph which isn't what you'd expect from a car with this amount of poke. A less powerful 2.0 16v Focus lops three seconds off that time and is more economical to boot.

The reason why the Dodge falls down despite its up-for-it engine lies in that perennial problem - weight. Even the entry-level Caliber weighs more than a fully-specced 2.5-litre Focus ST, so it's perhaps understandable that acceleration and fuel economy aren't going to be stellar. Dodge claims an average of 38.7mpg for the 1.8 on the combined cycle which isn't terrible but it's worth remembering that there's also a 2.0-litre diesel version which costs £2,000 more model for model, yet which is appreciably more fun to drive and which returns far better fuel figures, especially when you've got the car loaded with family and luggage. Just some food for thought.

But we're not here to talk about the diesel version. This 1.8-litre petrol car chugs out 174g/km of carbon dioxide per kilometre travelled and will run on to a maximum speed of 118mph. Perhaps more germane is an excellent tank Range of some 437 miles. On our test route, the fuel needle seemed glued to the top of the indicator, despite my best efforts with some rather idiosyncratic gear selection choices.

The 1.8-litre Range opens with the S, while the Plusher SE weighs in at £11,990. If you really want to get a lot of toys, you'll need to set aside £13,790 for the SXT Range topper. That for a car that features features like air conditioning, cruise control, 17-inch aluminium five-spoke wheels, leather upholstery, tyre-pressure monitoring and a Chill Zone beverage cooler. If you're feeling guilty and feel obliged to give your impoverished Dodge dealer a little more, I can heartily recommend the optional MusicGate Power Group system. This adds a leather-trimmed steering wheel with audio controls and a nine-speaker Boston Acoustics premium sound set-up. Best of all, there's a pair of speakers that swing down from the tailgate to face rearward. The Archers never sounded so punchy. Rather oddly, Dodge has hobbled this car's chances by pricing it exactly the same as the 2.0-litre car which also comes with a CVT gearbox. I can't see the logic either.

So, we have a very good value model that's not worth buying in SXT trim, the car that leverages the Caliber's equipment count most convincingly. Therefore the best model remains the entry-level S. I'm just counting down the days until that Motability allowance is all mine.

TOP 2 CALIBER DEALS

The results below show the top CALIBER deals on buyacar

	Dodge Caliber 1.8 SE 5dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £256	Saving £579	Price £12,621
	Dodge Caliber 1.8 SXT 5dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £283	Saving £702	Price £13,848

typical 12.40% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000