Dodge kills Caliber SRT4

The Caliber SRT4: Dodge's fastest small car is dead.

Dodge is dropping its fastest, most powerful small car for the 2010 model year. The Dodge Caliber SRT4 -- a turbocharged, muscle-bound version of the Caliber -- is being discontinued.

"The Dodge Caliber SRT4 was planned for a limited production run in the highly competitive sport compact market segment," Dodge said in a statement.

Dodge did not provide information on the number of Caliber SRT4s sold since the vehicle was introduced in late 2007.

The Caliber SRT4 was Dodge's attempt to add a little muscle-car panache to its smallest car. It was powered by a 285-hp turbocharged version of the inline four-cylinder engine built at the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance factory in Dundee, Mich., operated jointly with Hyundai and Mitsubishi. The six-speed manual transmission was supplied by Getrag, of Germany.

Chrysler's SRT (Street and Racing Technology) group now has five vehicles for 2010: the Chrysler 300C SRT8; the Dodge Charger SRT8, Challenger SRT8 and Viper SRT10; and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

Dodge kills the Caliber SRT4

Dodge is dropping its fastest, most powerful small car for the 2010 model year. The Dodge Caliber SRT4--a turbocharged, muscle-bound version of the Caliber--is being discontinued.

"The Dodge Caliber SRT4 was planned for a limited production run in the highly competitive sport compact market segment," Dodge said in a statement.

Dodge did not provide information on the number of Caliber SRT4s sold since the vehicle was introduced in late 2007.

The Caliber SRT4 was Dodge's attempt to add a little muscle-car panache to its smallest car. It was powered by a 285-hp turbocharged version of the inline four-cylinder engine built at the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance factory in Dundee, Mich., operated jointly with Hyundai and Mitsubishi. The six-speed manual transmission was supplied by Getrag, of Germany.

Chrysler's SRT (Street and Racing Technology) group now has five vehicles for 2010: the Chrysler 300C SRT8; the Dodge Charger SRT8, Challenger SRT8 and Viper SRT10; and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

285 HP Dodge Caliber SRT4 For $16,769, $10K Off MSRP

Proving the Carpocalypse isn't all bad, CarMax is selling a new 285 HP car equipped with a six-speed manual transmission for $16,769, or about $10K off the MSRP. The catch? It's a Dodge Caliber.

If you drive on down to the LAX CarMax in Inglewood, California you can pick yourself up a brand new 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4 for the low price of $16,769 or about $10,000 off the MSRP of a comparably-equipped SRT4. For this low price, less than the MSRP of the base model Caliber, you get a turbocharged little monster capable of an electronically (and aerodynamically) limited 155 MPH top speed, a 0-60 jog in the low 6's and a quarter-mile time of 14.5 seconds.

Although we weren't exceptionally fond of the car when we reviewed it, we came away impressed with the car's gobs of available power and crisp gearbox. We called the car a "decent value" when it was above $20,000. For less than $17,000 this is an incredible amount of horsepower for incredibly little money.

CarMax currently offers new cars at five locations in the US, but this is the best deal we could find at any of the new vehicle locations. And before you ask, you can't get the cars transferred to your local CarMax. But at this price, grab a one-way ticket to LAX.