IF YOU feel the current crop of family hatchbacks and mini-MPVs lack a certain charisma, Dodge hope their Caliber will get you fired up. reports.

It has taken a long time for car manufacturers to realise that just because you may have a family on the go, it doesn’t mean you’re resigned to a life without a little style, a certain individuality and a degree of fun.

Look at the cars churned out for family buyers. By and large they’re about as much fun as a thumb in the eye.

There is another way and Dodge can offer a family-friendly five-seater that is fun, funky, decidedly unconventional and has more than a spark of charisma.

It’s called the Caliber and although underneath the bluff styling is some pretty unexceptional engineering, it’s a car that has a lot going for it, especially at prices starting from £11,495.

The success of the Chrysler PT Cruiser showed that funky styling could make inroads into a market obsessed by seats that can flip and tumble like an Olympic gymnast.

The Caliber is Daimler Chrysler’s latest attempt to eke out a slice of this hard-fought sector for itself, the Dodge brand being unleashed onto a British market with the promise of some super-sized American helpings over the next few years.

The Caliber is the car tasked with forming a beach head. A good deal of outside help has been drafted in with this model.

The 1.8 and 2.0-litre petrol engines have been developed in partnership with Hyundai and Mitsubishi, the 2.0-litre diesel comes courtesy of Volkswagen and the front-wheel drive chassis also relies on the help of Mitsubishi.

Such is the face of modern vehicle development where costs are so huge that manufacturers must group together to pool resources. If this rather odd sounding Japanese-Korean-German amalgam fails to appetise, perhaps the Caliber’s all-American styling will.

The front end looks like something that needs the backdrop of Monument Valley behind it as it appears in your rear view mirror. Although it looks like a hefty piece of metalwork, however, the Caliber isn’t as beefy as the macho styling would suggest.

At 4,414mm long, it takes up about the same amount of room on the road as a Zafira.

The interior colour schemes are more like something from a Soho ad agency’s reception and there’s something fresh about this cabin.

Take for instance the Apple iPod holder that sits on the underside of the centre armrest.

Flip the centre portion of the armrest over and your iPod has a place to sit rather than being clonked and scratched by gear in the glove box as you go round every corner.

A chilled compartment above the glove box is big enough to store four bottles of water.

One option that’s sure to prove popular with younger buyers is the Boston Acoustics stereo upgrade. With nine speakers, this system can really handle some bass.

The petrol engines aren’t in themselves particularly noteworthy, the 1.8-litre unit looking set to be the best seller. It’ll get the Dodge to 60mph in about nine seconds and on to a top speed of more than 120mph. The diesel model looks set to be worth a look with 229lb/ft of torque on offer and a power output of 136bhp.

This 2.0-litre unit is a direct-injection turbo diesel with high-pressure fuel injection, a variable geometry turbocharger and four valves per cylinder.

The injectors are electronically controlled, allowing precise management of each combustion cycle with the optimum quantity of fuel. Although we don’t get the 2.4-litre petrol engine that’s sold in the USA, nor the 4x4 chassis, British buyers will get an efficient CVT transmission instead of the usual automatic option.

However, the characteristics of this box take a bit of getting used to and many buyers may choose to pay a little extra to get the Autostick manual selection system.

Overall it’s possible to see the Caliber carving a niche for itself in the market through sheer force of personality.

FACTFILE

Dodge Caliber range

PRICES: £11,495-£15,430 - otr

INSURANCE GROUPS: 13E [2.0 petrol]

PERFORMANCE: [2.0 petrol] 0-60mph – 10.7s/ Max Speed 125mph

FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 petrol] [urban] 28.0mpg / [extra urban] 40.9mpg / [combined] 34.9mpg

STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags, ABS