well, i am gonna ignore most comments made about the ugliness of either car. each car has highly subjective exterior styles, for every 10 people you find that think the caliber is ugly, you can find another 10 that think the hhr is ugly as well. i must be weird because i think they both look good.

i am more interested in thoughts about how each drove

 

CSRT VS HHR SS

Looks are subjective as you have got to live with it.

CSRT is faster from the factory

THE HHR SS is better sorted and handles much better. It can use all the power.

The HHR is by no means a CTS but it is still a better interior vs the CSRT.

The HHR has the stage kit the dealer can install at delivery that will make 290 HP under the drivertrain warranty.

If your going to drive it daily the HHR is a better driver all the way around.

Note GM tuned the SS with John Hinrency the SCCA champ many times over and GM engineer. It was tuned in Germany at the Ring and is sorted very well. John also tuned the CTSV, Cobalt SS Turbo, ZR-1, Z06, Trailblazer SS and anyother GM car with the GM perfromance group badge. To earn this badge they have to go, stop and turn.

They have tuned the SS to the degree it handles excellent and also will not jar you to death. THink in the terms of true German tuning.

I can spek for most of us here. I was not a big HHR fan. I did not hate them but just never saw myself driving one. After one drive in the SS I could not get it off my mind. I hated FWD and 4 cylinders but now could not be happier.

ASll I can say is go drive one and I think you will be suprised.

Might also read the Cobalt SS reviews as it is the same platform and drivetrain. It is getting stellar reviews.

Google the comparisons on the web and in almost all they pick the SS over the CSRT. If they all chose one way there must be a reason.

 

i have driven the hhr ss as stated in the review, was impressed.

ideally i would pick the cobalt ss for superior performance, but i have a cobalt coupe at the moment ("get me through college" car) and the utility just isnt great. it has a big trunk, but the trunk opening is so small, its hard to get anything much bigger than a 24 pack through the opening

 

No problem getting several kegs in my SS!

 

I actually went shopping for a cobalt, but bought the HHR for the added versatility. One look at that trunk opening had me shaking my head.
I actually like the blocky exterior styling of the Caliber, but the HHR interior won me over.
One more thing to consider: during your HHR test drive, did you stop at any red lights? If you are 6' tall or more, you may not see them turn green.

 

My personal opinion is that the Caliber looks like the rest of the new cars out there and I wanted something different. I get 32 mpg at 75mph 28 average. I haven't driven anything out there that I can afford that handles the way this HHR SS does.

 

Hauling, performance, mileage and reliability have not been an issue here.

If you have driven it then your down to what one looks the best and you already know which one is better sorted.

Many here ave replace a pick up or SUV with the HHR.

The only hauling issue I have had is my kids Soap Box Derby car is about 4 inches too long. But if I take the Wheels off and angle it over I can get it in. I just have to watch the axles around the front seats.

I hauled my Snow blower last weekend with no problems. It is the large Toro. The folding handle make it fit well.

 

I just could not see myself buying a Dodge product based on previous problems. And the SS gets a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. I'm not sure but I don't think the Dodge warranty is that comprehensive.

The SS interior is nothing to write home about, but the Caliber is even worse. I just can't like the rear of the Caliber no matter how I try. The SS isn't perfect with its looks, but overall much more appealing to me. Even my wife, who didn't like the SS looks at first, now is really glad I bought it. I would venture to say you will get more head turns in an SS than a Caliber. I know I usually get one a day.

 

Quote: Car and Driver said, "What these cars don’t share is torque steer, something that makes the Caliber SRT4 nearly undrivable at full tilt but is pretty well eliminated by suspension and power-steering tuning in the Cobalt SS. And the Dodge features neither launch control nor no-lift shifting."

Also, the "traction control" instead of LSD means it applies a brake to limit wheelspin.....

 

my experience is the opposite. i have had to chrysler products. an 01 pt cruiser, and 04 srt4. had them both for a few years and never had any problems (expect for the cd player that had to be replaced, but thats not a big deal). so i am not really concerned about the reliability, they both seem like solid cars