Well I saw one Caliber SRT-4 on the highway a couple weeks ago. I almost mistook it for the regular caliber till I came up upon it and gave it a closer look. To be blunt, it was a huge disappointment. I expected more esp after reading the comments of others with regard to its aggressive looks. The thing looked EXACTLY like a regular caliber save for the bigger wheels. Since its debut that was the first I had seen in the sea of neon srts and ms3s around here. It's no surprise. Cars tend to grow on me after a while but the Caliber is the one exception. Every time I see one I cringe. It's the one car that looks bad from every angle.
Looks is obviously my biggest hangup with the car. I could forgive the slightly subpar brakes and lack of true lsd but just can't see myself in one. Performance wise, its a driver's race in a straight line with the ms3 having the edge in the corners (imo). But of course the driver mod is still the biggest factor in terms of who ultimately comes out on top.
IMO, other than the ms3, the best bang for the buck in terms of the overall package is the Cobalt SS.