Posted on March 6th, 2008 by Auto News
The diesel engine is a great addition to the Grand Cherokee. It starts right up with no smoke, idles quietly enough that you don’t have to shut it down in order to place your burger order at the drive-through and squirts away from a stop without causing the fuel gauge to hightail it toward the empty mark. It’s $1,600 well spent if you were going to buy a Grand Cherokee.
That said, I wouldn’t take ownership of this SUV if you gave it to me for free. Here’s why: In less than a day of driving, I’m pretty sure I’ve sustained a mild concussion from getting in and out of the Grand Cherokee. The culprit is the side-curtain airbag.
I’m all for safety technology. ABS, traction control, stability control, airbags all around-I want all this technology in the vehicles my family and friends drive. The problem comes from the side-curtain airbag, combined with a raised ride height and a seat that’s been set up even higher off the floorpan. (It seems as if most carmakers are convinced that everyone wants to drive around with his head in the clouds!) Bottom line: I can’t get in or out of this thing without whacking my head on the edge of the headliner that holds that side-curtain airbag-no matter how I contort my body. And there’s not enough adjustment in the power driver’s seat to negate this.
There’s a generous amount of cargo room in back, but rear-seat passengers are punished with incredibly little foot room, and the back-seat cushion sits pretty low–an aid for headroom but torturous on the legs after anything but a short trip.
My recommendation for a vehicle with some cargo room and a nice diesel engine would be a new-tech Mercedes-Benz Bluetech E-class wagon.
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Filed under: Jeep
Posted on December 21st, 2007 by Auto News
Jeep debuted the Liberty for model-year 2002 as the replacement for the 18-year-old Cherokee. The company was hopeful that it could move maybe 160,000 copies of the Liberty in the U.S. per year, and even now, the little SUV that could still does. Jeep sold 133,557 of them in 2006??”that??™s down from almost 167,000 in 2005, but it??™s still a respectable number.
The company figured a six-year model run is long enough, and so the second-generation Liberty debuts at the New York auto show. To what extent Jeep is changing the looks of what has been, next to the Grand Cherokee, its bestseller??”well, that??™s a bit of a surprise. As with the larger Commander, Jeep has taken the 2008 Liberty in a moderately retro direction to the point where, as the photos suggest, it looks like a slightly shrunken Commander and uncomfortably close to its mechanical twin, the Dodge Nitro. And since the Commander has not exactly been flying out of dealerships, even with $3000 rebates, we??™d suspect there??™s a little trepidation at HQ in Auburn Hills, Michigan, not to mention at the assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio.
That said, the 2008 Liberty has some things going for it, including a ???Trail Rated??? badge that confirms it??™s a real Jeep, for those who insist car-based vehicles such as the Compass are diluting the Jeep gene pool. There are, in fact, two four-wheel-drive systems offered??”good ol’ part-time Command-Trac and the new full-time, on-demand Selec-Trac II. The ??™08 Liberty has an all-new independent front suspension and a new five-link rear suspension to control the unruly solid rear axle. Steering is rack-and-pinion. A rear-drive model will be offered, but as before, the product mix favors four-wheel drive.
The 2008 Jeep Liberty has a wheelbase of 106.1 inches, nearly two inches longer than the current model’s. Overall length, at 176.9 inches, is an increase of 2.4 inches. Width is up a half-inch, to 72.4 inches.
The original Liberty was offered with the ubiquitous 150-hp, 2.4-liter four-cylinder and 210-hp, 3.7-liter V-6, but at present, the somewhat feeble iron-block, aluminum-head V-6 is the only engine for 2008. Towing capacity is 5000 pounds. Somewhat surprisingly, the new Liberty doesn??™t get the 260-hp, 4.0-liter and five-speed automatic from its twin, the Dodge Nitro. For now, there??™s no diesel model for the U.S., either. Jeep stopped building the clattery Liberty CRD last May because it couldn??™t meet tougher 2007 emissions standards. Transmission choices are both carry-overs: a six-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. Standard equipment includes electronic stability control with roll mitigation, traction control, and anti-lock brakes with brake assist. Also standard: side airbags and rain-sensing wipers. Sirius satellite radio, Bluetooth, a navigation system, and the MyGig entertainment system, complete with a 20-gig hard drive, are options.
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Filed under: Jeep
Posted on December 21st, 2007 by Auto News
Although we??™d really prefer Jeep to announce the return of the rugged and utilitarian Cherokee to its lineup??”and for the brand to forget about all this namby-pamby Dodge Caliber??“based Compass and Patriot business??”the Grand Cherokee??™s rework for ??™08 isn??™t unwelcome. Change can be good, after all.
Outside, the extremely minor changes are primarily restricted to the headlamps, which have become rounder, and the grille, which has been lengthened. The entire front fascia is now comprised of two pieces, the lower of which can be removed for off-roading. Buyers of the 2008 Grand Cherokee will ride in an upgraded interior with a now standard tilting-and-telescoping steering wheel, a redesigned gauge cluster and center console, and soft-touch material for the instrument panel. (The merciless prison of hard plastic inside the Grand Cherokee could use the soft-touch stuff in a few other places, but, hey, this is a start.) The hard-drive-sportin??™ MyGig entertainment system is now available in the Grand Cherokee, and there??™s also Sirius Backseat TV, an optional satellite video system that is for now a Chrysler exclusive. But forget about watching The Sopranos or the Super Bowl: Backseat TV is strictly for folks with kids. There are only three channels, and they??™re all filled with programming from Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and the Cartoon Network.
Underhood, the 4.7-liter V-8??”the standard power source for the Limited and one of five engine choices for the Grand Cherokee??”has been extensively reengineered to deliver 291 horsepower and 322 pound-feet of torque, up from 235 and 305 a year ago. The mill, which debuted at this year??™s Chicago auto show in the face-lifted 2008 Dodge Dakota, is E85-capable and will worm its way throughout much of the Chrysler Group??™s truck and SUV lineup. The other engines, consisting of a 215-hp, 3.0-liter V-6 diesel, a 210-hp, 3.7-liter V-6, the 330-hp, 5.7-liter Hemi, and the bad-boy 420-hp 6.1-liter for the SRT8, carry over unchanged. For 2008, 4×4 models will now have standard hill-descent control, and all Grand Cherokees can be outfitted with hill start assist, which holds brake pressure for two seconds after liftoff or until the driver applies the throttle, as well as a trailer-sway mitigation system.
To tell the truth, even seeing them side by side, we??™re hard pressed to tell the difference between a 2007 and 2008 Grand Cherokee, but we??™d have to say that the evolutionary improvements??”mostly, that heaping spoonful of extra power for the 4.7??”add up to a better whole.
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Filed under: Jeep
Posted on October 30th, 2007 by Auto News
At first glance, the Patriot looks like it’s about six years late to its own party, because it’s such a faithful evolution of Jeep’s Cherokee. It even shares the Cherokee’s boxy bluffness, a big part of that vehicle’s charm. But back in 2001, the Cherokee was replaced by the Liberty instead, a more gently curved, doe-eyed Jeep-on-Prozac.
The Patriot shares its platform with the Compass, Jeep’s attempt to satisfy a perceived demand for a car with Jeep styling cues. Or a Jeep with car styling cues, depending on the salesman’s reading of your inclination.
Like the Compass, the Patriot gets a 2.4-liter four that generates 165 lb-ft of torque at a high 4400 rpm. Mated to the standard five-speed manual, it provides lively, if vocal, performance. The optional continuously variable transmission (CVT) is less work but also less amusing. More baffling is the optional 2.0-liter four–CVTOnly–whose only claim to fame is that it’s slightly more fuel efficient, according to the EPA, than the CVT-equipped 2.4-liter. With a manual gearbox, the 2.4 gets the same fuel economy rating as the 2.0-liter.
The Patriot competes with the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V, and the Hyundai Santa Fe. In this company, the Jeep looks far more like a tough-guy off-roader than its curvaceous urbanite rivals. Inside, the Patriot’s upright dash and flat expanse of hood make you feel as though you’re in something substantial–more truck than minivan–and the simple controls are logically laid out.
And while it isn’t particularly fun to drive on-road, this Jeep offers good ride quality and competitive dynamics that are miles ahead of the Wrangler and the Cherokee before it.
Jeep claims that the Patriot is the most capable compact SUV in its class when it comes to mud. Specify the Freedom Drive II off-road package and you get four-wheel drive (a front-wheel-drive Patriot is available), a CVT with a low ratio, heavy-duty engine cooling, skid plates, tow hooks, and a form of hill descent control. It’s not Rubicon-ready, but the Patriot is actually pretty good off-road, which is all it needs to be.
At $14,985 for the two-wheel-drive Sport, it’s cheap, too. That includes side curtain air bags, stability control, and a CD player with MP3 capability, plus the five-speed manual and the 2.4-liter engine. The Patriot Limited with Freedom Drive II starts at $23,530.
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