Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 2018 off-road review

The Grand Cherokee is a five-seater in a category that's full of three-row rivals like the Toyota Prado and Ford Everest, but the loss of the jump seats frees up the cargo space for more stuff.

Drop the seats and a mountain bike will slide in the back, wheels and all, while tie-down hooks allow you to lash it in place. There's 782 litres of space behind the rear seats, and 1552 litres when they're laid flat, according to Jeep.

The pews are wide, well bolstered and very comfy front and rear, with three adults able to sit across the second row easily. The seat backs can be reclined, devices can be charged via USB and ventilation controls, err, controlled, while sipping from bottles stashed in the doors.

Kick out the centre-seat occupant, and the fold-down armrest hides two cupholders, while ISOFIX baby seats can be added to the outside rear seats.

Up front, the comfort factor is very similar, while Jeep's excellent quasi-digital dash faces the driver. It can be configured in a number of ways, and is amongst the clearest and most easy-to-read dashboards on the market today.

A pair of deep cupholders supplement bottle holders in the doors, while a medium-depth centre bin can hide the largest of phones.

Given the nature of the Trailhawk, a set of rubberised floormats might be a good thing to grab before going bush; there's a lot of nice carpet and suede trim to muddy up if you do head into the scrub.

The Grand Cherokee Trailhawk uses Jeep's venerable 3.0-litre V6 turbocharged diesel engine, which makes 184kW at 4000rpm and a mighty 570Nm from 2000rpm.

It also uses an inhouse-designed, ZF-made eight-speed automatic gearbox with flappy paddles, along with an electric steering system pinched from the Chrysler 300.

The engine is a real cracker; it's quiet and refined, and has loads of wallop right off the bat. The gearbox is a beauty, as well, with plenty of gears available exactly when each is needed.

The Trailhawk also offers low-range off-road capability via its two-speed transfer case and an electronic limited slip rear diff.

There's also a very smart hill descent feature that also works as a hill climb assistant, with the driver able to change the speed of the descent and ascent via the flappy paddles.

It'll tow up to 3500kg, and it'll do it easily, too.

Jeep claims a combined fuel economy figure of 7.5 litres per 100km, and after 300km of on- and off-road testing, we saw a dash-indicated combined fuel economy figure of 8.2L/100km. Previous testing over almost 1000km has netted a similar figure (8.1L/100km).

Thanks to its 93L fuel tank, the 2340kg Grand Cherokee has a theoretical range of over 1200km.

Jeep's main reason for being is playing in the dirt, and the company itself is even moving away from the more urbanised marketing themes it's used over the past few years, pointing back to the Grand Cherokee's origins as a rugged, comfortable off roader.

Certainly its mechanicals play that out, with the Trailhawk using an electronic locking rear diff along with its Quadra-Drive 4x4 system, which includes a low range transfer case as well as air bag suspension that can be raised and lowered to suit the terrain.

Off-road functionality is accessed by a dial on the centre console, which doesn't offer a dirt or gravel road mode. You can pick rock, mud, sand, or snow, which does preclude that usual style of long dirt road that we are accustomed to here. However, the automatic mode and the constant 4x4 drivetrain makes short work of such terrain.

The Grand Cherokee simply yawned as it traversed the washouts and the bumps. It rarely struggled for traction.

The other modes, including the rock mode, can elevate the Grand Cherokee to a category-leading 260mm of ground clearance, although its wading depth of 508mm is a little bit below that for some of its rivals like the Toyota LandCruiser 200 series (700mm).

We threw the Trailhawk down some muddy, wet, and rocky terrain during the course of our test, which required the tyres to be deflated a little to gain traction.

On balance, though, we wonder if we could've got away without even doing that basically mandatory change. The Grand Cherokee simply yawned as it traversed the washouts and the bumps. It rarely struggled for traction, and with the underbody protection underneath, we weren't shy about taking the harder lines in order to trip up the car.

Eighteen-inch alloys with a Willys symbol in the centre also point to the car's dirt motivation.

Its 36-degree approach angle is 10 degrees better than the Limited from which it's derived, while breakover and departure angles are slightly improved as well. Its 260mm of ground clearance is some 42mm better than the coil-sprung Limited, but it can only be used at low speeds in off-road modes.

We would really have to be doing something fairly silly to get too far stuck with the Grand Cherokee, but as always, be prepared when you're heading off-road, and don't get in over your head.

When it comes to towing your favourite toys, there are few cars that are better at that job than the Grand Cherokee in its diesel form. It offers niceties like a rear view camera that changes modes when towing is detected, with guideline to enable easy hook-up of the trailer.

Jeep has anointed the Grand Cherokee with its most hallowed symbol, the Trailhawk badge.

The air spring-based suspension also helps self level the vehicle. And the 570Nm of torque from the 3.0-litre turbo diesel means that towing right up to its capacity of 3500kg is really not a drama at all.

We've had extensive experience towing large vans behind similarly equipped Jeep products, and it's been nothing but surprise and delight the whole way.

Jeep has been steadily improving its warranty and service efforts on the back of lacklustre results in customer satisfaction surveys and a raft of technical recalls over the a few years.

It now offers a comprehensive five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on Jeep products that can be transferred to private buyers for $99 if the car is sold, while lifetime roadside assist is also available for Grand Cherokees that are serviced through a Jeep dealer.

It's worth noting, though, that the Grand Cherokee has been recalled to rectify faults at least 20 times since its launch in 2011 - and as recently as mid-2018 - making it Australia's most recalled vehicle by quite a way.

Fixed-price servicing costs over the first five years equal $4285, with service intervals set at 20,000km or 12 months.