Jeep Grand Cherokee 2010 Review

Classy Cabin Ride comfort Quietness

V6 engine response V8 economy Overall emissions

BANKRUPTCY could be the best thing that ever happened to Chrysler Corporation, judging by the new Grand Cherokee from Jeep.  The financial collapse last year forced new thinking at the American maker and triggered a serious survival plan.

As a result, this Grand Cherokee is the first Jeep in generations - perhaps in company history - without shortcuts or excuses.  It has been designed and developed to do a job and it delivers with commendable quality, classy on-road driving and the sort of off-road ability which easily trumps all but the most committed getaway drivers.

Jeep people say it puts the grand back into the Cherokee and they might be right. It should definitely put shoppers back into showrooms.
The Grand Cherokee is still short of the class leaders, but it claws back plenty of the ground lost to luxury SUVs like the BMW X5 in recent years - especially in cabin quality and for city and suburban driving.

Pricing and equipment

The new Grand is expected to have a starting price below $55,000 when the first cars begin arriving in the final weeks of 2010, ready for a big push early in twenty-eleven. The fourth-generation package includes everything from a new V6 Pentastar petrol engine to vastly improved suspension, improved refinement, 45 new safety features and a two-level line-up that could be expanded to include a fully-loaded Overland flagship currently focussed on big spenders in the USA.

The Grand Cherokee tribe starts at the Laredo 3.6 V6 with 210 kiloWatts/347 Newton-metres, Jeep's new Quadra-Trac II with Selec- Terrain - more on that later - front-side-curtain airbags, electric seats and auto wipers and Bi-Xenon lamps, 18-inch alloys, and a media centre with 30-gig hard drive.

Stepping up to the Limited model brings parking radar and rear-view camera, heated leather seats, a thumping sound system, a power- adjustable steering column, tyre pressure monitoring and more. The Overland, if it comes, gets the lot.

Jeep says the new Grand is 10 per cent lighter on fuel and will run 820 kilometres on a V6 tank, there is a optional Quadra-Lift air suspension, the boot capacity is up by 11 per cent, and Chrysler's 5.7-litre Hemi V8 is still available with 259kW/520Nm.

It's also unique to find a Jeep with a truly impressive cabin, from the look and feel of the plastics to an extra 100 millimetres of rear legroom, semi-reclining back seats, plush carpets, and even plastic storage buckets tucked in around the full-sized spare. There is also the input from Fiat, Chrysler's latest 'alliance' partner, to keep the quality work on track.

Driving

The improvements to the Grand Cherokee are obvious from the get-go, with a more modern body design and cabin quality that - at last - delivers on the promises. It's not to Audi standards but it is a vast improvement for Jeep.

The car is quiet from the time I turn the key - a body that's 147 per cent stiffer and triple-layer defence noise defences do the job - but the real revelation is the feel through the steering and the compliance and control in the rear suspension. That might not sound like much, but after more than 20 years in rough-rider Jeeps the change is huge.

It's also great to not hear any squeaks and rattles, to find a cabin that is genuinely quiet, and to know that the safety and quality work runs right back to a body that is fully 147 per cent more rigid than the outgoing model.

The 3.6-litre V6 is nice enough, but the Grand is heavy and does much better with the 5.7 Hemi. All the extra luxury, right up to a leather- wrapped dash top, means the V8 is likely to come in the Overland pack if the sums work for Australia.

After two hours of bitumen driving, on highways and byways, I'm relaxed and comfortable in the new Grand. It's not as sharp as an X5 but it is more than good enough for people who will shop it for regular family work.

Then I head off-road and the Grand proves its Jeepness over loose sand, giant rocks and a selection of test-run obstacles.  The Selec-Terrain system allows me to twist a dial to match conditions - I first tried this idea in a Land Rover Discovery - instead of worrying how to change my driving. It's brilliant at keeping things moving, particularly on churned uphill ruts, and the hill-descent system is the best I have tried.

The air suspension lifts and separates, there is a pull-out front valence to prevent off-road damage, and the V6 is strong enough for the job.  So the off-road stuff is all there and all Jeep.

It would have been better to put the Grand Cherokee over the Rubicon Trail - the ultimate proof of any Jeep off-roader - but this is more than enough and the real breakthrough is the on-road ability and all- round refinement.

There is plenty to get your teeth into with the new Grand Cherokee.  It's not fillet steak but it's a tasty T-bone. The big challenge now for Chrysler Jeep Australia is to create the necessary sizzle.

Jeep Grand Cherokee

On sale: December 2010
Price: estimated from $55,000
Models: Laredo, Limited (Overland)
Engines: 3.6-litre V6, 5.7-litre V8
Power: 210kW/6350 revs, 259kW/5200 revs
Torque: 347Nm/4300 revs, 520Nm/4200 revs
Transmission: Five-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Economy: 11.4L/100km, 14.1L/100km
CO2 emissions: 265g/km, 327g/km