FirstDrive: Jeep CherokeeDespite a major revamp, the Jeep Cherokee gave far too many bumps and breakages for Paddy Comynto take a liking to it
The Jeep range used to be pretty straightforward to figure out. There was the Cherokee and then the bigger one, the Grand Cherokee. One was a workhorse with some refinement, the other was a luxury SUV with lots of refinement, and with a fondness for depreciation.
The Wrangler made a brief appearance before coming back again, alongside the Compass, which is an entry-level sort-of-SUV and the Commander, which is a Tonka Toy for adults.
The Cherokee has had quite a few changes over the last few years since we first got hold of it here in Ireland in the early 1990s. It has been very square, very roundy and now it is back and is sort of square again. Always billed as one of those SUVs that you can really work hard. Jeep held the launch in Morocco, just to hammer home this point.
The new Cherokee has been redesigned to move away from the softer curves of the current model, and we are now back to the more traditional squared off-front and it looks a little like a mini-Commander now, much more utilitarian in its styling and with better interior features such as increased rear legroom, reclining rear seats and wipe-clean fabric.
The spare wheel now sits under the car and at the rear the liftgate comes with integrated flip-up glass that can be opened with a switch on the reargate or with a button on the key fob.
Other new features include and a MyGig 20-gigabyte hard-drive audio system with all the various USB and iPod jacks you could need.
There are also things like automatic climate control and safety features such as ESP and a tyre-pressure monitoring system as standard.
Finally, there is something called a Sky Slider roof available as an option and this is a full length canvas roof which really opens up the cabin.
Under the clamshell bonnet is a 2.8-litre common-rail turbo diesel engine with 177bhp and 410Nm of torque (460Nm with the optional five-speed automatic transmission) and this comes as standard with a six-speed automatic transmission.
Four-wheel drive is taken care of by the Selec-Trac II system, which is a full-time, active on-demand system that can be switched from two-wheel-drive, to four-wheel-drive auto and four-wheel-drive with the flick of a switch and on the move. Hill Descent Control now features on the automatic version.
BARRELLING UP AND OVER sand dunes is, without doubt, good fun, even though my ham-fisted driving meant that I was making instructors dig a lot and curse at me in a language I couldn't understand.
But breaking bits off a Cherokee (undertray and front right wing) doesn't quite prepare me to tell you much about why you would want a Cherokee, apart from the brief drive to and from the sand dunes, where I found the ride of the new car to be quite awful.
Granted, Moroccan roads aren't what they might be, but there was no escaping the fact that this Cherokee transmitted too many bumps into the cabin.
And this was not helped by a pretty heavy clutch and far from smooth manual gearbox.
Few SUV owners need or want their vehicles to be that capable off road.
However, when you can buy a Land Rover Freelander or Nissan X-Trail which are blissfully comfortable and refined and will get you out of most situations that you shouldn't be in the first place, then anything other than a commercial version of the Cherokee seems to be missing a home.
ENGINE: 2.8-litre turbo diesel
POWER: 177bhp and 410Nm of torque (460Nm with automatic transmission)
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual, or fivc-speed automatic
PERFORMANCE: 0-100km/h N/A; Max Speed N/A
FUEL ECONOMY: 8.6 l/100km
CO2 EMISSIONS: 228g/km
COMING: March/April 2008
PRICE: Expected to be around €40,000