Driving Impressions

If you are a high-performance buyer, then the Grand Cherokee must be at the top of your list, because its optional V8 makes 220 horsepower and generates 300 pound-feet of torque, both class-leading numbers. The V8 in our test truck was a genuine tiger, ripping across intersections, pulling snowy grades and performing highway passing maneuvers with ease and quickness we weren't expecting. It is also rated to pull a 6500-pound trailer. And if you don't need as much grunt as all that, we can recommend the 4.0-liter inline-six as one of the great SUV engines, with 185 hp and 220 lbs.-ft. of torque for hauling up to 5000 pounds of trailer, with an improvement in mpg rating from 13/17 city/highway for the V8 to 15/20 for the six, quite a lot in percentage terms. We have been off-road many times with the 4.0 in the Grand and other Jeep models, and it never let us down. While the shift is on to rack-and-pinion steering in the sport-utility world, the Grand Cherokee still uses recirculating-ball steering, and it is a bit mushy and indefinite compared to other systems, though entirely acceptable. It works with leading-arm coil-spring front suspension and trailing arm coil-spring rear suspension and gas shocks all around to keep the Grand Cherokee on the straight and narrow. Ride quality is very good, all things considered, and ride control is taut, with not too much body roll in fast corners. When it comes to all-around handling, the Grand Cherokee is one of the most nimble performers in its class. We noticed while underway that the big outside mirrors and windshield pillars seem to generate quite a bit of wind noise at freeway speeds, which was doubly intrusive because the powertrain noise and chassis noise were both so well subdued by tuning and isolation. We thought at first we hadn't closed the left front door all the way, but the noise persisted at speeds above 50 mph.

Final Word

While the Ford Explorer continues to rule the sport-utility realm, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is still solidly in second place, in spite of being one of the oldest entries in its class. And while the preponderance of Grand Cherokees sold are Laredo and Limited six-cylinder models, there is still plenty of room in the market for the ultimate Jeep. At more than $37,000 it's well into the luxury realm, but it's got style, power, plenty of equipment and very serious off-road capability for those who shun the beaten track.