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As a rule, I like Jeeps. Most of them anyway. This I mention not just in the spirit of full disclosure, but also because woe is the vehicle that has been resting on its laurels when I finally grip my hands around its steering wheel. For this reason, I was hell-bent on challenging the Grand Cherokee this week to...




As a rule, I like Jeeps. Most of them anyway. This I mention not just in the spirit of full disclosure, but also because woe is the vehicle that has been resting on its laurels when I finally grip my hands around its steering wheel.

Photo by James Gaffney/The Times-PicayuneFor this reason, I was hell-bent on challenging the Grand Cherokee this week to live up to the generally positive experiences I have had with Jeep’s entry- and mid-level Wrangler and Liberty, respectively. Having long admired the trail-blazing prowess and ruggedness of both vehicles, I was curious whether the new Grand Cherokee, which received a major makeover for 2011, could match the acclaimed off-road chops of its less pricey cousins. Or whether it would reveal itself as merely yet another leather seat-clad SUV for suburbanites who want to look rugged to the driving world when they’re not napping in their Barcoloungers.



Like, well, me.



Rumbling along the overgrown, washed-out paths dotting Lake Catherine and off-road treacheries elsewhere, the Grand Cherokee’s Quadra-Trak II 4WD and Selec-Terrain systems’ off-road settings were put to the test and came back for more. While the flat geography of southeast Louisiana renders both the uphill and hill-descent features nearly moot, the Quadra-Lift function, on the other hand, which adds four inches of height for greater ground clearance and ride comfort, came in handy.



So far, so good.

Photo by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

But, compared to Jeep’s scrappy Wrangler and slightly more refined Liberty, the Grand Cherokee’s top-of-the-line Overland 4x4 lets you bounce along the dusty (and, often times, soggy) trail in the lap of luxury thanks to a totally re-decked cabin outfitted with Lexus-like refinery. For proof, check out the stitched leather dash and upholstery, wood-grain trim and power eight-way driver and front-passenger seats. Other touches include the Uconnect hands-free phone system, GPS navigation with 6.5-inch touchscreen display, and iPod control.



Powering me through the bush atop 20-inch aluminum wheels was the optional 5.7-liter Hemi V8 (the same powerplant used in the Chrysler 300C), which cranks out 360 horses and 390 pound-feet of torque. Meantime, I listened to NPR’s “Car Talk” through a nine premium-speaker stereo system, all beneath a double-pane sunroof that extends from the windshield past the back-row seats. It truly lets the fun shine in.

Photo by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

This is around the time when I began to feel disappointed. Not in my trusty vehicle but rather in myself. Instead of comparing the Grand Cherokee to the Wrangler and Liberty, I should have been judging the Overland 4x4 against other top-of-the-food-chain, off-road luxury SUVs. The Grand Cherokee this year has stopped at nothing it seems to deliver a completely retooled and refined edition of itself in the Overland while creating a mid-size SUV to rival other acclaimed vehicles, but often at a lower cost.



From heated front and second-row seats to bi-Xenon headlamps, the Overland offers a lot of what is found in a Land Rover but with a base price of $41,120. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s easy to understand why some are hailing the Grand Cherokee Overland as the best-priced, jack-of-all-trades SUV on the market.



Will your Grand Cherokee hold its value like the 2000 model President Obama owned until 2004 and which recently sold at auction for $26,000? Probably not. Unless, of course, you become president. (Good luck!)



For gearheads and car geeks for whom such things matter, the Grand Cherokee was the first Chrysle

Tags: Jeep, is-featured

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JEEP THRILLS: The new Grand Cherokee will kick your trail was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: Jeep. Read the full story by clicking here.