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Budd Stanley photos
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Budd Stanley photos
Badge
This badge indicates that this 4WD gets great fuel efficiency. Diesel is a beautiful thing in smaller vehicles.
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Budd Stanley photos
The Grand Cherokee may be considered a luxury vehicle, but it would seem wrong not to get it dirty.
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2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude
The design and quality of the new interior is one of the major reasons why the Grand Cherokee is now considered a rival to the BMW X5, Mercedes ML and Audi Q7. And it kicks their asses off-road as well.
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Budd Stanley photos
Even with adjustable air suspension, those plastic rockers gave me some cause for concern.
Story & photos by Budd Stanley
Will Fiat’s diesel be as popular as Mercedes?
My time in the new Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel started with battling traffic around Vancouver, while running errands. Stop, go, brake, accelerate, watch out for that cyclist, the cabby is trying to kill me. From there, it was a jaunt up the infamous Coquihalla, taking a couple hours to explore some trails high in the mountains that I usually miss while flying by at Mach three. The next day I wanted to do some boarding, so I loaded up my gear and went up to the local mountain for the day. Another day of errands around town and I noticed something peculiar when I got back, something strange for driving around a big 4WD SUV, I still had over half a tank of fuel left. Having the dash read 7.7L/100km is a beautiful thing.
The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been given a good refreshing for this year, however the big story is the fuel that’s powering the new engine, diesel. Chrysler’s new 3.0L turbocharged EcoDiesel V-6 produced by Fiat-owned VM Motori now graces the engine bay.
The old Grand Cherokee CRD was a favourite of Canadians. Yet, despite the same displacement, the new diesel is much more powerful, but will it be as popular? One obstacle is the luxury of getting into an oil burner is not a cheap affair. Tick the EcoDiesel box, and your not being so eco to your wallet as there is a $7,000 premium thrown on top. Another issue is that you can only get an EcoDiesel in the top two trim lines, Summit and Overland. The lowest you’re going to get into an EcoDiesel is $62,740, a far cry from the $49,490 of the old CRD. Has inflation risen that much in five years?
That being said, you sure are getting a whole lot more for your money than you did with the old CRD. Compared to a HEMI, you get more torque and the same towing ability. Match that with even better fuel efficiency than the Pentastar, you have the best of both worlds so to speak. Also, the interior build and quality is light-years ahead of the cheap plastic that used to swarm the occupants of the last generation Grand Cherokee. This is now a proper luxury SUV that rewards its occupants with high quality comfort and interior design. Technology is now the great consumer of new cars and the new Grand Cherokee is brimming with it. While I am a hater of all the tech in today’s vehicles, I must admit that Jeeps off-road oriented apps do make getting lost in the wilderness an enjoyable experience.
The drivetrain is Jeeps glorified AWD system, but the Quadra-Drive II system should not be looked down upon, as it is extremely capable. Axle ratios of 3.45:1 are backed up by a 2.72 low-range ratio. The differentials are of the open variety both front and rear, although the rear is equipped with an electronically actuated Limited Slip using the traction control to work the brakes on either wheel to keep everything moving forward in slippery conditions. I’m not a big fan of these systems; they just don’t work as well as a proper mechanical LSD (Limited Slip Differential) or locker. However, they do work well. I was down in Texas when we got to walk the EcoDiesel up a 43-degree wall of slickrock. The torque of the diesel matched with the capabilities of the drivetrain was simply amazing. Back here in Canada, the Grand Cherokee made short work of the muddier mountains of the west coast. The plastic bumpers and rocker panels did give me some worries though.
Annoying attributes of the Grand Cherokee include the shifter that is trying way to hard to be BMW’s iDrive system, and sorry to say, it fails miserably. More than a couple of times I got out of the vehicle thinking it was in Park, when it was actually in Reverse, or in Neutral and not Drive. A rather embarrassing issue in parking lots when you bounce off the rev limiter before realizing your not in gear. Extra due diligence is needed to ensure the little “P,” “R” or “D” lights up on the dash. The large rear-view mirror does give you lots of vision to the rear at the cost of protruding into forward vision as it takes up a fair amount of the windshield. Then there was the interior lighting. For the life of me, over the course of a week, I could not figure out how to get the interior lights to come on when the doors opened. It made packing on dark winter nights a miserable experience. I’m sure there is a way to make this happen, but I honestly couldn’t figure it out.
I’m quite torn on the air suspension. It offers excellent ground clearance and articulation in off-road conditions as well as squatting down low to keep the big Cherokee as aerodynamic as possible on the highway, its just not as firm as I would like on tarmac. Driving a regular coil sprung Grand Cherokee on the road gives the vehicle a much more planted and stable dynamic. However, get the air springs off-road and it dominates its environment. Hopefully the next generation air springs will have adjustable spring rates on top of ride height.
Regardless of a couple little annoyances, the Grand Cherokee is a fantastic vehicle. The addition of EcoDiesel power lends itself magnificently to the chassis, chugging along the highway with little issue and effortlessly climbing rock walls that one would need a rope to ascend. The improvements made to the interior trim and design now has this vehicle ready to take on the German luxury counterparts, and with the EcoDiesel in place, it now has the proper tools as well.
SPECIFICATIONS:
- MSRP: $62,445
- Price as tested: $69,655
- Engine: 3.0L V-6 Turbo Diesel
- Power: 240 hp, 420 lb-ft
- Transmission: 8-speed Automatic
- Curb Weight kg (lb): 2,437 (5,374)
- Wheelbase mm (in): 2,915 (115)
- Ground Clearance mm (in): 264 (10.4) (Off-Road Height)
- Approach Angle Deg: 36.1 (Off-Road Height, Front air-dam detached)
- Departure Angle Deg: 27.1 (Off-Road Height)
- Ramp Breakover Angle: 22.8 (Off-Road Height)
- Wading Depth mm (in): NA
- Tow Capacity kg (lb): 3,266 (7,200)
- Fuel Efficiency (L/100km): City: 9.8, Hwy: 7.0