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Thursday, May 19, 2011
With three owners in the past three years, it's been a tumultuous time for Chrysler. The lineup has aged and it's been uncomfortably quiet in terms of new product announcements. The 2011 Grand Cherokee breaks the silence and leads a handful of fresh vehicles into showrooms. While Italian automaker Fiat now controls Chrysler, development of this Grand Cherokee began in 2006, when Chrysler was still tied up with Daimler-Benz (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz). For that reason, the newest Jeep has a lot in common with the Mercedes-Benz ML.
Jeep's "other icon"
The styling is purely Jeep, though, as designers played it safe when sculpting the sheetmetal. "It's our other icon," says Mark Allen, head of Jeep design, paying deference to the brand's hardy off-road legend, the Wrangler. The familiar Grand Cherokee look is retained via the same proportions, basic shapes, and seven-slot grille as the outgoing model. But with more athletic sculpting and softer edges, the new Grand Cherokee is better dressed to mingle with the soft-roader crossovers in the suburbs. The design may suit the marketplace, but it does little to advertise the Grand Cherokee's off-road capabilities.
Inside, the Grand Cherokee surprised us with exceptional quietness. Laminated glass on the windshield and front doors reduces wind noise, while insulating wheel-well liners hush road and tire noise. Under the hood, there's a panel between the engine and dashboard made from aluminum and composite material that keeps the engine hum contained. It's a great way to highlight how much the interior has grown up.
Building on the precedent set by the 2009 Dodge Ram, the well-executed cabin should be a key factor in reestablishing Jeep's claim that this is a premium SUV. The top-trim Overland receives a stitched leather dash and real wood accents that could pass muster in a Lincoln or Infiniti. Lower trim levels might not boast the same high-end finishes, but they benefit just as much from nicer materials and upgraded switchgear. The comfort features are premium as well. Standard equipment includes a passive entry, keyless ignition, a power driver's seat, and satellite radio. Options include a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, navigation, a power liftgate, and a panoramic sunroof.
Each is available in 4x2 and 4x4 guises. Standard equipment includes 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, foglamps, cruise control, keyless ignition, dual-zone air-conditioning, a power driver seat, a tilt-and-telescoping leather-wrapped steering wheel and a six-speaker audio system with satellite radio, an auxiliary audio jack and a CD player. The Security and Convenience Group adds remote ignition, Bluetooth, a cargo cover, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and a USB/iPod interface. A back-up camera, a power passenger seat, leather upholstery and a nine-speaker stereo with HD radio, a subwoofer and a touchscreen interface are also available.
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a five-passenger midsize SUV that comes in Laredo, Limited and Overland trims. The Limited gets all the Laredo's optional equipment plus 18-inch wheels, bi-xenon headlights, rear parking sensors, automatic wipers, auto-dimming exterior mirrors, a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, driver memory functions, heated front and rear seats and a leather-wrapped shift knob. The Luxury Group II gets you a power tailgate, power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, heated steering wheel and ventilated front seats. An upgraded Media Center package adds a navigation system, real-time traffic and 30GB of digital music storage. Big 20-inch wheels are also optional. The Overland gets all the Limited's options, plus special trim including a wood and leather steering wheel.
Optional on the 4x4 Laredo and Limited is the Off-Road Adventure I package, which adds skid plates, off-road tires, tow hooks, a full-size spare and, on the Laredo, hill descent control and the Quadra-Trac II 4WD system. The Off-Road Adventure II package includes all the above items plus an air suspension, towing equipment (available as a separate package), an electronic limited-slip differential and the Quadra-Drive II 4WD system. The Limited and Overland can be equipped with a rear-seat entertainment system with Sirius Backseat TV. With that, the panoramic sunroof shrinks to normal size.
Price of entry for a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo will be $31,480, including destination. A four-wheel-drive Laredo will add $1990, for a total of $33,470. Like the current Grand Cherokee lineup, all 2011s will have as their standard engine a V-6. However, the 2011’s will be the new 3.6-liter “Pentastar” V-6, which makes 280 hp and 260 lb-ft—gains of 70 hp and 25 lb-ft over the previous base motor. It will also include 17-inch wheels; a six-speaker stereo with CD player, satellite radio, and steering-wheel controls; two-row curtain airbags; keyless entry and starting; a tilting and telescoping steering wheel; and eight-way power adjustability for the driver’s seat. Options will be few; just a towing package, an off-road group, an engine-block heater, and a popular-equipment bundle.
Those looking for the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, a $1645 option, will need to order an additional option package that adds 18-inch aluminum wheels, three more speakers (for a total of nine)—plus a subwoofer and 506-watt amp—automatic climate control, leather seats (heated in the front), a rearview camera, power control for the front passenger seat, and Bluetooth. The pre-Hemi total for all that comes to $36,095 for a rear-driver and $37,955 for a four-wheel drive. Once you’ve ordered the additional option package, things like a nav system, a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, and tweaked preferred-equipment and off-road bundles can be spec’d.
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee comes standard with four-wheel antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front side airbags, side curtain airbags and active front head restraints.
In the government's new, more strenuous crash testing for 2011, the Grand Cherokee earned an overall rating of four stars out of a possible five, with four stars for overall frontal crash protection and five stars for overall side crash protection. In testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Grand Cherokee received the highest possible rating of "Good" in the frontal-offset, side and roof strength crash tests.
Interior Design and Special Features
Instead of last year's heavy use of gray, hard plastic, the new Grand Cherokee features a cleaner-looking dashboard design. You can't miss the tighter seams, higher-quality material choices and consistent textures from door to dash. Overall quality doesn't surpass the competition, but it's now certainly on par.
The rear seats are wider, offer more bottom cushioning and give passengers 4 more inches of knee room (thanks to the longer wheelbase). Folding them flat allows for about 68.7 cubic feet of maximum cargo capacity, which is about as much as the Ford Edge's capacity but less than that of the Pilot.
The navigation system is pretty much the same as other Chrysler products. It works OK, but it's a little disappointing to see no real improvements here when Ford, GM and others are pushing cleaner, easier-to-use systems in competitive vehicles.
reference:www.edmunds.com/,www.caranddriver.com,www.automobilemag.com
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