2017 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 is a proud American
2017 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Price as tested: $41,975 (base price: $26,590) Zero to 60 mph: 7.5 sec Top speed (governor limited): 119 mph EPA city/highway driving: 18/26 mpg
To our knowledge, the Cherokee Nation has never officially contested the use of its hallowed name on five generations of the Jeep Cherokee. The model name has been around since 1974 and has even been used in Europe. Whatever cultural appropriation issues it might raise today, the badge is at least worn on a vehicle native to this continent. The Toledo, Ohio-built compact crossover holds its own against more than a dozen domestic, Asian and European competitors and has become the Jeep brand’s bestseller, topping both the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee through October of this year.
Fiat Chrysler hammered the modern crossover nail dead center when the current Cherokee design was launched for the 2014 model year. Sharing a unibody platform with the Dodge Dart, Chrysler 200 and Chrysler Pacifica, the Cherokee was off and running with a size, style and price proposition in perfect sync with America’s hop aboard the crossover express.
The Cherokee’s key attributes are integral to its architecture. Mounting the engine and transmission transversely and raising the roof to an attractive height enables efficient packaging for passengers and their gear. Although the Cherokee casts a shadow 5 percent smaller than the Honda Accord’s, it offers almost identical interior room, so there’s plenty of useful space inside. Drivers also appreciate the Cherokee’s 28.9-inch-high seating position; for most people, entry is a straight slide in, with no climb up or drop down to the seat required.
LOADED WITH LEATHER, ELECTRONICS
Customers also are drawn into Jeep showrooms with a Cherokee price range that begins at $24,590 for the four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive Sport edition. At the top of the scale is the lavishly equipped Overland reviewed here, introduced midway through the 2016 model year. With a 2017 base price of $38,690 with four-wheel drive, this leatherlined flagship sports upgraded seats, a premium Alpine audio system, and an 8.4-inch touchscreen programmed with navigation, Bluetooth, SiriusXM travel link and traffic, and Chrysler’s Uconnect connectivity system. Our test car added to that most of the available option groups. A $1,645 Technology package includes collision warning, parking assist, automated emergency braking, rain-sensing wipers, automatic high-beam headlamps, lane-departure warning, and adaptive cruise control that is capable of slowing the vehicle to a stop in traffic. The $1,205 Active Drive II system powers the front wheels most of the time, engaging the rear axle automatically when slippage occurs. Low-range gearing for off-road use can be selected at the touch of a button. Lastly, a $435 Heavy-Duty Protection group adds four large skid plates and a full-size spare tire. In light of our $41,975 total, shoppers with tight budgets should exercise care in checking the
options boxes.
A 3.2-liter V-6 rated at 271 horsepower and mated to a ninespeed automatic provides the impetus to move this densely packed machine (it weighed 4332 pounds on our scales). There’s sufficient punch to pass two of our favorite crossovers — the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5 — but the Cherokee’s 7.5-second zeroto-60-mph time, its 15.8-second quarter-mile performance, and its top-gear acceleration figures all trail the Ford Escape powered by an EcoBoost 2.0-liter four-cylinder.
The Cherokee lands mid-pack in terms of braking and cornering. The good news is that the brakes are capable of stopping this crossover from 70 mph in 175 feet during repeated use (although the first stop with cold brakes was a longish 184 feet). Cornering performance is impeded by a stability-control system that intervenes at only 0.80 g for safety’s sake — the potential for a rollover incident is one no modern automaker dares to ignore — even though the 18-inch Continental Pro Contact TX all-season tires have grip to spare. The Escape scored a more impressive 0.85 g in this 300-foot skidpad test.
A curb weight 500 to 700 pounds greater than the aforementioned competitors also keeps the Cherokee from achieving exemplary EPA mileage. The Honda and the Mazda return 29 or more mpg on the highway versus a 26-mpg rating for the Cherokee. This Jeep’s active grille shutters, stop/start engine operation, and a class-exclusive ninespeed automatic can’t overcome the ill effects of its mass, even though the transmission provides an impressive 9.8:1 ratio spread (first gear divided by top gear). With a light foot on the throttle, it is possible to top 20 mpg in allaround driving; we averaged 18 mpg and recorded 24 mpg while cruising at 75 mph.
The Cherokee shines brighter with its all-wheel-drive technology, a long-standing Jeep forte. The Active Drive II system, included with the nine-speed automatic and hill-descent control as a $1205 option, provides several operating modes. In normal driving, the front wheels do all the work and the driveshaft to the rear axle is disengaged at both ends to cut friction. When automatic 4x4 is engaged, all four tires go to work the instant slippage is detected. A low range multiplies the torque sent to the wheels in any gear by a 2.92 factor. The neutral position is intended for towing a Cherokee behind the motorhome (or wrecker) of your choice.
While the Cherokee’s V-6 is obstreperous during flat-out acceleration, this engine drops out of the audio picture during cruising, at which point wind noise prevails. The stop/start function is smooth and never annoying. Transmission function largely fades into the background except for these two instances: Men can grow a beard in the time it takes to get a kickdown for passing. And in manual mode — what Chrysler calls electronic range select — reaching ninth takes patience. We saw it only a couple of times while cruising just below 80 mph on a slight downgrade.
As is true of nearly every crossover, there’s minimal driving fun here. The driver’s-seat cushions are too soft to support aggressive cornering, the steering lacks feel and feedback, and the brake pedal is squishy. The dampers do a nice job of limiting pitch and roll while attacking a winding stretch of back road without inflicting pain over rippled pavement.
The cockpit is festooned with a button or twist knob for every task, 20 on the steering wheel alone. Thankfully, they’re clearly labeled and intuitively arranged. Need to report road rage with a quick 9-1-1 call? Punch a button. Want to claw your way out of a sand pit? Twist the Selec-Terrain knob to the left of the transmission shifter. Like to cruise securely in heavy traffic? Pick your interval distance with the spoke-mounted Adaptive Cruise Control buttons. Never learned how to parallel park? The Cherokee’s active park assist is a button push away.
We did find one helper that didn’t function as well as we hoped. The Cherokee’s lanedeparture warning, included in the $1645 Technology group, provides alerts and steering assistance when you change lanes without signaling, but it resorts to wobbling between marker lines if you relinquish steering control by removing both hands from the wheel.
NICE BUT NOT SO ROOMY
Interior décor in this particular Overland edition is a creative mix of white (perforated leather seats and headliner fabric), chocolate brown (dash top and steeringwheel skin), matte-finish aluminum (door handles and accents), and black (everywhere else). Grain patterns, accent stitching, fits, and finishes are appropriate for the $40,000 class.
The rear seats are wide enough for two plus a third child when necessary, there’s a convenient center armrest, and the backrest is split 60/40 to fold flat, yet there’s less room than in the CR-V or Toyota’s RAV4. With the back seats folded, the cargo hold expands from 25 to 55 cubic feet, again trailing the leading competitors. Both the rear seat and cargo space are packaging compromises to accommodate the vehicle’s off-road-worthy hardware such as a full-size spare tire.
While the Cherokee is the best-selling Jeep, that’s only good enough to rank fifth among 14 compact crossovers on the market, but none of the leading four offers the Jeep’s backcountry prowess and available V-6 engine. For some people, those attributes more than suffice to offset its deficit in fuel economy and interior space.