COMPASS GOES DOWN TO THE LAST DETAIL
Completely new Jeep is a near-perfect blend of sturdy ruggedness and cruising comfort
My husband is a master of details. Ever seen those puzzles where you have to figure out the differences between two pictures? If that was an Olympic sport, he’d have a whole wall of gold medals for it. So when I picked up the Jeep Compass Trailhawk, he did his usual look-the-whole-thing-over. And when he stared down by my feet, he said, “Is that Morse code?”
Sure enough, the foot rest beside the brake was embossed with dots and dashes. Jeep designers like to add these little Easter eggs all around — there’s a Loch Ness monster in the rear window surround — and Detail Man figured a purely decorative design wouldn’t be asymmetrical. So he found a decoder and sure enough, he was right: The pedal reads: rocks, rivers, snow, sand.
It certainly deserves the coded pedal, at least on the Trailhawk, which sports the most rugged four-by-four system of the four available trims and is surprisingly capable on the tough stuff. It won’t out-wrangle a Wrangler, but it performed far better than I expected when I drove it on a tough off-road course on its initial launch.
The completely new 2017 Compass unfortunately shares its name with the outgoing Compass, a decision apparently made because the name will work across its new global markets, and by someone higher up in Fiat Chrysler than the North American headquarters, where the execs would definitely have known better. To make it even more confusing, the final run of the old Compass is labelled as a 2017 as well.
The previous Compass and its Patriot sibling were forgettable and plasticky boxes spun off the equally chintzy Dodge Caliber, and have as much in common with the new Compass as tapping out a Morse code message has
with sending a Snapchat video.
Handsomely styled like a miniature Grand Cherokee, the Compass shares the platform used by the Renegade and Cherokee. All trim levels use a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, making 180 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque.
The base Sport trim comes with two- or four-wheel-drive, and can be ordered with a sixspeed manual transmission, starting at $24,900. It options to a six-speed automatic in fourby-two and a nine-speed auto in four-by-four. The next-levelup North also offers two- or four-wheel drive, but only with automatic transmissions, while the Trailhawk and Limited trims come strictly in four-by-four with the nine-speed, at $32,895 and $34,895 respectively, before any available options.
Four-wheel-drive models all have a full-time system that primarily powers the front wheels, but transfers power to the back when needed and can send full power to any one wheel if things get that sticky. It can be left in automatic mode or be dialed in for snow, sand or muddy conditions. The Trailhawk adds a low range with 20-1 crawl ratio, four-wheel lock, hilldescent control, a rock setting for extra off-road ability, and unique front and rear fascias for sharper departure and approach angles on inclines.
While the ride itself is smooth and comfortable, and the cabin is quiet, the Compass could use a few tweaks to its plain-pavement prowess. It feels heavy, which isn’t helped by the nine-speed automatic’s apparent priority of fuel economy over performance. There’s an annoying lull between the time you put your foot down and when the transmission downshifts in response, especially when you want some speed for highway manoeuvres. There’s an automatic start-stop system that shuts the engine off when you’re idling at a light, and it’s noisy and jarring when it starts up again. Fortunately, you can turn this feature off. The interior bears a resemblance to its Cherokee sibling, with lots of soft-touch materials and supportive seats. The Compass’s wheelbase is longer than that of the Renegade, with most of the extra space dedicated to rear-seat legroom, although it’s still a relatively narrow vehicle and three people across the back better be friendly.
The Uconnect media system is still one of the industry’s best, upgraded for $700 in my tester from the Trailhawk’s stock 18-centimetre touch screen to a 21-centimetre unit with navigation. This top-of-the-line system, included as standard equipment on the Limited trim, includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as new pinch-and-zoom capability. A rear-view camera is included on the two top trims, but optional on the Sport and North models.
The rear seats and front passenger seat fold flat for extra storage space and the cargo floor can be set to any of three height positions. In addition, there is a reversible mat with carpeting on one side and rubber on the other for wet or muddy items.
Despite its faults, the Trailhawk is still a comfortable little cruiser, getting off-roaders to their destination, and giving bragging rights to those who stay on the asphalt. And as a bonus, if you know Morse code, there’s something to read as well.