Jeep Patriot
Softer than the Wrangler, but more practical than a Grand Cherokee, Jeep’s Patriot was its mid-size approach to the middle ground. Craig Cheetham finds out if it’s any good as a used SUV.
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In 2007, Jeep pretty much wrapped itself in the stars-and-stripes by naming its new mid-size SUV contender the Patriot. It couldn’t have been more American if Garth Brooks had been sitting behind the wheel eating a Big Mac.
Jeep was exceptionally proud of the Patriot. It was developed with European buyers in mind just as much as the North American domestic market, but whereas the Grand Cherokee was manufactured in Graz, Austria, the Patriot was homegrown, rolling off the line at Belvedere, Illinois, for export across the world.
It was built on the Chrysler Group’s GS platform, which also underpinned the Dodge Calibre, and came with the rather cheesily named Freedom Drive fourwheel drive system. Yes, this was the car that was going to make Jeep great again.
The car had a mixed reception when new. There’s no doubting that Jeep had got the styling spot-on – the scaled-down Tonka Toy appearance and instantly identifiable seven-slot grille giving it a chunky, utilitarian appearance.
It was superb off-road, with the Freedom Drive operating for most of the time in front-wheel drive format, but switching to all-wheel drive on demand. Jeep purists were sceptical, but the system was good enough to earn Jeep’s ‘Trail Rated’ seal of approval, having
been tested on terrain that would be more than a match for a Wrangler or Land Rover Defender.
In theory, it was the perfect fusion of chunky Jeep looks and family car practicality. But it wasn’t all good news. The standard in-line four-cylinder petrol engines sold in tiny numbers in Europe for a very good reason: they lacked in-gear performance and refinement, despite the figures looking quite decent on paper, so for European markets the Patriot was also available with a 2.0-litre diesel engine bought-in from Volkswagen. The 138bhp unit was the same one fitted to numerous VAG cars and was decent enough, but it lacked the refinement and low-down torque of some of the Patriot’s rivals. Its road manners were indifferent, too. It wasn’t dreadful, but the ride was jiggly and the handling a little ponderous – not a massive problem for an SUV, but the Toyota RAV4 and Land Rover Freelander did the job a lot better.
The Patriot was well-equipped, though, and represented great value alongside its Japanese and European
rivals, even undercutting Korean models such as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Chevrolet Captiva – a car that was only American in brand and was designed by GM Daewoo. It felt quite cheap, though, with some fairly harsh interior plastics and brittle switchgear, while the stereo controls felt decidedly low-rent. On the plus side, the cabin looked pretty cool, and a 2009 facelift saw an improved interior and stereo controls in answer to European critics.
There were two gearboxes to choose from: a six-speed manual borrowed from Volkswagen (diesel models only) and a Jatco CVT unit, which was developed specifically for Jeep to operate alongside the Freedom Drive system.
A 2010 facelift saw slightly more rounded styling, while the VW diesel engine was replaced with a 2.2-litre unit from Mercedes-benz. This gave a power increase to 161bhp, with similar performance and economy but, critically, the towing limit was raised from 1500kg to 2000kg. These are rare, though, as they were only sold in the UK for eight months.