A PEEP AT THE NEW JEEP
JEEP is celebrating its 80th anniversary — so it’s a perfect time to test the latest vehicle from the firm whose engineering forefathers brought a rugged 4x4 designed for the military to the fun-loving civilian masses. Amazing also to think that the original goanywhere Jeep was conceived and produced in a mere 49 days, just in time for America’s entry into World War II following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Bringing things up to date, I have been driving the new Jeep Compass — specifically the Trailhawk trim — available for the first time as a plug-in hybrid 4x4 designed mainly for the road but with decent off-road capability.
This is one of four Compass variations. The base level Night Eagle (from £29,895) and Limited (from £30,895) are front-wheel drive, powered by 1.3-litre fourcylinder turbo petrol engines linked to a six-speed manual gearbox. The Compass S (from £40,895) and my Trailhawk (£39,895) are 240 hp all-wheel drive plug-in hybrids with sixspeed auto gearboxes. The 180 hp 1.3-litre petrol engine combines with a 60hp electric motor, powered by an 11.4kW battery, driving the rear axle.
With sharpened styling and that traditional Jeep grille, it stands out from the army of SUVs. On the road, it’s comfortable on both twisty lanes and motorways, accelerating to 62 mph in 7.3 seconds up to a top speed of 124 mph (80 mph in electric-only mode, for which the range is 30 miles).
It strains under hard acceleration, but in a Jeep you expect to take some rough with the smooth. The upgraded interior is comfortable, even on long motorway stretches.
fuel economy of up to 156.9 mpg is impressive and it has low average CO2 emissions of 44 to 47g/km. I confined my off-road antics to navigating a mud track, which it handled fine.
The Compass generates its own power in transit through regenerative braking. There is voice control, Alexa, and the capacity to run up to eight electronic devices — a far cry from its World War II days. Suitably, production has switched from India to Melfi in Italy, where the original Jeep saw some action.