The current generation «of the great Cherokee» was developed under the guidance of the new Italian-French owners. How did this affect its values?
A year ago, we told you about Jeep Grand Cherokee and extended version which is so interesting for its appearance on our market. It has many interesting features that are worthy of mention, but this time we will talk about the myths surrounding the brand’s flagship and dispel them.
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Well, indeed, the Grand Cherokee has become as much a symbol of organized crime in the 90s as the racketeer with the iron and the pansy in the crimson jacket. Which is strange because unlike other American cars, the «Jeep Grand Cherokee» had no gangster trail. Or any cliché at all — it appeared just as the USSR collapsed and «Hollywood» did not have time to mold the SUV into any kind of image.
The fact is that at that time, everything American was popular in our country, and the term «SUV» was synonymous with any off-road car. So who could be the best of the best? Of course, the flagship Jeep. Especially since, despite its size and weight, the Grand Cherokee really handled our paved off-road terrain surprisingly well. That’s why it has become a symbol of a successful person.
During the period of initial capital accumulation, the Grand Cherokee was equally eagerly driven by both «commercials and» and those who hunted them. In the latter’s taste, the bigger and more expensive the», the better, and when the «looks both scrappy and pretentious, the better. And since most of the films in the post-Soviet space were made with gangster money and about gangsters, it was the criminal fame of the Grand Cherokee that became part of the pop culture of the «dashing» of the 90s.
Did you know that Jeep has never been an independent brand? It has always belonged to someone. There’s Willys, Kaiser, AMC, Renault, Chrysler, Mercedes, Fiat, and now Stellantis. In total, more than a dozen owners. Who’s next?
In fact, it was and remains the most European of all «Jeeps». At the time of the model’s development, Jeep itself belonged to AMC-Renault, and key positions in it were held by the French. So, one of the best «product development specialists» François Casten involved Larry Kiyoshi Shinoda and Giorgetto Giugiaro in the design of the car. Is it any wonder that against the backdrop of the European-style Grand Cherokee, its fellow countrymen looked like village idiots? The same was true of the design: the brand’s flagship boasted a load-bearing body and solid axles, while its competitors were built because of frame pickups. Hence the huge difference in handling and comfort.
In addition, since the first generation for European markets, the Grand Cherokee has been assembled (and is still assembled) in Austria. Even back then, the Old World preferred SUVs with diesel engines, which were treated with no less prejudice in the United States than manual transmissions. Therefore, in Graz, at the facilities of the local branch of the Canadian company Magna (one of the world’s largest automotive component manufacturers), the assembly of the Grand Cherokee with a 2.5-liter Italian VM Motori diesel engine was launched.
Initially, the Grand Cherokee was offered in four trim levels, but marketers were forced to abandon the initial version (Base) in the first year of production – demand for it was negligible.
The success that fell to the firstborn (ZJ) rather embalmed its appearance and proportions, but not its design. On the contrary, specialists from the most respected engineering bureau in the world, Porsche, were involved in working on the mistakes. It was with the «Žižek» (second generation, WJ) that the constant struggle with weight and, especially, with unsprung masses began.
In addition, the Germans taught the Americans how to computer model all the components in general, down to the smallest detail. This immediately affected the driving characteristics, fuel consumption, vibration reduction, and build quality. This is especially true of the third generation (WK), which was particularly famous for its reliability.
The fourth generation (WK2) was developed on the Mercedes M-class (W164) platform with the active participation of engineers from Stuttgart, making the Grand Cherokee the most technologically advanced and equipped American SUV.
Despite the image of the «American Range Rover», the brand has from time to time reminded us of its wild origins. Back in the first generation, the world’s fastest SUV» appeared — the Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited (1998). The engineers revved up the 5.9-liter V8 to 245 hp and 468 Nm, allowing the Grand to accelerate to 60 in 6.8 seconds — faster than the vast majority of American sports cars like the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro.
In 2006, the extreme SRT8 appeared in every sense, becoming a cult car in the United States. Even today, it is the most popular base for building SUV dragsters. At that time, 426 hp and 569 Nm were removed from the 6.1-liter V8 thanks to racing technologies. Of course, the appropriate shock absorbers, tires, and brakes were selected to tame such colossal deposits of TNT.
Today, the most hurricane version of the Grand Cherokee (and all American SUVs) is the Trackhawk modification. With the help of a compressor and racing technologies, 717 hp and 875 Nm were removed from 6.2 liters of displacement.
Who is the top model named after? Who was this «big Cherokee» really? Unfortunately, this character is a figment of the imagination of marketers who needed to emphasize the enhanced off-road capabilities of the new model. And the leader of one of the most rebellious Indian tribes was perfect for this. By the way, judging by the current trend of US baseball, hockey, and football teams to refuse to mention anything Indian, Jeep may also lose its most famous name. The media are increasingly quoting the complaints of the current Cherokee chief Chuck Goskin about the inadmissibility of using the tribe’s name for a commercial product.
Oddly enough, the 3-row version of the car appeared only in the 4th generation (WK2), and at the very end of its life cycle. This is surprising, to say the least because in North America, three-quarters of cars in this class are 3-row. Another thing is that it, as strategists put it, entered the market so «that the current, fifth generation (WL) initially debuted in an extended version of the Grand Cherokee L. And only a year later it appeared in the usual 5-seater version.
Depending on your preferences, the second row of the Grand Cherokee can have either a three-seater sofa or a pair of «captain’s» armchairs.
The affinity between the Italian crossover and the American SUV can be found only at the level of platforms. After all, no matter how much of a breakthrough the Mercedes «wagon» W164 was in its time, the time has come for more modern technologies.
The Giorgio architecture, on which the Stelvio is based, has given the Grand Cherokee access to a wider use of aluminum and high-strength steels, as well as the latest generations of electronic assistants and active and passive safety systems. Otherwise, it is still the same large and comfortable SUV. And just as off-road.
Despite the transition to a fundamentally new platform and the Italian focus on unification, the Grand has retained the entire gentlemanly set of its all-wheel drive transmissions. As before, it has a Quadratrac I with a clutch in the front-wheel drive as standard. The mid-range Quadratrac II and the top-of-the-line Quadra-Drive II have received some nice bonuses — the former is now equipped with a demultiplier, and the latter with a rear differential lock.
I hasten to reassure you: the bet is still on classic American school engines — multi-liter, slightly boosted atmospheric engines. In the basic version, it is a 3.6-liter V6 (285 hp, 400 Nm), for those who like it hotter, there is a 5.7-liter V8 (362 hp, 529 Nm). Both engines are well known and in the United States they are often awarded «million-dollar» status. The only exception is the economical 2-liter «turbo-four», which is not much inferior to the aforementioned V6 Pentastar in terms of performance — it has 271 hp and 397 Nm.
The V8 is not available to us, as well as to Europe, and it is not necessary. An atmospheric 3.6-liter gasoline engine was left for our market for the seven-seater version, which is enough to cover general needs and acceleration dynamics. Consumption is kept within 15 liters, even in mixed mode. Perhaps the turbocharged «four» can be more loyal to the owner’s wallet, but the atmospheric has already proven its reliability, but there will be questions about the turbo.
Indeed, the increase in wheelbase and rear overhang could not but affect the ramp angle and, especially, the exit angle. However, the designers tried to compensate for the slightly deteriorated geometric cross-country ability wherever possible. For example, the ground clearance of the air-suspension version has increased from 211 to 216 mm. Moreover, for the convenience of entry/exit, it is now trained to lower to 170 mm, and to overcome off-road conditions, on the contrary, to rise to 277 mm. In this position, the entry angle has increased from 25.7 degrees to 30.1. And the permissible depth of the ford has increased from 510 to 610 mm.
Grand Cherokee is the most interesting and mysterious Jeep on our market. And this allows you to touch the legend, get to know it better and appreciate the qualities that correspond exclusively to American values. This is exactly what was missing in other SUVs of even more luxurious class, but you won’t know until you try it, and then it will be difficult to live without it.
What are the competitors for the Grand Cherokee on the market today? Of course, these are BMW X7, Hyundai Palisade, Infiniti QX80, Lexus GX, Mazda CX-90, Mercedes-Benz GLS, Toyota Land Cruiser 300. These are so diverse and with different prices from 50 thousand dollars to 100 thousand dollars. Jeep is somewhere in the middle of the high society with a price of $80 thousand for the maximum configuration, but it also offers quite interesting features and special behavior and capabilities. It deserves to become one of the best family cars on the market.