Jeep Cherokee car review: SUV fails to make much impact

It wasn’t just a lot of property owners who woke up with a hangover when the crash came. There were plenty of people who found their driveways occupied by an SUV whose value was falling like a stone, whose annual motor tax could probably pay for a another car, and whose running and repair costs were ruinous. Many are still saddled with them and will continue to be.

It would be a big surprise then if people ever rekindle their affections for big SUVs, and the fact that crossovers are now offering at least part of the attraction of an SUV at much less cost means the market has adjusted accordingly. And for those committed to the notion of a four-wheel drive, the offerings are varied and attractive, from brands such as Kia and Hyundai to the elegant Range Rover Evoque, and all budgets are catered for.

But the requirement for four-wheel drive capability has always been a spurious one for suburban dwellers. Who is going to try to take a family car up the side of a mountain or across a boggy landscape ? If you don’t have a genuine requirement for four-wheel drive, it is a pretty nonsensical proposition.

That message may finally have reached Jeep – the American originator of all-terrain cars (or trucks as they are called in the United States) for the mass market – at least as far as its European customers are concerned. Now part of the Fiat Group, Jeep has revived its Cherokee model with a firm nod to the emergence of crossovers and the styling appeal of the Evoque, and an acknowledgement that the days of big and brash are over and fossil fuels may, after all, not be renewable.

Cruising speed
In doing so, it has produced a car that will disappoint those who appreciated its original appeal and may just have come too late for others. From the front it establishes itself fairly quickly as a Jeep, with a seven-bar vertical grille layout, but that's as far as it goes.

The Cherokee has now become mainstream – it is lower, sleeker and has much less of a presence on the road. If I were the person who designed the rear of the Kia Sportage I would be flattered by its imitation because you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two cars from 20 paces. The overall styling seems confused and appears to be a cross between the Kia and an Evoque.

Underneath the bonnet is a choice of revised Fiat Multijet diesel engines delivering either 140 or 170 horsepower. The 140 horsepower two-wheel drive version (with optional four-wheel drive adaptability) has whatever chance the Cherokee will have on the Irish market, but it becomes apparent quiet quickly that it is not really a match for the Cherokee’s substantial weight. Mated with a manual gearbox, the 140 unit has to struggle to manage that weight.

When you get it up to cruising speed, the car settles and becomes less thrashy. When you push it into corners though, it begins to wallow and the steering feels light.

It does not offer the same feedback as you will get from Jeep competitors such as the Audi Q3 and the Volvo XC60. The ride is a big improvement, however, and bumps are absorbed well.

The interior has been trumpeted by Jeep as being a major improvement and indeed it is when compared to the normal Jeep standard. However, dials and digital readouts are far from impressive and, again, the Germans have set the benchmark here. The 8.4-inch display screen does not look like it came straight from the most up-to-date design studio and is not even standard on the base model.

Jeep is also hoping to convince European customers that its gas-guzzling days are over, but says it has no plans for a hybrid “at this time”. The claimed fuel consumption of the 2.0-litre diesel engine I drove is 5.3 litres per 100 km on a combined urban and extra-urban cycle, but the nearest I seemed to manage on that cycle was well over 8.0 L/100km.

Competitors
No prices have yet been announced for the Cherokee when it goes on sale here at the end of next month but the expectation is that they will be slightly lower than those of the Audi and BMW contenders in the segment.

Jeep says its cars are the “only authentic SUVs on the market” – a claim that will be contested by its competitors and may have no meaning whatsoever for those who might buy it.

The Cherokee may have been softened to meet the requirements of a changed and changing market but a high price may have been paid in terms of its mixed DNA. It does not look sufficiently different anymore and that is not made up for in terms of the driving experience.

Jeep Cherokee : The Lowdown

Engine
2.0 litre diesel with 140 HP

Performance
0-100 KPH in 10.9 seconds

Fuel economy
Claimed combined consumption of 5.3 litres per 100km (53.3 MPG)

Emissions
139 g/km

Tax band
B2 (€280 )

Estimated price
Beginning at about €38,000

On sale
End of May