The Jeep Grand Cherokee is 4 inches longer in wheelbase, about 6 inches longer overall, and 2.5 inches wider in track than the previous model, so it will be more stable in both on- and off-road situations.
The all-new Grand Cherokee is built in Detroit using a new steel uniframe construction, a close marriage of a welded steel unit body and underlying front and rear modules, a completely different approach from the new body-on-frame Durango, so although its inside volume and overall size are both similar to the Dodge's, this Jeep is not a clone of the Durango, but a unibody Jeep design through and through.

Laredo models come with a body-colored grille, Limited models with a chromed grille.

Just about everything on the inside of the Grand Cherokee is new, with a new two-tone dark-over-light-over-dark instrument panel and door trims, with new grains, materials, and finishes that are generally much richer and better looking than the previous Jeep interior materials roster, which were not particularly good.
We found the seats to be larger and cushier than any previous Jeep seat, with supportive contours and more seat track travel, always important for us tall guys. On top of the travel and legroom increments, there's also increased headroom that adds the feeling of extra space to the interior. The instrument panel has no more of that pasted-together black-plastic of the last generation, but is a real, cohesive interior design with a nice combination of shiny plated parts, matte-finish plated parts, and a first-rate instrument layout. A new four-gauge instrument cluster with LED illumination has black gauges with brilliant red pointers. On the Limited model, the gauges are surrounded by chrome rings.

books

sponsored links

The cargo area features a reversible load floor panel that flips over on itself to create a shallow container, for more versatility in the rear storage compartment. As a system, the new interior is far better organized, more light in feeling and color, and altogether more roomy than the previous version, which had been around since 1993.

To be honest, we didn't like the old Grand Cherokee very much, because we never thought it was very grand. It was small inside, with a dark, confusing interior, too much plastic, really cheap seats, and not much cargo space, but always fun off-road. This new Grand Cherokee erases all the bad stuff about the old version, but keeps the mountain-goat-like off-road performance, finally becoming grand in the process.

The basic Laredo comes standard with the Chrysler-made 210-horsepower single-overhead-cam 3.7-liter V6, borrowed from its sister trucks, the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Ram, with its own five-speed overdrive automatic transmission. The 3.7 replaces the tired, old 4-liter inline six engine that was in the last Grand Cherokee and was a relic from American Motors' inventory of 25 years ago (still used in the Wrangler). The V6 gets an EPA-rated 16/21 mpg City/Highway, while the V8s get 14/21. Both automatics feature the Chrysler/Mercedes-Benz manual override function for the automatic transmission.
The 4.7-liter V8 engine in our test truck was terrific. We don't want to undersell the power and torque of the Hemi, but this smaller, slightly less thirsty V8 engine was a paragon of power and smoothness for around-town and highway driving if you don't live in the mountains and don't usually tow anything, where the Hemi would be best suited. It has a broad torque band, a lovely sound, and an electronic throttle control (drive-by-wire) that's comfortable and easy to use and very precise in those tricky downhill off-road situations. Both V8 engines get a heavy-duty five-speed automatic transmission with a direct fourth gear for towing. The Hemi engine in the Jeep features automatic cylinder deactivation, which shuts down four of the engine's cylinders whenever it detects a steady-state cruise condition, and reactivates them on demand, for up to 20 percent additional fuel economy.

Tow ratings for the Grand Cherokee are 3,500 pounds for the 3.7-liter engine, 6,500 pounds for the 4.7-liter V8, 7,200 pounds for the 5.7-liter Hemi.