An incredible number of people still refer to all unidentified, rugged, off-road type vehicles as ‘Jeeps’. This is a compliment indeed, but then the name has been around since 1941.
This latest Jeep really handles far better than a number of popular saloon cars- Hugh Arnett
A reminder of this is the small original radiator grille and front lamps depicted at the top of the current Jeep Wrangler Sahara windscreen.
Although The Sunday Times Motoring test drove the latest two-door, 2.8 turbo CRD automatic to come to our shores, there is a long wheelbase, four-door version equally at home with less sporting types.
This is quite an innovative vehicle. Admittedly it looks like the stereotype Jeep, sporting a rugged profile with much ‘promise’. However the promise is actually so much more than idle chatter.
Inside the structure is like a well-made road car, except that the warm weather will tempt the owner to turn this delightful piece of motoring history into something more like a very rapid open sporting delight.
On entering the vehicle, everything seemed entirely European and this latest Jeep really handles far better than a number of popular contemporary saloon cars.
It was a genuine delight; a vehicle all enthusiasts should sample at some stage in their motoring adventure.
Normally the Jeep has two-wheel-drive engaged but with its Command-Trac shift-on-the-fly 4WD it can become a most commanding off-road machine.
On test we stayed on supposedly surfaced roads, but as the Jeep is most popular in places like Libya, the current model must truly be able to cope with pretty interesting terrain.
The two-door, five-seat car, is just a little daunting for older, less active types to clamber onto the rear seats, but once there the comfort level is great.
The Jeep absorbs shocks and poor road surfaces like competitors costing far more of your precious euros, and up front the driver’s seat is height adjustable as well as being heated (optional along with the leather seats that we enjoyed).
Air-conditioning, cruise control, power steering and windows, along with a hill start assist, and on automatics a hill descent control, with Electronic Roll Mitigation (ERM), and an Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) with a Hydraulic Assist Brake Booster and Traction Control all go far to really making sure any enthusiast will get the better of adverse conditions.
Obviously, the seat belts working in conjunction with air bags mitigate potential pain when the car stops suddenly.
Underneath there is a fuel tank skid-plate shield and a transfer plate skid plate shield. The heavy-duty suspension and gas filled dampers do their job to perfection and work well with the front and rear stabiliser bars.
Back on board, the tilting steering column provides super adjustment along with the height adjustable driver’ seat and the fact that the front seats recline and the rear seat folds makes for long distances to be covered with the ability for comfortable rest-time to be taken.
In-car entertainment is properly taken care of with Am/Fm radio with RDS/EON and single disc CD player, the noise is emitted through six-speakers and there is also a U-connect phone with voice command.
The short-wheel base two-door tested is only 4,223 mm long, 1877 mm wide, which appears to be a bit misleading as the iconic front wings are invisible to the driver thereby making it seem that the Jeep is probably wider than it is, and she sits with a height of 1,840mm.
All in all, this is a very decent sized vehicle to enjoy on any of our roads lanes or even tracks.
The steering circle, kerb-to-kerb is 10.36 metres, but as the automatic gear change is far quicker than most cars toing and frowing around narrow roads, to reverse the direction of flow is a piece of cake.
All important ground clearance with 17” tyres is 266.7mm at the front and 259.1mm at the rear, and the absorbing fact that at 8km/h the driver can proceed through 482.6mm of water makes the Jeep a conten-der for All Wheel Drive Club events.
Seats up, the maximum load is 142 litres. Seats down, it goes up to a respectable 430 litre.
This is a highly interesting and a very well-constructed, all-terrain vehicle, one to own and enjoy.
Verdict
Comfort
A revelation for this type of motoring experience
Performance
A great turbo diesel tuned to perfection
Cool
It is not only useful, but a great looking and handling experience
Quality
In class really difficult to fault
At a glance
Starting price
€39,900
Top speed
172 km/h
0-100km
12.9 seconds
Economy
Combined cycle 34.9 mpg (8.1 litres per 100 km)
C02
213g/km– Euro 5 compliant.
Engine
Four-cylinders in line displacing 2777cc. Direct injection common rail technology turbo diesel.
Power
197 bhp at 3,600rpm
Maximum torque
Five-speed automatic
Suspension
Live axle, leading arms, track bar, and coil springs, stabiliser bars and gas filled high-pressure dampers. Vented disc at the front. Solid discs at the rear