Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk 2014 review

We turn the spotlight on the car world's newest and brightest stars as we ask the questions to which you want the answers. But there's only one question that really needs answering would you buy one?

What is it?

The eye-catching Trailhawk is Jeep's top of the line, five-seat mid-sized Cherokee. With its futuristic styling, they've really gone out on a limb with this one - but it might just work (it did for Land Rover).

How much?

With a four-tier lineup, prices for Cherokee start from $33,500 with the Trailhawk rounding out the field at $47,500. There's a two-wheel drive entry model plus three four-wheel drive models all with different four wheel drive systems.

They all seat five and all come with a version of Uconnect, a multimedia touch screen that controls the vehicle functions - 12.7cm in Sport and Longitude and 21.3cm for the others.

What are competitors?

Good question. Not sure what other SUV offers the best of both worlds, at least for this kind of price - with both good on and off road performance. Land Rover's Freelander springs to mind, but it does not have low range.

What's under the bonnet?

A smaller version of the previous Pentastar V6, 3.2 litres in size with sequential injection that delivers 200kW of power and 316Nm of torque, the latter from 4400 revs. It's the first SUV in the world to be equipped with a 9 speed auto which in this case is sourced from ZF Services.

The extra cogs three of which are overdrive are said to provide fuel efficiency gains, refined shifting and enhanced on and off road driving performance.

How does it go?

Plenty of get up and go as you might expect. But the throttle in our test vehicle was touchy and it is easy to spin the wheels, traction or no traction control.

All new suspension features Mac struts at front and four-links with trailing arms at the rear, which provides superior ride quality. The Selec-Terrain four wheel drive system makes its first appearance in this model. It features up to five selectable modes for optimal traction: Auto, Snow, Sand/Mud, Sport and Rock. Auto works just fine and Trailhawk also adds a locking rear diff and is rated to tow a 2.2 tonne load.

Is it economical?

Jeep claims it's 20 per cent more economical than before. All models feature rear-axle disconnect, which kicks in when four-wheel-drive is not required to reduce energy loss and improves fuel efficiency. With a 60-litre tank fuel consumption is a claimed 10.0 litres/100km,and we were getting 10.8 after 400km.

Is it green?

Gets 3.5 stars from the Government's Green Vehicle Guide (benchmark Prius gets 5)

Is it safe?

Yes. Gets five stars from ANCAP. Comes with seven airbags plus Blind-spot Monitoring, Rear Crosspath Detection, Forward Collision Warning Plus, LaneSense Lane Departure Warning Plus, and a reversing camera with dynamic grid lines.

Is it comfortable?

Not bad. Seating position is good and the seats are supportive.  We were impressed with the way it was able to smooth out the bumps off road.

The "Trail Rated" badge on the side means the vehicle is designed to perform in a variety of challenging off-road conditions. For the record it has 221mm of ground clearance.

What's it like to drive?

Remarkably refined in some respects, especially for an SUV with low range and excellent off road credentials. BUT the transmission in our test vehicle was terrible, with a nasty habit thumping into gear with a jolt.

One of the 4WD boys must have given this a damn good hiding - we can't imagine they're all like this? On a minor note there's so many warning systems the beeping drives you crazy and we were forced to turn them off.

Is it value for money?

This one is slightly exey but you do get a lot of car for your money.

This one is slightly exey but you do get a lot of car for your money. Comes with a mind boggling array of gadgets and the touchscreen is simply huge. There's also climate air and heated leather seats, plus satellite navigation with camera warnings and a premium sound system.