2019 Jeep Compass vs Jeep Cherokee

What's the difference?

The rebooted Compass Limited is the best proof so far of how far Jeep as come in terms of design and value, but the asking price is still harsh when you consider active safety items remain on the options list and what is offered by competitors.

Regardless, thanks to its overtly 'Jeep' style, posh cabin and off-road capability, it remains a unique choice in a crowded SUV marketplace.

The latest Cherokee hasn’t resonated with buyers of mid-sized SUVs yet, but this facelift may bring some more potential buyers out of the woodwork – especially those looking for something with a bit of off-road ability.

Jeep is working hard to turn its reputation for poor service around as well, and its warranty and service plans are longer than those of the biggest Japanese players.

What you’ll notice immediately about the new Compass is how much it carries that distinct Jeep style. 

Everything is there from the seven-slot grille, to the soft-but-definitely-square angles, to the 'Murica-style 18-inch alloy wheels. The whole package genuinely channels the best parts of the Grand Cherokee, just… shrunken down a full size and a half. It even has matching miniaturized light fixtures in the front.

Our car’s two-tone colour scheme of 'Vocal White' with a black roof looks the business and suits this car to a tee, although at $595 for the premium paint plus $495 for the contrast roof, it adds a sizable bit of hurt to the final bill.

The rear three quarter is not this SUV’s most flattering angle, but I would still argue it looks more resolved than the Cherokee which sits above it and less zany than the Renegade below.

Inside, things are good, too. There are soft-touch materials pretty much everywhere and the dash has a classy sculpted look.

The American-style of the Compass rears its head here with the chunky, leatherbound steering wheel and big bolded fonts strewn about the switchgear. Gloss plastics are mostly tastefully applied throughout, and the matt silver highlights are far better than chrome finish.

My mind wanders to the previous Compass and indeed, generations of Jeep models before which had cabins comprised of unappealing right angles, sub-par leather trim, and truly awful grey plastics.

I’d argue the rebooted Compass – being one of the most recent additions to Jeep’s line-up – has the best cabin the brand offers. It’s more modern and elegantly executed than the Cherokee, while deploying fewer nasty finishes than the smaller Renegade. 

There are some not-so-good parts. The transmission tunnel could do with a little extra padding for the driver’s left leg, the seats are far less comfortable than they appear, and the thick C-pillars combined with the small rear window for a noticeable blind-spot.

Thank the Lord, the ugliness is no more. There’s a difference between unusual and terrible, and the previous Cherokee - in my eyes at least - had fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every single branch on the way down. Hard.

Jeep was all too aware that the challengingly styled Cherokee had a perception problem; in fact, Fiat Chrysler Australia chief Steve Zanlunghi told us that the number one reason people chose not to buy it was because of the way it looked.

So gone is the divisive split and inverted headlight design, replaced with something that is much more closely related to the Grand Cherokee. Narrow LED headlights and a classic seven-slot grille are complemented by a new lower bumper bar and LED daytime lamps, while there’s also a new composite bonnet.

New LED tail-lights and a composite tailgate join a new bumper skin on the rear, while roof rails are now standard, along with a push-open fuel door and capless filler. It now looks much more resolved, although the excess of chrome trim on the nose does age the car prematurely.

While the interior basics are still the same, Jeep claims it’s worked hard on the ‘touch and feel’ stuff; better quality plastics, bigger oddments trays and nicer trims.

Vinyl replaces cloth on the door cards, and the electronic park brake surround has been rejigged to increase the size of the phone tray, but other than that, the interior remains largely as it was.

Being a not-quite-small SUV the Compass provides decent space for front and rear seat passengers alike. Headroom is a tad tight, making me wonder how much worse it could get with the panoramic sunroof option ($1950) but front passenger space is otherwise great. 

The seats are leather bound, but perhaps through lack of padding, side bolstering or some other design flaw, they simply weren’t as comfortable as the average-looking ones from my previous test car, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

One thing of particular note in the Compass is its plethora of storage areas. There are big cupholders in the doors and centre console, an armrest storage box, a decent sized glove box, netting on the inside of the transmission tunnel on the passenger’s side and, my favourite feature, a hidden compartment under the passenger’s seat. It is small, but perfect for securing small objects that you don’t want loose around the cabin.

Rear passengers are treated to the same good-looking but average comfort seats, two air vents in the back of the centre console (big win) and impressively a fully-sized 240-volt power outlet alongside a USB port.

Legroom back there is decent, I had plenty of room behind my (182cm) driving position, while headroom is still questionable for taller specimens.

The boot comes in at a rather generous 438 litres, It’s one of the largest in the class, slightly bigger than the Nissan Qashqai and Eclipse Cross. Although, the Eclipse Cross can best it with its variable second-row seating boosting its available space to 448L.

Due to the boot’s design, the solid cargo cover is a nightmare. Even with IKEA-style instructions stickered to it, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to pry it out of its position.

Max capacity with the seats down isn’t stated but shouldn’t present an issue. Space is hampered slightly by the audio system’s base taking up a corner portion behind the right-hand wheelarch.

The Compass Limited has a space-saver spare under the boot floor. Unfortunate for a vehicle with off-road capabilities.

Diesel all-wheel drive Compass variants are capable of towing 1500kg with a braked trailer or 450kg unbraked.

The Cherokee is one of the larger medium SUVs in the burgeoning segment, with about 80mm extra length over the CX-5.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t extend to more room inside the cabin. The second row of seats can be a cramped place to sit, especially if the occupants are even slightly taller than average.

Throw in a small rear door aperture and – if you have one fitted – a crazily low sunroof headliner, and the back can soon becomes cramped for teens and grown-ups. The seat backs can be reclined to help out here, though.

On the up side, the Cherokee has three ISOFIX baby seat mounts, which is unusual, as well as rear vents and a pair of cupholders in a pull-down armrest.

Bottles can also be added to the four doors, and there’s a decently sized centre console bin behind two front cupholders.

Front seat occupants fare well enough, with decently bolstered and supportive seats. However, the driver’s position is more than a little compromised, thanks to a huge, bulbous protrusion on the transmission tunnel that gets in the way of your left leg, and there’s nowhere to rest your left foot. Surely a plastic footrest for RHD markets wouldn’t be a big expense.

The wheel is comfortable enough, but could extend towards the driver another 15 or 20mm, and I inadvertently opened the powered tailgate a couple of times when trying to start the car; both buttons are round and located in places where such buttons should be.

Boot capacity has been increased by 84 litres to 784 litres by way of a two-level boot floor, though bear in mind this is measured via the SAE standard, and not the VDA standard used by virtually everyone else.

A full-size steel wheel serves as a spare for all variants.

Jeep claims it’s in a space called ‘access premium’ – think premium economy – that offers extra kit on its cars at a more affordable price. It sees itself rivalling the likes of the Honda HR-V and Hyundai Santa Fe, rather than the CX-5.

The updated Cherokee will maintain the status quo when it comes to the model mix, with the entry level Sport keeping its $35,950 (plus ORCs) price tag.

For that, you’ll get a five-seat SUV with a 130kW 2.4-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, backed up by a nine-speed automatic gearbox driving the front wheels.

As well, you’ll also score LED headlights and tail-lights, a 7.0-inch 'Uconnect' multimedia system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, leather-wrapped wheel and gear knob, roof rails and a comprehensive suite of driver aids over and above the outgoing model.

That suite of driver aids includes high-speed forward collision warning with AEB and pedestrian emergency braking, advanced lane departure warning and rear cross-traffic alert.

It only has cloth trim, regular lights and wipers and single-zone air, though, so you’ll need to look at the Longitude ($41,950 plus ORCs) for more of the good stuff.

The Trailhawk makes up about 10 per cent of the model sales at present

It adds AWD to the 2.4-litre four-cylinder powertrain, as well as auto lights and wipers, a multi-mode traction management set-up, powered front seats, parking sensors, a powered tailgate with foot activation (only if the wind is blowing the right way and Jupiter is in crescent moon ascending, if our brief and fruitless testing is anything to go by) and push-button start with keyless entry.

Add $5000 to get into the Limited, and you’ll get a proper low-range 4x4 drivetrain hooked up to a 3.2-litre V6 petrol engine, leather upholstery with heated and vented front seats, 18-inch rims, a larger 8.4-inch multimedia system with sat nav and a colour screen between the dash dials, along with adaptive cruise control and auto parking.

Topping the tree is the $48,450 Trailhawk, Jeep’s self-rated offroad-ready version of the Cherokee that complements the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee Trailhawks.

It’s the more rugged version of the Limited, and its triple-diff 4x4 drivetrain also includes a low-range transfer case, the ability to lock all three diffs, hill ascent and descent control, taller suspension, unique bumpers and underbody skid plates, offroad-spec rims and leather/cloth seats.

The Trailhawk makes up about 10 per cent of the model sales at present – given there’s only been 324 sold all year so far (as opposed to 16,000 for the CX-5), it’s still not a big number.

On balance, the Cherokee starts further up the ladder price-wise than its rivals, but there’s value to be found in the additional off-road performance – and the new additions have come at zero cost over the old car.

There is a choice of two engines in the Compass range, a 2.4-litre 'Tigershark' turbo-petrol, or the 2.0-litre 'MultiJet II' turbo-diesel engine.

Our car was fitted with the latter. It produces 125kW/350Nm which stands up pretty well against its thin list of rivals. 

Limited and Trailhawk variants have their engines mated to a nine-speed torque converter automatic and are '4x4' via Jeep’s 'Active Drive' all-wheel drive system.

The system disconnects the rear axle when it is not in use for fuel economy but is capable of sending 100 per cent of drive to any wheel if need be. It has four off-road modes plus the ability to permanently engage the 4x4 system. A significant addition.

The 2.4-litre 'Tigershark' engine makes 130kW and just 229Nm of torque, while the heavier 3.2-litre 'Pentastar' V6 offers up 200kW/315Nm.

All variants use the Chrysler-designed ZF-sourced nine-speeder, which has seen its transmission maps updated for this facelift.

There are effectively three drivetrain types; front- and all-wheel drive for the four-cylinder Sport and Longitude, and 4x4 for the Limited and Trailhawk, both of which use the V6.

The 4x4 system is 8.0kg lighter than previously, too.

Hill descent and ascent is standard on the V6-powered cars, while 'Select Terrain' offers up Auto, Snow, Sport and Sand/Mud settings. Trailhawk adds extra elements including a rock crawling mode, as well as a mechanical locking rear diff, and electronic locks for the centre and front diffs.

Towing isn’t exactly a forte, though all will deal with a small van or boat. The base car will haul 1500kg, while the other three can handle 2200kg of braked trailer each.

Over almost two weeks of testing including a 300km round trip to Wollombi from Sydney I landed on a fuel figure of 8.0L/100km against the official combined figure of 5.7L/100km.

 A miss for sure, but about an average real-world figure for most SUVs in this segment.

You can fill the Compass with 60-litres of diesel. There's also a stop-start system which was not too intrusive, but unlike most other systems on the market you don't have to turn it off every time you switch the car on.

Claimed fuel consumption figure for the smallest engine is 8.5 litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy cycle, 9.8L/100km on the V6 Limited and 10.2L/100km for the Trailhawk.

A 90km highway stint in the latter saw a dash figure of 12.1L/100km, while a similar distance in the Limited yielded 11.8L/100km.

All variants use a 60-litre fuel tank, and will accept regular unleaded fuel. The lightest Cherokee weighs 1590kg and the heaviest is 1889kg.

The Compass makes for a reasonably comfortable, but surprisingly quiet and refined drive.

The diesel engine is so quiet and distant, it is actually difficult to tell it apart from its petrol equivalent behind the wheel. Road noise, too, is well filtered out giving the excellent audio system exclusive domain over passenger’s eardrums.

Although the seat could have been more comfortable, the suspension is excellent. 

The Compass has struts all around and Jeep has paid special attention to the shock absorbers, with the car featuring a 'frequency selective damping system'.

It truly works. The Compass feels good in the corners and absorbs bumps without shudders making their way into the cabin. I wouldn’t describe the feel as ‘stiff’, it’s more of a comfort tune.

While the engine has suitable amounts of power, it requires a solid prod of the accelerator to extract it. There’s something about the throttle response which feels reluctant.

After some driving, I put this down to the transmission. It feels as though it lingers for too long in the first three or so gears. While this is great down hills (and, I imagine, off-road) it’s frustrating in traffic where the Compass will suddenly start engine braking the moment you let your foot of the accelerator. It makes for an unnecessarily jerky drive experience in low-speed situations.

Out on the open road though, the Compass behaves well and is a pleasure to helm. The steering is linear and responsive, and the cruise control system does a fantastic job of sticking to its prescribed speed. 

Over a 200km-odd drive route in the Limited and Trailhawk V6s, the Cherokee reinforces its position as a more rugged and ready SUV. It lacks the absolute precision and poise of more road-oriented rigs, but – and particularly in the case of the Trailhawk – shows its chops when the going gets a bit steep and slippery.

The V6 I sampled is adequate rather than enthusiastic, and it doesn’t make soul-stirring noises, but it’s linear and reasonably responsive underfoot. I found the throttle to be a bit sticky underfoot, which made smooth pull-aways a pain at times, but its relationship with the nine-speed auto is a good one.

The Cherokee’s electrically assisted steering verges on being too light and vague, but body roll suppression is really impressive, especially across the front axle, while ride quality is excellent.

A quick – or slow, in this case – lap of a genuinely rugged off-road course shows that the Trailhawk is more than a rebadging exercise. With bespoke bumpers, underbody protection and proper off-road tyres, the smaller form factor of the Cherokee Trailhawk would make for a very handy full time off-roader for a couple, if ultra-long range touring wasn’t a consideration.

Active forward collision warning and AEB, advanced lane departure wanring and rear cross traffic alert are now standard across the four-model line-up. Adaptive cruise is optional on the Longitude and standard on the Limited and Trailhawk.

Jeep is currently in a wait-and-see situation with its ANCAP rating

LED headlights are also standard across the line, as well as six airbags, rear view camera with guidelines and parking sensors (from the Longitude up).

Jeep is currently in a wait-and-see situation with its ANCAP rating, which currently sits at a maximum five-star rating under last year’s rankings, but it expects to be issued a similar score from the safety body.

Jeep covers the Compass with a five-year/100,000km warranty. That’s about the same length as major competitors, although most offer unlimited kilometres on top.

Servicing is required once a year or 20,000km, whichever comes first. It costs $425 and $850 every second year, averaging out to an expensive $595 yearly average over the life of the five-year warranty.

Jeep offers a five-year/100,000km warranty program that includes five years of roadside service and fixed price servicing.

Service intervals are 12,000km or 12 months, and five years of servicing on all drivetrains equals $2650 (August 2019).