Jeep Cherokee 2008 News

Gone are the rounded shapes, and instead there’s a more upright glasshouse, squared-off sculpting on the fascia, and – with the signature seven-slot grille and trapezoidal wheel arches – a strong echo of the original XJ Cherokee that first arrived here in 1994.It’s also larger – and smaller. It arrives with wheels pushed out further to give a 45mm wider and 26mm longer wheelbase, and 25cm more usable length in the strengthened monocoque body, but measures 3mm less overall.This is mainly because US regulations have moved the fuel tank further forward of the rear axle, leaving room for the full-sized spare wheel to come off the tailgate and be mounted underneath the vehicle.This has also allowed designers to ditch the swing-gate in favour of a two-piece liftgate that is more workable when you’re trying to load the cargo area in parked traffic.Cargo area has lengthened 84mm at floor level, and the seats fold flatter to make the space more versatile, while a recess in the back of the passenger seat and a reversible lidded bin in the back of the vehicle add some clever load options.The approach angle has been lowered to 28.2 until you click off the removable front spoiler which raises it back to 38.2. The breakover is marginally increased at 21.7 and the departure angle is slightly lower at 30.3.Towing capacity is about the same at 2270kg braked, which is enough to tow a decent fishing rig. Add a fording depth that has been increased to 51cm by tucking the air intake, alternator and emissions control system up higher, and you’re ready to have fun.The engines are largely unchanged, but have been tweaked to produce more power for less fuel.The 3.7-litre V6 now develops 151kW at 5200rpm and 314Nm of torque at 4000rpm, a rise of 1kW and 7Nm, but has trimmed its official fuel figure to 11.7L/100km – a cut of 0.5L.The 2.8-litre CRD turbodiesel (a $4000 premium over the petrol) has been given a bigger lift, and now produces 10kW more to hit130kW at 3800rpm and a whopping 460Nm – up 60Nm – at a low 2000rpm. It’s cut the fuel consumption by 0.6L to 9.4L/100km.The petrol engine is mated to an upgraded four-speed automatic and the diesel to the Mercedes-Benz sourced five-speed with sequential mode that is used in the Grand Cherokee and 300C. The manual transmission option in the previous diesel has been dropped.The Cherokee now gets Jeep’s SelecTrac II all-wheel drive system, which means each transmission drives the rear wheels in normal conditions but – with an electro-mechanical wet plate clutch – is switchable to either 4WD Auto’s 42:48 rear bias or 4WD Low’s 50/50 locked split.The drivetrains are pushing heavier packages, with the petrol putting on 106kg and the CRD just 32kg. Some of this has come from the stronger and larger body, and some from the extra equipment.The KK Cherokee will only arrive in the base Sport and upper Limited spec, with the Renegade level having been dropped.The $39,990 Sport level has 16” alloy wheels, stain-resistant upholstery, cruise control, immobiliser and six-speaker, six-stacker CD/DVD system and now gets rear parking assist and automatic climate control airconditioning.The electronic stability program has three modes — on (using stability, traction, throttle, roll mitigation and ABS), partial (deactivates throttle management) and off (retains only traction and ABS) — and also has a brake lock differential calibration that automatically kicks in for offroad use.Hill start assist, hill descent control and tyre pressure monitoring add to the Cherokee’s capability, and help you avoid situations where you might need the bigger brakes it now comes with, or the twin front and side curtain airbags – the latter of which are set up to activate when they sense a rollover is imminent.Moving up to the $45,990 Limited spec gets you 18” wheels, automatic headlights, leather and brightwork trimmings, brushed stainless steel door sills, six-way power adjustment and lumbar on the driver’s seat, heating for both front seats, and three more speakers for the audio system.Options include the $3000 MyGIG 20GB hard drive audio/nav/communication system, $2000 power sunroof or $3000 full-length canvas sunroof.In the six years the original XJ Cherokee was on the market here, it sold 18,644 vehicles. That was followed up by 12,346 between 2001-2007 for the KJ, which trailed off a little over the past couple of years.Jeep is reluctant to make sales predictions for the newcomer, with managing director Gerry Jenkins saying only that they’d “like to return to the figures of the better years”.ON THE ROADThe extra room in the Cherokee is noticeable from the start, and the cabin feels airy and uncluttered, with large sensible dials and controls. There are lots of little storage nooks, but while the glove box is reportedly bigger it’s still uselessly small. However the bin under the lightly padded centre armrest is happily cavernous enough to lose small children in if you need to.Tilt but no reach adjustment on the steering column meant it was tricky to find the right driving position.And the front seats at first seemed a bit on the flat side, but after several hours of bashing over sandy tracks they proved to be extremely comfortable and supportive, and even the base spec that had no lumbar adjustment didn’t result in tired backs.Most of the interior surfaces looked like the hard plastic would wipe down fairly easily, but there were variations in some of the gap lines that disappointed the eye.Visibility seems to have improved, especially in right hand cornering – possibly due to a clever angle and a bit of twisting of the A-pillar that slims the view angle. There was wind rush around that area at higher speeds, and some tyre hum, but the cabin was fairly quiet otherwise.The power delivery from the petrol engine was smooth and progressive, and gear changes in the fully automatic transmission were well sorted. In the 4WD modes it tackled stretches of deep sandy tracks and ruts with confidence and the engine was happy to rev up for the more difficult sections.However where the petrol engine handled the terrain easily, the diesel did it effortlessly and just calmly ambled through every task we put to it.It has truckloads of torque low down to get you through most situations, and coupled with the sequential mode of the transmission this also came in handy for overtaking on the bitumen, although you had to allow for a couple of seconds lag in each shift.But the really amazing feature was the performance of the suspension system – an independent double wishbone front and five-link solid axle rear set-up – with a great rebound damping coupled with an ability to absorb badly corrugated surfaces in the dirt. We expected a bit of body roll once we got back on to sealed road, but what did appear was surprisingly fairly controlled.Clearance in the rough was pretty good, but the acoustic `skid pan’ underneath the vehicle can fall foul of embedded branches and other nasties, so if you’re going to get serious it’s worthwhile looking at a heavy duty replacement.We didn’t get the chance at this early stage to go rock-crawling, but the diesel’s ability to walk the torque suggests that it would be the preferred option if that’s the terrain you prefer.Unlike some other offroaders – that have become so `dial-up’ that you may as well be watching a movie – the Cherokee still gives you a drive that is involving, but with enough assisting technology to prevent it being exhausting.The impression we were left with is that with either drivetrain the new model offers more than the outgoing one – more room, more comfort and more ability. Overall, that adds up to more fun. Jeep KK CherokeePRICE: from $39,990DRIVETRAINS: 151kW/314Nm 3.7-litre V6 with four-speed auto (11.7L/100km). 130kW/460Nm trubodiesel with five-speed sequential auto (9.4L/100km)DRIVE: normal rear wheel drive switchable to either 42:48 4WD Auto or 50:50 locked 4WD Low. 

Chrysler will axe four models next year in a global cost-cutting plan.The vehicles to go include the Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible, Chrysler Crossfire sportscar, Chrysler Pacifica SUV and the Dodge Magnum (a wagon version of the 300C sedan).Australia only imports the PT Cruiser convertible and Crossfire.DaimlerChrysler Australia/Pacific PR manager Jerry Stamoulis emphasised that the PT Cruiser sedan would remain and that the cabrio was “only low volume; about 10 a month”.However, he admitted the loss of the Crossfire would be a blow.“Crossfire is the biggest blow for us because it's a very attractive car, drives well and had a positive response from media and public,” he said. “But as yet we have received no date as such for these to be cut.”While cutting its cloth to fit a suspected worsening in the US economic climate, Chrysler will next year add four models.There will be two new Dodges — the Journey minivan and Challenger large-medium sedan — plus two new hybrid SUV models — the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango.Stamoulis said the Challenger was in left-hand drive only.“So that is not a plan at all at this stage,” he said.“It is early days for discussing the hybrids. They are developing the hybrids for the US, but there are no specific dates for us as yet.“The Dodge Journey we are working on bringing to Australia in 2008, but they have not officially said whether it will be released here.“At this stage it is looking likely for later in 2008.”Stamoulis said Chrysler's Australian portfolio would not suffer from the loss of two models.“It's not as if we don't have a decent portfolio,” he said.“We've had five new models this year — the Sebring, Avenger, Compass, Patriot and Nitro — and the sixth will be Sebring Cabrio in December, so essentially we've brought in six new cars this year and are losing two in the next 18 months.”Chrysler Australia will also re-introduce the new Voyager and launch the Jeep Cherokee in February.Global Chrysler chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli said the impending model cuts reflected an expected reduction in sales next year.The new round of cutbacks follows an earlier announcement that Chrysler planned to chop 85,000 units from its fourth-quarter production plans.“These actions reflect our new customer-driven philosophy and allow us to focus our resources on new, more profitable and appealing products,” he said.The cuts will lead to a loss of 12,000 jobs in American factories.Nardelli said their plans were in addition to cutting 13,000 jobs by the three-year Recovery and Transformation Plan announced in February.