Car Reviews
Jeep’s Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve – RECALLING OUR JEEP HISTORY
Jeep’s Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve
RECALLING OUR JEEP HISTORY
It was 30+ years ago that the execs at what was Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep executed one of the absolutely great automotive intros in a century of product intros. For those arriving at Detroit’s Cobo Hall at the same time as the planned intro, there wasn’t a new Grand Cherokee on the Cobo stage; instead, an early example of Jeep’s all-new SUV was negotiating the steps of Cobo and, once atop those steps, crashed through a plate glass window to begin the presentation. Not only was the intro singularly dramatic, it provided a clear idea of just how far Chrysler/Jeep management would go to avoid using union labor…
No glass was broken in the launch of the 5th-generation Grand Cherokee in 2022, but the middle-of-the-market perception of the Grand Cherokee was – at the very least – aggressively tweaked. Even the entry-level Laredo starts with what Car and Driver magazine describes as a ‘Jeep premium’, and our test Grand Cherokee, a Summit Reserve (no less) boasts a window sticker on the north side of $70K. In short, shopping for a Jeep is no longer for the faint of heart, and it helps immeasurably if you have both a stout wallet and an almost-four-digit credit score.
With that elevated window sticker comes an elevated presence. On a wheelbase of almost 117 inches, the 2024 Grand Cherokee stretches some 193.5 inches, boasts a width of 77.5 inches and weighs, in standard V6 form, almost 4,900 pounds. In comparison, that first ’93 model GC sat on a wheelbase of 106 inches, was 177 inches long and only 69 inches wide. And in V8 form weighed but 4,000 pounds. For both tight trails and drive-thru windows it was perfect in our pre-Ozempic world.
I’ll confess to liking the appearance of the ’24 Grand Cherokee, which is good, given that I see one on our drive most mornings. My wife Tina is behind the wheel of her third Grand Cherokee, beginning with a ’98 Laredo and moving from it to an ’06 Hemi-equipped Limited. Despite having no interest in testing the Grand Cherokee’s offroad chops, Tina likes the perception of Jeep’s rugged, offroad capability. And as her income grew over the last 25 years, so did her appetite for comfort. Happily, Jeep has been there for her.
Jeep’s Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve delivers that comfort in spades. Perched on ‘Palermo Leather’ seats, driver and passengers face a 10.1-inch touchscreen offering Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Jeep Connect. And if you live in the snow belt – or like my wife, are chilly ALL of the time! – you’ll benefit from heated front and rear seats, along with a heated steering wheel. And if, like me, your uncomfortably warm MOST of the time, the front seats are also ventilated. Visually, that Palermo Leather is perforated, and its warm tone is accentuated by warm wood. With that, the one visual disconnect with the wood trim is the mismatch of grains between the driver’s side door and passenger door; you know it’s from the same type of tree, but it ain’t the same tree!
Beyond the accouterments is the space. A 2-row Grand Cherokee provides most (if not all) of what a family would need for parents and their offspring – or, for that matter, parents and their parents. This is a generously proportioned environment, and beyond the passenger volume of 145 cubic feet is the 38 cubic feet of storage space behind the rear seat. And if you need more, Jeep’s Grand Cherokee L gives you more wheelbase and a third row; it may be the perfect solution for those thinking they need a Tahoe…but don’t want a frickin’ Tahoe!
Under the hood Jeep provides two choices; regrettably, an updated Hemi V8 isn’t one of them. Our test vehicle’s very conventional 3.6 liter V6 is the safe, predictably choice, and with an EPA estimate of 19 City/26 Hwy/22 Combined is fairly reasonable if driven moderately. Again, in testing by Car and Driver the magazine’s staff obtained 22 on their highway loop, and but 14 in their let’s-grab-a-Starbucks driving. And 14 is what we get in that ’06 Grand Cherokee Hemi.
For those of you wanting to feel green in your 6,000 pounds of SUV, opt for the Grand Cherokee 4xe, with about 26 miles of all-electric range when fully charged and a high-20s estimate when running on gas. This is perfect if your commute or daily errand running is under 30 miles, less so if – like us – your school run is a 45-mile roundtrip; fully half of that distance is in gas mode, since you’ll have depleted the battery on the outbound leg.
You’ll not confuse the V6 with our Hemi V8, but the Car and Driver team hit 60 in 7.4 seconds, while the Jeep’s governor allowed a top speed of 117. And when compared to our plug-in hybrid the V6 feels downright nimble, given that its 4,900 pounds of unladen weight is some 800 pounds less than the 4xe’s curb weight. In a perfect world we’d still be able to buy a V6 diesel from Jeep, but – as you’d know – we’re far removed from a perfect world.
As this is written we’re not parking the Jeep inside, nor are we recharging the battery, ’cause Jeep tells us the battery could self-ignite. And if it ignites not only do we lose the Jeep (and possibly the house), but I will most certainly lose my boxed collection of Road & Track.
My favorite Grand Cherokee remains our first Grand Cherokee, the ’98 Laredo. But I’ve gotten accustomed to the larger dimensions of our ’23 and, of course, it’s greater comfort. And with a planned move putting us closer to our grandson’s school, we’ll buy gas only occasionally; that’s if, of course, the thing hasn’t self-ignited in our driveway.
