What Car Shoppers Need to Know
- A new, powerful and unusually growly turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine replaces the V-6 in most of the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee lineup — and it’s a powerful player.
- While the engine has plenty of power when called for, drivability suffers somewhat due to an automatic transmission that’s hesitant to shift.
There’s a new 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee about to hit showrooms, and if you have a hard time telling it from the 2025 version, that’s OK — it honestly doesn’t look all that different. The big news for ‘26 is under the hood, as Jeep has outfitted its volume sales leader with a remarkable new engine: a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. That might not sound too unusual, but this thing makes 324 horsepower and 332 pounds-feet of torque — V-8-like power numbers from a tiny turbo 2.0-liter, making it one of the most power-dense engines ever created. It has a better power-to-volume ratio than Jeep parent automaker Stellantis’ supercharged Hellcat V-8, and it enables the Grand Cherokee to maintain its tow rating of 6,200 pounds.
But my bigger question upon sitting in the plush driver’s seat of a new ‘26 Grand Cherokee Summit was: How does it drive?
Related: 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee: Lovely When Loaded
That Curious New Engine
- Takeaway: The sound is piped in and acceleration is formidable, which is plentiful if not exactly instantly accessible thanks to a lazy transmission.
Fire up the new Grand Cherokee, and the “Hurricane 4 Turbo” engine comes to life with a growling rasp that sounds utterly unlike any four-cylinder engine I’ve ever heard. That’s your first indication Jeep is piping some electronic sounds into this butch SUV’s cabin to disguise the four-cylinder’s small size. Get underway, and the noise only gets louder and more prominent — to the point that both my passenger and I were looking at each other wondering if it was supposed to sound like this at low parking-lot speeds. Get into the gas pedal a little more, and the piped-in notes make it sound like a raspy, throaty inline-six-cylinder engine. It’s not unpleasant at all, just surprisingly prominent in this top-spec SUV and brought in to ostensibly sound just as formidable as a Hemi V-8.
What actually is formidable is the acceleration, which is plentiful if not exactly instantly accessible. The culprit here seems to be a lazy eight-speed automatic transmission that’s slow to downshift when you keep the drive mode in Auto. On the hills and canyons of Malibu, Calif., the powertrain requires you to really dig into the accelerator pedal for longer than you’d expect in order to keep the engine in its power range and to foment a little forward momentum. Slip the drive mode selector into Sport and all of those problems evaporate, with the transmission downshifting much more eagerly and keeping the revs up for a much more responsive driving experience.
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If you’re driving the Grand Cherokee around town on flat suburban grid streets, it’s not really as big of a problem, although the need to dig deeper into the accelerator pedal’s travel is noticeable. When traversing dips and significant inclines, you definitely do notice the lazy transmission kickdown. The engine doesn’t seem to be the culprit here; it’s not turbo lag that’s causing this more-tepid-than-expected initial response, as the engine proves to be more than capable of quick, powerful moves when it’s not being held at low revs for efficiency’s sake. The engine uses a variable-geometry turbocharger, and Jeep claims that 90% of peak torque is available from 2,600-5,600 rpm, which isn’t bad. But the transmission keeps the engine out of that power band in normal driving to maximize fuel economy, and that leads to a lazy-feeling powertrain. Put your foot to the floor, however, and the Grand Cherokee leaps forward with significant enthusiasm, making quick work of stoplight getaways and highway on-ramps.
The Other Changes Keep It Nice
- Takeaway: There are some mild styling changes upfront for the new Grand Cherokee, and Jeep has also simplified the trim lineup for 2026.
There are some mild styling changes upfront for the new Grand Cherokee, with a revised grille and front bumper, and there’s a mildly updated interior that brings a new 12.3-inch touchscreen running the latest version of Jeep’s excellent Uconnect multimedia system. Jeep has also simplified the trim lineup for 2026, dropping a number of trims and reducing the build combinations to make the SUV easier to both build and buy. Anyone needing a three-row version can opt for the Grand Cherokee L, which is a longer version with extra room that’s available across the trim spectrum.
Three core trim levels are available for 2026: Laredo, Limited and Summit. There are additional variants of these trims, so there’s also a Laredo X and Laredo Altitude, each with more equipment. The old 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 is still present in the Laredo and Laredo X, with the new turbo 2.0-liter Hurricane four-cylinder engine entering the lineup with the Laredo Altitude. The engine is standard on the Limited, as well as the Limited’s two variants: Limited Reserve and Limited Altitude. And if you want the best-equipped Grand Cherokee you can get, that’s the Summit, which pretty much comes loaded. Jeep has also added a couple of new paint colors with Copper Shino, Fathom Blue and Steel Blue, finally moving away from the mostly grayscale color palette the Grand Cherokee has had for the last few years.
Will You Miss the Hemi?
- Takeaway: The new Hurricane turbo four-cylinder is a fantastic engine and makes for a Grand Cherokee that’s impressive to drive (albeit with a curiously tuned transmission), but it’s likely Jeep is working to bring the Hemi back thanks to customer demand.
Probably. It seems that most Jeep, Dodge and Ram customers do miss their Hemi V-8 engines, and that’s to be expected — the brands have conditioned their customers to demand a big, powerful V-8 in their ride, and they’ve happily ponied up for one. Now that they’re gone (the Hemi V-8 was last offered in the Grand Cherokee for the 2023 model year), they want them back.
The new Hurricane turbo four-cylinder is a fantastic engine and makes for a Grand Cherokee that’s impressive to drive (albeit with a curiously tuned transmission). Even so, I’d bet Jeep is currently working feverishly to get the Hemi back into the Grand Cherokee. But just like in the Ram 1500 pickup truck, this excellent Hurricane engine option is worth considering — and this one even sounds the business, too.
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