Video: 2014 Jeep Cherokee

Yes, it looks different, especially for a Jeep. Some people really love it. No shortage of opinions there. And they say, it looks a lot like a Nissan Juke. Cause the Nissan Juke has running lights up high like this and headlights down low. Difference is, in the Juke they're bigger and more prominent. There's already been a change in development. These were originally brighter, bright chrome bezels. They have been smoked out like this to make the upper ones dominant. It really gives it a more traditional look. And I think a better one. Now the profile is kind of nondescript, but I think that's true of most SUV's. A possible exception is the Trailhawk version. This one is a limited. The Trailhawk, which is intended for off-roading, sits about an inch higher, has a much more prominent gray cladding down low, and also has shaved front and rear bumpers to improve the approach and departure angle. So that is the one to choose if you want to go off-roading. The rear end is where things get really nondescript. Most SUV's look more or less the same in the back. This one, I think kind of plain and the way it's scooped out here and the look of the tail lights kind of reminds me of the Ford Escape. Not the best angle, but some people who don't like the front might actually say, this is the best angle. The Cherokee has two big Chrysler group hardware introductions. One is a nine speed automatic transmission. Yes, nine speeds. And the other is a new 3.2 liter version of the Pentastar V6 engine, that's the upgrade engine. The usual Pentastar that's in a whole bunch of other Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge vehicles is a 3.6 liter. The base engine for this car is a 2.4 liter 4-Cylinder. The V6 gives you 271 horsepower, 239 pound-feet of torque and the 4-Cylinder gives you 184 horsepower and 171 pound feet of torque. Now Jeep points out that this vehicle in its most efficient form is 45% more efficient than the Liberty, but the Liberty was a pig, so, let's be serious about this. In actual numbers, the most efficient one with the 4-Cylinder engine is supposed to get about 31 miles per gallon highway, which is not bad for an off-road vehicle. The Cherokee has three different four-wheel drive systems. There is Active Drive I, which is a simple all-wheel drive with no low range. Active Drive II does have a low range for rock crawling, et cetera. It lacks the front and rear axles together. Then there's Active Drive Lock, which is that system essentially with a locking rear differential. Unlike the old Cherokee, in which you had to control everything yourself, this vehicle has the Jeep Selec-Terrain system, which is a knob here, lets you choose among modes like auto, snow, sport, sand and mud. And that changes your transmission settings, four-wheel drive settings, et cetera, to optimize for certain conditions. You can actually get in the Trailhawk version, with Active Drive Lock, a crawl ratio of 56 to one, that is exceptionally high. You could probably climb a mountain without ever stepping on the accelerator pedal. The interior quality is really good. In this limited, you've got these nice bright gauges with a big configurable display between them. You can put what you want there, in terms of information you're getting. You can get two different roof options. You can get a panoramic moonroof like this and you can also get a canvas top that folds back upon itself and that actually opens it up much farther. Previous Cherokees were pretty simple and stripped down. There's no shortage of features on this thing. You've got the optional 8.4 inch Uconnect screen. Eight inches seems the minimum these days, great to have. You can even get a heated steering wheel and I'll point out the Jeep and Chrysler and Dodge products heat the whole thing, 360 degrees. Some luxury brands don't do that. Here in the backseat, I noticed what I considered to be one of the shortcomings of this new model and that is roominess. The driver's seat is all the way back and that gives you a lot of leg room up there. But here's what I'm limited to in terms of leg room. This is a sliding backseat. Typically, they let you give yourself a lot more room than this. This is fully back. All you can do is get less. Headroom also, It's kind of limited. I'm six feet tall, but known to slouch. If I sit up straight, I'm kind of hitting the edge here. If I lean back and kind of hitting the edge here. Why this is a problem? Well, Jeep already has two compact SUV's, the Patriot and the Compass. This one doesn't seem significantly large enough to be what's considered a mid-size SUV. And that's what Jeep calls it. Unfortunately, that shortcoming extends to the cargo area. With the seats down, if the preliminary specifications are correct, this vehicle has less than 50 cubic feet of storage volume, the Compass and the Patriot both have more. Now absolutely the styling of the Cherokee is challenging, but Jeep can't continue to make boxes and Grand Cherokee clones. They gotta mix things up a bit. People who think that this is going to ruin the Jeep brand, don't need to worry. If the original Compass didn't do that, this certainly won't. (car engine roaring)