{"id":490921,"date":"2010-03-30T19:36:41","date_gmt":"2010-03-30T23:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autoshow.autotrader.ca\/?p=13285"},"modified":"2010-03-30T19:36:41","modified_gmt":"2010-03-30T23:36:41","slug":"2010-jeep-grand-cherokee-limited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/490921","title":{"rendered":"2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited"},"content":{"rendered":"

Still a Jeep, Sort Of<\/strong>
\nMary Chapman, Canadian Auto Press<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

*featured make=’Jeep’ model=’Grand Cherokee Limited’
\n*relatedNew make=’Chevrolet’ model=’Equinox’
\n*relatedNew make=’Toyota’ model=’4-Runner’
\n*relatedUsed make=’Nissan’ model=’Murano’
\n*relatedUsed make=’Subaru’ model=’Tribeca’<\/div>\n

“It’s a Jeep Thing… You Wouldn’t Understand.”<\/p>\n

I used to know what that meant. I even had a license plate holder bearing the slogan on an old Wrangler I kept around. We owners were smug about Jeep’s vaunted off-road performance and, mostly, the brand’s whole spare, rough-hewn, proletariat thing. So what if you bounced around a bit, or that you bought seat pillows from Canadian Tire. These were fun workhorses, not to be confused with anything else.<\/p>\n

\"2010<\/a><\/p>\n

2010 Grand Cherokee Limited<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And now…<\/p>\n

I’m not wholly sure what Jeep\u2019s image is, except that it appears to be more inclusive.<\/p>\n

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. And besides, in this economy, it’s probably smart to appeal to as many wallets as possible.<\/p>\n

Take the 2010 Grand Cherokee Limited. Ever since its debut in 1992, the SUV has prided itself on being able to conquer any driving condition, whether on- or off-road.<\/span> This latest iteration continues a tradition of innovation with new technologies and refinement, and matches up nicely with other five-passenger sport-utes. Five years into its last overhaul, it rides and handles better than ever.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness it’s styled the same. I love the long, clean lines, the signature seven-slot grille and trapezoidal wheel openings. My options package included nice 18-inch aluminum chrome-clad wheels and all-terrain tires. The interior is a little less impressive, considering Jeep’s intentions. The cabin feels somewhat claustrophobic, and there’s not much headroom for this six-one frame. But my leather-trimmed seats were comfortable enough. There’s 60\/40 split seating in back, where three adults can sit, albeit not in primo-SUV environs. Real wood notwithstanding, too much plastic abounds. The roofline nixed third-row seating, still leaving only 991 litres (35 cubic feet) of cargo space behind the second row.<\/p>\n

There is a plethora of standard goodies on the Limited, including rear a back-up camera, remote start, rain-sensitive windshield wipers, audio jack input, tilt\/telescoping steering, GPS navigation, \u201cSmartBeam\u201d headlamps and heated front and second-row seats. Electronic stability control with electronic roll mitigation maintains vehicle stability in a variety of road surface and weather conditions.<\/p>\n

Performance, ah, yes, is where Cherokee leaves poseurs behind. There’s refinement here, too, owing to the vehicle’s light unibody and \u201cTrail-Rated\u201d independent front and five-link rear suspension systems. The Cherokee no longer rides roughly on-road and has purist off-road ability. My tester featured the optional Quadra Drive II, which combines a full-time transfer case with front and rear electronic limited-slip differentials, and was mated with hill descent control for some rough-and-tumble rural Michigan cheer. I was only out there for a short while, long enough to whip up those old Jeep vibes. Cherokee gobbled up soil with aplomb.<\/p>\n

For 2010, the Grand Cherokee is available in North Edition, Limited and S Limited trims. It features a standard 3.7-litre V6 powerplant, which delivers 210 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 235 pound-feet of torque. My Limited tester had the optional 5.7-litre HEMI V8 with variable valve timing, which generates an impressive 357 horses and 389 pound-feet of torque. The HEMI’s fuel-saving multi-displacement system sweetly shifts to four-cylinder mode when less power is needed and to back to V8 mode when oomph is called for. The V8 HEMI gets the EPA equivalent of 18.0L\/100km city\/12.4 highway, or in less conservative Canadian EnerGuide rating, 15.5L\/100 km in the city and 10.6 on the highway — not bad when sidled next to other off-roaders. Transmission is a five-speed automatic with manual mode in the base model and in the Limited a five-speed automatic dubbed Multispeed because of its unique alternate second-gear ratio for smoothing out downshifts and increasing efficiency.<\/p>\n

Other optional equipment included an automatic headlamp leveling system, high-intensity discharge headlamps, engine block heater and hill-start assist.<\/p>\n

The Cherokee does well in government safety ratings, nabbing top five stars for front and side crashes, and four stars for rollovers.<\/p>\n

Here’s the deal: this is one very, very nice $48,395 vehicle, but probably isn’t the best choice for lugging family around.<\/p>\n

But if you’re going to go off-road?<\/p>\n

Yup, it’s a Jeep thing.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Still a Jeep, Sort Of Mary Chapman, Canadian Auto Press *featured make=’Jeep’ model=’Grand Cherokee Limited’ *relatedNew make=’Chevrolet’ model=’Equinox’ *relatedNew make=’Toyota’ model=’4-Runner’ *relatedUsed make=’Nissan’ model=’Murano’ *relatedUsed make=’Subaru’ model=’Tribeca’ “It’s a Jeep Thing… You Wouldn’t Understand.” I used to know what that meant. I even had a license plate holder bearing the slogan on an old Wrangler […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6383,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6383"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}