Jeep Cherokee (2008 – 2011) Review

Jeep Cherokee (2008 – 2011) At A Glance

Tough and very capable off-road, manual and auto both pull 2,800kg, emissions of 222g/km with manual, leather comes as standard.

Acceptable but not great on the road, slurry automatic, noisy engine.

Reviews for Jeep Cherokee (2008 – 2011)'s top 3 rivals

BMW X3

Strong BMW image. Reasonable roadholding for a 4x4. Plenty of safety kit and electronic driver aids.

Toyota RAV4

Bigger and now 5-door only. More luxurious but not as practical as previous RAV-4. Car-like road manners....

Dodge Nitro

Looks tough and five-seat interior is practical.

Jeep Cherokee (2008 – 2011) handling and engines

• Readers report Real MPG to be between 22–32 mpg

Under the bonnet you get the familiar 174PS, 410Nm torque 2.8 VM engine brought a bit more up to date. Under the middle you get a proper transfer box with low range gears and a clever electronic braking system to hold the car down hills. And under the ends you get independent suspension and driveshafts to the front wheels, and multilink suspension with a live axle at the back.

Outside, you get a proper Jeep grille that harks back to General Patton. And the rest of it is no nonsense square-arched Jeep.

Unfortunately, there weren't any 6-speed manuals for us to try on test day because the first new RHD Cherokees to be built are all 5-speed ‘slapshift' autos. These are doubly unfortunate if you're thinking in terms of VED groups because at 242g/km, next year they get hit by what the BBC calls "4x4 tax" of £415.

Though faster in the figures, the auto is a soggy old thing on the road. From a cold start the engine clatters like a vintage lorry and the box slurs from gear to gear in a generally unpleasant manner. Far better to take control by waggling the lever left to change down and right to change up. Then, like a well trained Retriever, it's much more obedient and far more pleasant company.

Handling is high-sided on tall wheels. About the same as our D-Max Hi-Lander pick-up. But the 18" wheels with 60 profile Goodyear Eagle RS-A tyres took some of the shocks out of the North Wales test route.

Jeep being Jeep, this included a river drive of about half a mile over a rock bottom, then the Bala off-road course on top of a mountain. Involving 1 in 4 mud ascents and descents, not helped by the rain, and some pond crossings much deeper than the official 1' 7" wading depth. Since the air inlet is up behind the right headlight, the trick in that is to create a bow wave then stay in the trough behind it.

And, of course, that wasn't all. To prove its shed-tugging capabilities to any doubting Dylan Thomases, they'd bought a small caravan for us to haul over pretty much the same off road course we'd been driving solo. For this, since the Jeep was on Goodyear Eagle RS-A road tyres, they'd dropped the pressures slightly. And the car coped admirably, even holding the caravan on downward slopes with its new Hill Descent Control. It's worth noting that if you accidentally knock the selector out of gear, this will even work while descending in neutral, it's that good.

But while you get Jeep's new Selec-Trac II full-time 4WD system, including low range, with all Cherokees, both manual and automatic, the manual doesn't come with Hill Descent Control. The other advantage of the automatic is 460Nm torque v/s 410Nm for the manual, so pulling power is at least equal. And the variable vane turbo helps make sure you can keep the engine in its maximum torque range. There is no old lag at the lower end of the rev range.

You have to forgive the new Jeep Cherokee its relatively crude engine and the automatic its slurry changes and tax disadvantage. But it definitely fills a niche and spreads its charms both above and below. If you need just one car for the school run, for suburban shopping, for hauling a double horsebox and for getting to the butts on a grouse moor then this Jeep does the job very well.

Jeep Cherokee (2008 – 2011) interior

• Boot space is 419 litres

It's a full 5 seater, with plenty of head and legroom for five, though the transfer box intrudes quite rudely into the front passenger's footwell. The glass back window opens separately in the hatchback. The high load floor has wet storage underneath and is reversible to hold objects like freshly caught flapping salmon in place. The optional satnav is up to date with a hard drive for uploading new mapping and includes a Bluetooth hands-free phone system.

The ‘Sky Slider' electric canvas roof is an interesting option because it's virtually the full length of the top, supported by a hefty roll bar over the rear passenger's heads. You can slide it back from the front or forwards from the back, with the furls meeting somewhere in between, and it can be opened or closed on the move at up to 80mph. Usefully, it's higher than most people's eyes so is not vulnerable to vandals like a sportscar's top might be.

Jeep Cherokee (2008 – 2011) models and specs