News: Bentley's controversial SUV gets the green light

 

First presented at last year's Geneva Motor Show, the Bentley EXP-9-F concept SUV garnered more than a fair share of controversy for its styling. But, like it or loathe it, the big Bentley is now definitely heading for production.

Speaking at last week's Detroit Motor Show, Bentley boss Wolfgang Schrieber told reporters that, in spite of rumours that the SUV had been delayed because of the continuing global economic turmoil, it was in fact underway and due to be introduced in 2016.

"The main intention was not to show the final styling but to get feedback from the market," said Schrieber. "If you saw the styling, you would say, 'That is a real Bentley.'" 

The big Bentley will share its structure with the next-generations of VW Touareg, Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, and will go on sale initially with the new 4.0-litre turbo V8 from the Continental GT and later with the mighty 6.0-litre W12. 

News: Subaru shows off new Forester

Subaru has released the first official photos of the all-new Forester SUV, which will go on sale in Ireland next summer. Subaru claims that it will come with competitive pricing, and improved fuel economy.

The fourth-generation Forester builds upon the outgoing model’s credentials as a go-anywhere, user-friendly SUV, with improved performance, safety and efficiency and a larger, more practical cabin. Subaru’s unique Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system remains at the heart of the vehicle, while a low centre of gravity and improved body rigidity contribute to improved refinement and a typically engaging drive on the road.

Confirming the of the Forester, Subaru has also announced outline details of the engine line-up, which will include the existing 150bhp 2.0-litre Boxer diesel and petrol units, as well as a new high-performance 2.0-litre direct injection turbocharged petrol engine, producing 280bhp. That model is rather unlikely to reach Irish shores, sadly.

All engines will feature a six-speed manual transmission as standard, while Subaru’s Lineartronic (CVT) transmission is available as an option on petrol models.  The Lineartronic transmission has been modified to manage the increased power while also providing improved fuel efficiency, and ensures that both CVT-equipped petrol engines achieve the 2015 Japanese fuel economy standard.

Road Test: Honda CR-V 2.2 iDTEC SE

Price as tested: €37,785

+ Space, quality, comfort, steering, off-road ability, styling
– Cabin too plain for this price level, some refinement issues
= A solid SUV from Honda, but will find life tough against sharp competition

It seems almost crazy to think of it now, but back when the original Honda CR-V was launched, the Japanese brand controlled one quarter of the Irish SUV market. Back in 1998, it seemed, we just couldn't get enough of one of the original soft-roaders.

Spool forward to 2012 and things have changed rather a lot, not least of which, the CR-V itself. The outgoing generation was larger than before, and centered around a Diesel engine rather than the petrol-focused original. High in quality and comfort, it was a rival to the likes of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 as much as its more obvious sparring partners, the Toyota RAV 4 and Ford Kuga. But good car though it was, the outgoing CR-V had to content itself with a much smaller slice of the market, not least because instead of the mere handful of rivals the 1998 original had to contend with, now there is an army of them.

With this new generation model of CR-V, Honda will be trying to claw back some of that original sales dominance and it's going about that in three distinct ways.

For a start, the new CR-V carries over the previous models' two most successful features; its cabin space and its 2.2-litre 148bhp diesel engine. The spacious interior and cavernous boot mark the new CR-V out as one of the few SUVs that can actually boast proper Utility; you can really cram it full of people and cargo, not something you can say for all  of its rivals.

Meanwhile, the still-excellent 2.2-litre iDTEC engine, while it lacks outright power compared to such rivals, is still smooth, punchy and impressively economical. It has even managed to drop a tax band, from Band D to Band C, saving owners a significant amount in annual motor tax.

The second strand to the CR-V's strategy is its styling, which looks much bluffer and more striking than it did before. The old CR-V always looked a touch apologetic. This new one is much more assertive, and all the better for it.

Finally, Honda has realised that it must compete on price, and the most affordable version of the new CR-V clocks in with a €37,795 price tag – within €1,000 of its most significant new rival, the new Hyundai Santa Fe.

The CR-V can even trade equipment and specification blows with the Hyundai, for while it lacks some toys as standard (such as Bluetooth phone connection, and it also lacks the Hyundai's seven seat layout) the CR-V comes with four wheel drive as standard.

And that all-wheel-drive is not just there for show. Honda was quite happy for us to take our test car off into the muddy outback, slipping and sliding over surprisingly tough terrain. Few owners, if any, will put it to the test, but the CR-V can certainly tackle the rough stuff.

On the smooth, it's as good as ever, retaining the old CR-V's combination of tidy handling, a comfortable ride quality and sharp, alert steering. Again, it's very close to the Hyundai in dynamic terms, and that's a good ball park to be in.

There are two let-downs to the CR-V though, and both of them are inside. We've already mentioned the excellent space, and the seats, both front and rear, are comfy and supportive. But there's a lack of flair to the cabin design and layout, a sense of plain-ness that disappoints, especially given Honda's premium-status aspirations.

That's not helped by a distinct, bassy boom that comes up from under the boot floor, and makes its presence known throughout the cabin from speeds as low as 70kmh. It's a black mark against the CR-V's refinement, which is a shame.

Those two issues apart, though, it's hard not to like the CR-V. The new styling is pleasingly distinctive, the engine and chassis as good as ever and the cabin and boot as spacious as you could hope. We can't think of a good reason why it wouldn't be close to the top of your SUV shopping list.

Well, actually, there is one good reason. It's that this 2.2-litre, 4WD CR-V might not be the best CR-V to buy. Later in 2013, there will be a front-wheel-drive CR-V, using Honda's all-new 1.6-litre Diesel engine, that will be more affordable again and will, apparently, boast astonishingly low 99g/km Co2 emissions, putting this large, spacious SUV on a tax band par with the likes of a Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. So while we like this new generation of CR-V, it might be worth holding off on buying one for a while yet...


Honda CR-V 2.2 iDTEC SE
Price as tested: €37,795
Price range: €37,795 to €50,095
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 148bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 190kmh
0-100kmh: 9.7sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (51mpg)
CO2 emissions: 149g/km
Road Tax Band: C. €330
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

News: Volkswagen plans new SUVs, launches hotter Scirocco

Volkswagen has confirmed that it will begin developing a huge range of SUV style vehicles, dramatically expanding its range beyond the current Tiguan and Touareg,


It's not exactly a surprising move, considering that compact SUVs are pretty much the only market segment still capable of pulling in a few buyers at the moment, and VW's range is looking somewhat light on SUVs compared to some rivals, especially Nissan's

So, two new SUVs are already in the works, both designed to compliment the next-generation Tiguan (which should look very similar to VW's CrossCoupe concept car, above). The first will be a compact, Polo-based car designed to take on the Nissan Juke, Mini Countryman and in-house rival Skoda Yeti. The current CrossPolo kind of fills that niche at the moment, but VW product planners are convinced that what buyers want is a car that's more obviously 4x4 based and more versatile too.

Then there will be a Passat-based seve-seat SUV, to take on the likes of the Hyundai Santa Fe and next-generation Land Rover Freelander. That won't arrive till 2015 at the earliest though, and kind of revives an abandoned plan that would have seen the last-gen Passat spin off a luxurious seven-seat Mercedes R-Class rival.

In the meantime, VW is tilting at enthusiasts with the new Scirocco GTS. Don't get your hopes up; there's no new or more powerful engine. GTS is a trim level that includes those bonnet stripes,  red mirrors and brake calipers, spoiler, diffuser and 18" wheels. Inside, there's loads of red stitching, piano black panels and a retro-eighties golf-ball gearknob.

Road Test: Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 2WD Comfort

Price as tested: €36,995
+  Style, comfort, dynamics, engine, quality, price, equipment
–  Some cheap cabin bits, 3rd row seats very small
=  Could genuinely take the game to the premium brands



The first thing that strikes you when you climb aboard the new Hyundai Santa Fe is that you’d be very happy to do a very long journey in one. The seats are comfy, the quality of the cabin excellent and the steering wheel, in spite of some oddly slippery leather wrapping (was someone a bit too enthusiastic with the old Son-Of-A-Gun?) feels good in your hand. As a driving environment, it’s a hard one to beat.

That’s a confirmation confirmed when you twist the key and fire up the upgraded 2.2-litre diesel engine. Aside from a brief burst of diesely-clatter on a cold start, it’s a remarkably refined engine, something that becomes even more remarkable when you realise that our test car had just 94km on its odometer. If it’s this good now, it could potentially be even better with a few loosening-up miles on the clock.

Select first and nudge out of the gate and do all those positive first impressions survive a meeting with the road?

Well, we’ll get to that in a minute, but for a moment, let’s consider the Santa Fe’s place in Hyundai’s firmament. I have to confess that I despised the original 2000 Santa Fe. Rugged and reliable it may have been, but it was lumpy to look at, lumpy to drive and had some of the most uncomfortable seats I’ve ever sat on. The 2007 replacement then, was as much relief as revelation, and a precursor to the recent product revolution at Hyundai, arriving as it did just ahead of the first generation of Hyundai’s i-models. Now, the Santa Fe could boast pleasant styling, a useful seven-seat cabin (even if the third row of seats was suitable only for small children) and competent on-road dynamics. And decent seats, thank the lords of motoring.

Since when, Hyundai has been on a major roll, with cars like the i30, i10, ix35, i40 and Veloster coupe proving that it can now make cars that are not only good, but good enough that the company can effectively abandon its old pricing policy. Whereas Hyundais of old would always be priced around €1,000 or so cheaper than the likes of a rival Ford or Toyota, now the prices are comparable, even if Hyundai continues to offer better value for money in terms of equipment and its impressive five-year warranty.

Certainly, you would have to say that the new Santa Fe requires no financial incentive if you were to judge it on looks alone. The photos simply don’t do it justice, as it looks classier, chunkier and more substantial by far in the ‘flesh’ than it does on the screen. There is a genuine sense of style to the Santa Fe now; the slightly upright, plain and simple look of the old one gone  and replaced by a thrusting look, quite American (not surprising considering Hyundai’s stateside success) and verging on the brash, but in a nice way. Love the big, chrome-y grille.

Inside, the seven seat layout is retained (and once again, it’s kids, and small ones at that, only in the third row) and the cabin is spacious and comfortable in the third row. A genuine surprise was to find that our test car was the most basic Comfort specification (albeit with optional leather seats) because quite frankly, it was rather hard to find any equipment lacking. Standard toys include a multifunction steering wheel, electric lumbar support, Bluetooth and USB connections for phones and media players, air conditioning, a built-in music hard-drive, a bevvy of airbags, ESP, a Land-Rover-style hill descent control (even though our car was front-wheel-drive) and more. One pleasant, practical touch; the bottom of the doors now wraps under the sill, meaning that you can get in and out without dragging the backs of your trousers or tights on muddy door bottoms. Nice.

Under the bonnet, the 2.2-litre diesel engine is familiar in size but its performance and economy have both been improved. With 197bhp and 420Nm of torque, it’s certainly sprightly, and while the Santa Fe clocks in with a kerb weight of 1,961kg, it can still spin its front wheels up pretty easily, and there’s never a sense that you don’t have more than enough power to get about. Best of all though is the already-mentioned refinement. It’s genuinely quiet and relaxed in the cabin. It’ll make a great long-haul cruiser. Co2 emissions are pretty impressive too, at 147g/km for the 2WD version (149g/km for the 4wd) and Hyundai claims you’ll burn just 5.6-litres for every 100km traveled. That’s well into 50mpg territory, which sounds like a bit of a stretch to us. On the basis of our (admittedly brief) first test drive, we’d say mid-sixes, around 40-45mpg would be more realistic, and still pretty impressive.

The driving experience is pretty good too. Now, we’ve criticised Hyundai’s three-setting Flex Steer system before. It allows you to toggle between Comfort, Normal and Sport modes for the steering, and theoretically offers you lighter or heftier settings depending on your mood or need. In reality, there’s not much difference between the three modes and you can’t help but feel that the development budget would have been better spent on one setting that did everything well. Aside from that, the Santa Fe is very pleasant to drive, well balanced and rides with a BMW-esque firm pliancy, only being upset by truly viscious, sharp-edged potholes.

In fact, the BMW comparison is apt, as Hyundai is reckoning on tempting premium German SUV buyers with the new Santa Fe, and there’s a range-topping automatic Premium version that costs the guts of €50k. Ambitious, overly so for a Hyundai? Possibly, but you know what? This is a very impressive car, handsome to look at, pleasant to drive, with an excellent engine and terrific build quality. I personally can’t see why someone considering a BMW or Audi wouldn’t, if they put aside badge snobbery for a moment, seriously consider a Santa Fe now. It really is that good.

Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 2WD Comfort
Price as tested: €36,995
Price range: €36,995 to €48,995
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 197bhp
Torque: 420Nm
Top speed: 190kmh
0-100kmh: 9.8sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 147g/km
Road Tax Band: C €330
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

News: New Subaru Forester caught undisguised

Subaru's all-new Forester has been caught by spy photographers undisguised and out in the open.

Featured on US site Carscoop, the new Forester looks largely familiar, but gains a new front end with a bolder, more chrome-filled grille and lights that wrap further around the corners than the current model, taking clear inspiration from the new XV crossover, launched earlier this year.

The new Forester grows a little, being 35mm longer and 20mm wider, while the boot expands to a whopping 505-litres. It's expected that the existing 2.0-litre flat-four Boxer Diesel with 150bhp will be carried over more or less unchanged. It's unclear yet though whether or not Subaru will offer a fornt-drive Forester to gain a lower Co2 rating. All-wheel-drive and serious off-road ability have always been a central part of the Forester's DNA, but with a front-drive version of the XV available, Subaru may well consider the lower Co2 rating and tax band a worthwhile trade-off.

The new Forester goes on sale in November in Japan and will arrive in Europe in the middle of next year.

News: Land Rover updates Discovery

One of our favourite cars, the Land Rover Discovery, is getting a makeover for the 2013 model year, including an understated new "Black Pack" that does away with some chintzy chrome.

For 2013, the Discovery 4 gets new optional features including the Extended Leather Pack inspired by the HSE Luxury Limited Edition, and distinctive Black Design Packs available with 19" or 20" all-black painted wheels and a host of black trim finishers and design details such as gloss black grille and fender vents.

Customers also now have a choice of five additional body colours and two new interior colours and trim enhancements, offering customers an even greater opportunity to personalise their car.
The infotainment system has been upgraded to include the latest generation DAB radio and a new digital TV tuner, whilst the navigation system now comes with premium features such as Off-Road guidance and 4x4i.

The existing 256bhp 3.0-litre LR-SDV6 and entry level 211bhp 3.0-litre LR-TDV6 diesels continue to power the Discovery with the ZF's 8-speed automatic transmission, producing CO2 emissions of just 230g/km and 224g/km respectively in EU5 markets, whilst the 375bhp 5.0-litre V8 naturally aspirated petrol engine is also still available, but presumably only id your surname is Al Saud...

"The Discovery 4 continues to win awards for its unrivalled versatility and breadth of capability, accommodating up to seven passengers in comfort whatever the terrain. For 2013, the breadth of choice gets better, with equipment upgrades and our new Black Design Packs enhancing the key design attributes that our customers identify with today. As the ultimate all-purpose vehicle, the Discovery 4 is now more compelling than ever before," said John Edwards, Land Rover Global Brand Director.

Road Test: Land Rover Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE

Price as tested: €80,710

+ Comfort, versatility, refinement, handling, beguiling character
– Some cheap cabin trim, poor rear seat space
= Forget the eco-cribbing, this is one of the finest cars around

Is it moral to introduce a moral dimension to a road test? After all, a piece of this nature is mostly about consumer advice, significantly about having a diverting read for your lunch hour and really, that’s about it. Road testers are not wont to go into the ethical rights and wrongs of buying a car but, when taking a new Range Rover out for a spin in 2012 Ireland, it’s kind of a hard dimension to escape. After all, with 450,000 people on the dole lines, sea levels and weather patterns going bananas, the question of whether it is right and proper to drive a car of this type has to be asked.

Well, is it right?

Oh for pete’s sake, of course it is. You want proof? How about the fact that this 2012 Range Rover sport comes with host of technical changes that include an updated 3.0 TDV6 diesel engine and the latest, slick-shifting eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox that actually drops the car out of the top band for VRT and road tax. That’s right; there are sports cars and turbocharged hatchbacks that emit more Co2 per km than this big, beefy Rangie.

Besides which, if you take the classic quote of one of Roger Moore’s adversaries in The Man With The Golden Gun (I appear to be channeling Alan Partridge here...) “Guns do not kill Mr Bond, it is the finger that pulls the trigger.” In other words, if you’re that concerned about the potential damage that a Range Rover can do to the environment, then don’t buy one. It’s your choice. But at least if someone is spending the €80k necessary to nab one of these almost-but-not-quote top-spec HSE models (Autobiography is one grade above, SE a grade below) then while they may be waving their wad in your face a touch, by driving a car as ostentatious , at least you can be assured that they’re spending lots of money on other things, generating employment and tax receipts. See? Range Rovers really can save the planet...

Right, moral dimension done with, let’s get back to the real business of driving the car.

As mentioned, for 2012, the RR Sport gets some subtle but very effective upgrades, the most significant of which are that new engine and gearbox. The 3.0-litre V6 twin turbo diesel now comes in two power outputs; 210bhp and 254bhp, but it’s only the 210bhp version that you’ll get in Ireland, thanks to that tax-dodging 224g/km Co2 output. That’s fine as in spite of a a 44bhp disadvantage, we honestly never noticed a lack of forward motion or thrust, thanks to a whacking great 520Nm of torque on tap from just 2,000rpm. The new gearbox, accessed by a Jaguar-style rotary controller on the centre console (not to everyone’s taste, but we liked it) does the usual ZF job of being so slick it’s almost like it’s not even there. You soon learn that the manual override paddle at the back of the steering wheel are entirely superfluous; all you will need to do is occasionally flick the gear selector into Sport to grab a more reactive kickdown.

Economy is surprisingly impressive. Land Rover claims an average of 8.5-litres per 100km, while we managed a still-decent 9.8l/100km overall. That should give you a touring range of around 800km on a full 80-litre tank, which seems decent enough.

The air suspension has been tweaked too, and the jarring edge of roughness and harshness that made the older Sport models an occasional chore has almost entirely gone. Yes, the Sport rides more firmly than either the big Range Rover (with which is shares almost no mechanical parts) or the Discovery (which which it is pretty much a twin under the skin) but now it’s just acceptably planted, rather than annoyingly hard.

The handling has remained virtually unchanged, thankfully, which means that the Sport still handles, net of a body roll and weight, like a big hot hatch on stilts. In extremis, we detected a slight reluctance to turn into a tightening apex that definitely wasn’t there before, but in fairness, if you’re looking for such handling nuances on a big 4x4, you’re already way off the beaten track. The beauty of the Range Rover’s chassis is that it displays a true multi-purpose nature. It’s refined and comfy on a long run, reactive and enjoyable on a twisty road and, surprisingly, agile and manouvreable in town; in spite of what you might perceive as bulk, thanks to excellent all-round visibility and surprisingly modest exterior dimensions, you can actually get the Sport in and out of tight car parks with ease.

The cabin is both the Sport’s trump card and its one Achilles heel. It all looks gorgeous and Land Rover’s ever-improving quality is palpable. The seats; massive and upholstered in beautiful leather upholstery the colour and consistency of butter are immensely comfortable and the full retinue of switches and dials makes you feel suitably well informed as to the car’s condition and your control of it.

But there are just a few too many plastic sections to the cabin that look and feel a bit too scratchy and cheap. It’s not a problem unique to the Range Rover, but it is a problem at this lofty price level, especially in concert with the desperately cheap looking main dials in the instrument binnacle. The other issue is space in the back, or lack thereof. It’s adequate, nothing more and feels especially stingy when you consider how big a car this is.

While we’re on the critical list, there’s the new standard-fit electric tailgate. Now, in general we dislike these things (what’s the point when they’re slower than simply lifting it up and pushing it back down yourself?) and because it means the loss of the Sport’s useful opening tailgate glass section it’s doubly irritating.

Still, the Sport still has one ace up its sleeve and that is its off-road performance. We’ve driven Sports down impossibly steep ravines, along ricky river beds, through waist deep water and, during our week with this one, managed to traverse a tricky off-road section of The Curragh while wearing a suit. It is that ability to deal with the very worst terrain imaginable (aided by the clever and simple Terrain Response System) while remaining unruffled inside that separates the Range Rover from the horde of competitors. There are others as talented in individual disciplines; none that we can think of that offer precisely the same combination.

Quite apart from anything, there is the Range Rover’s natural charm. It’s a handsome, bluff-looking beast, one that beguiles you, makes you feel better about life when you’re behind its wheel. For that alone, we would love it. Taken in concert with its myriad other talents, well, there’ll be no moral dilemma on our minds if our six numbers ever come up...


Facts & Figures

Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE
Price: €80,710
Range price: €75,195 to €118,160
Capacity: 2,993cc
Power: 210bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Top speed: 193kmh
0-100kmh: 10.3sec
Economy: 8.5-100km (33.2mpg)
CO2 emissions: 224g/km
Tax Band: F. €1,129 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Road Test: Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited

Price as tested: €38,000 (approx)

+ Fabulously rugged, more practical and refined than you’d think, so cool
– Boot’s a bit small. emissions a bit high
= Quite simply, the coolest car we’ve driven all year

If I tell you that the Jeep Wrangler turns out to be a bit of a surprise, would you be surprised? You might be, especially if you’re expecting some thundering, lumbering heap of Detroit iron, bludgeoning all in its path with a war-mongering “Yeee-haw!” and a distinct lack of Euro-style refinement.

Because while the Wrangler can trace its lineage directly back to the original 1941 Willys-Overland General Purpose 1/4 Ton Truck (GP, or Jeep for short), the reality is that the resemblance lies mostly in the styling and marketing departments.

So, while there is a seven-bar grille, round headlights and a pervading sense of squareness, there are also sophisticated Panhard linkages and coil springs in the suspension, there are comfy, heated leather seats in the cabin and there is even a Bluetooth phone connection. Disappointed that there’s not hand-cranked Bakelite phone in the back to put you in touch with brigade HQ? Yes, a little but that’s the way of the modern world.

The Wrangler’s only real rival, in both the heritage and off-road stakes, is the Land Rover Defender. But while you would, happily, make excuses for the Defender’s crudity, discomfort and rampant thirst, all because it looks so cool, the rather nice thing is that the Jeep simply doesn’t ask that much of you.

Haul yourself up into the cabin and you’re presented with a simple, workmanlike cabin. There are no soft-touch plastics, and more consideration seems to have been given to making its hose-out-proof than slush-moulded, but there’s a sense of purpose, a sense of rightness and, just as importantly, a sense of decent build quality. The seats, as we’ve mention, are comfy (and they warm your bum, in Sahara spec) and the steering wheel adjusts to help you find a comfy driving position.

Fire up the 2.8-litre CRD diesel engine and, yes, it’s noisy and grumbly, but once it warms through it’s not too bad. It’ll propel the Wrangler to 100kmh in an entirely reasonable 11.1secs, return a claimed (and believable in our experience) 7.4-litres per 100km on the  combined cycle and emits, in four-door unlimited guise, 194g/km of Co2. You can drop that to 187g/km (and get a €630 road tax bill) if you downsize to the less practical three-door Wrangler Sport.

The long, wand-like gear lever makes you think that it’ll have the shift accuracy of a drunk teenager on Valentine’s night, but actually, as long as you don’t rush it, there’s quite a pleasant gearshift to be had, in a moving-big-bits-of-metal-around steampunk kind of way.

Rolling refinement in the Wrangler is surprisingly good. Clearly, with a (removable, if you have a hoist or enough tall friends) plastic roof, big wheels and a very upright shape, wind and tyre noise are prevalent, but the engine shuts up quite nicely in a sixth gear cruise, and the standard fit stereo is man enough for the job.

Long motorway runs? Just fine actually. Your ears will ring a little at the end, but other than that, the Wrangler takes long hauls in its stride. Actually, in town is its Achilles Heel. It’s a big car, bigger than you think at first, with a broad turning circle, so tight car parks are a bit of a nightmare. With practice, it’s fine, but some parking sensors would be helpful.

While we’re criticising, the boot’s too small. 498-litres sound big, but it’s oddly shaped to cover the fuel tank hump, and there’s no luggage cover, so everything’s on show through the vulnerable, lift up flap that makes up the rear window. Don’t plan on leaving valuables in your Wrangler.

Honestly though, who cares? Get out on the open road and the Wrangler handles with surprising (there’s that word again) aplomb. Yes, there’s slack in the steering and apparently wood in the suspension, but it’s fundamentally well behaved and won’t do anything bad.

Get off the open road and into open country and, well, this vehicle is Trail Rated, meaning it will climb up Jeep’s fearsome Rubicon Trail in Utah, a mountain pass littered with trees, escarpments, dust, dirt, boulders and the occasional bear. Yank the hefty lever back to select four wheel drive, low range (the Wrangler’s best left in two wheel drive on tarmac to avoid transmission wind up) and there is probably no decently solid surface that you cannot traverse. And whether this winter brings snow, floods or both, prepare to be called on by stranded friends.

If you haven’t already guessed it, we loved the Wrangler. Compared in saloon car terms to its SUV rivals, it’s nowhere. But there is such a thing as fitness for purpose, and the Wrangler is not only the origin of the species, but it could pummel any SUV into the dirt when the going gets tough, and isn’t so far behind them in terms of everyday driving that they could relax. It’s the anti-Evoque, and for that, and for being four-square and dependable in a world slowly but surely going mad, we salute it.


Facts & Figures

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara
Price as tested: €38,000 (approx)
Range price: TBC
Capacity: 2,776cc
Power: 200bhp
Torque: 410Nm
Top speed: 172kmh
0-100kmh: 11.1sec
Economy: 7.4l-100km (38.1mpg)
CO2 emissions: 194g/km
VRT Band: F. €1,050 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Road Test: Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD Limited

Price as tested: €54,995

+ Handsome looks, comfy, decent chassis, good quality, excellent engine
– Some cheap trim, body rolls a lot
= One of the most pleasant surprises of the year


Managing a brand is tricky. Every new product has to be good, slightly better than its predecessors, yet not so much that owners of the old one feel gypped. Innovation is everything yet you can’t get too avant-garde, or your risk alienating the technophobes.

And even the best get it wrong. Coca-Cola royally stuffed it up in the early eighties with New Coke. Most of you probably don’t remember it and that’s a good thing. It was terrible, and it nearly killed the company. Likewise, Apple, the most valuable company in the world right now, once (or twice) got it spectacularly wrong. Neither the Newton Message Pad nor the Pippin games console set the world alight. How did these companies recover from such failures? By getting back to what they’re best at and digging deep to create some truly great products.

Which brings us nicely to the Jeep Grand Cherokee. When Jeep first began its trans-Atlantic foray in the early nineties (well, the first since 1945 at any rate), the Grand Cherokee was the star of the show. Big, bluffly handsome and very American in its value for money, it nevertheless had a very real tilt at the vaunted Range Rover’s luxury SUV crown. All that let it down was the lack of a decent diesel engine.

Come the 2005 model and all the omens looked great. A new body and chassis, and a new diesel engine from then owners of Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz. It should have been brilliant. It was actually awful. The engine was fine but the gimpy styling wasn’t, nor was the crummy, cramped cabin and the ride and handling, with those big, hefty live axles, was utterly dreadful. Never mind the Range Rover, launched a year after the Land Rover Discovery III, the Grand Cherokee should have been a convincing rival to the Disco but instead struggled to even be an also-ran.

Combine that with a pretty poor Cherokee and an utterly dreadful double-whammy of 1st-gen Compass and Patriot and you have a brand rattling and creaking under the strain of some pretty serious duds.

But thankfully, the Jeep brand is a strong one and like Coke and Apple, it regrouped, delved deep and started to do things better. Should we expect any less from the only car brand ever to be name checked as a war-winner by none other than Brig. General Dwight D. Eisenhower? Resilience is in the blood.

As with the 2002 Range Rover, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee has been developed under the auspices of one car company and launched under another. In the Rangie’s case, it was developed and prototyped by BMW but Ford swept in the year before its launch to buy out Land Rover and so got the kudos for one of the most iconic SUVs of all time.

For the Grand Cherokee, work began while Jeep, owned by Chrysler, was indepedent, hived off from former owners Daimler-Benz and then under the control of investment fund Cerberus. So, there’s rather a lot of Mercedes DNA deep within the structure of the Grand Cherokee. In fact, beneath its all-American skin, it’s very much a Mercedes ML. And the biggest benefit of that is that the GC now does away with the awful live axles of old and switches instead to a much more car-like construction, with proper, modern, independent suspension with air springs.

The 241bhp, 550Nm 3.0-litre V6 diesel is a Merc job too, and goes about its business with remarkable refinement. It can grumble and moo a bit under heavy throttle openings, but that you suspect is more down to the old-school five-speed automatic gearbox, which simply doesn’t have the spread of ratios that’s required these days. A fix is on the way in late 2012, when the ZF-supplied 8-speed box comes on stream, so you can expect to see improvements in the current fuel consumption and Co2 figures of 8.3-litres per 100km and 218g/km. Still those are good enough for a near-enough 1,000km touring range from the 80-litre fuel tank and at least it’s not in the top band for road tax, so you’ll pay €1,050 a year while Land Rover drivers must pay top whack.

That switch to car-like construction and suspension has brought one of two massive improvements the new GC displays over its predecessor. While before, you had to put up with a truly dreadful ride quality and ponderous handling, now there is serenity. The ride can still occasionally be upset by sudden, sharp shocks, but that’s pretty much endemic to all vehicles that have air springs and big, heavy wheels and tyres. For the most part, the Grand Cherokee displays impressive composure, riding comfortably and dealing with swiftly taken corners with only slightly too much body roll. You can sharpen things up by flicking the Selec-Terrain system into Sport (there are also Snow, Auto, Mud and Sand modes) but that disables the ESP, something we were loathe to do given the recent weather conditions.

Which is a shame, as when you hustle it, the GC responds well. The steering is a touch long-winded, and there’s about as little road feel as you’d expect, but give it a challenging, twisty road, and it responds with aplomb. In fact, it treads an almost perfectly judged line between the two Land Rover products that most closely rival it. It’s not as smooth and refined as a Discovery, but it’s more responsive and rolls less, and it’s not as sharp and tall-hot-hatch-y as a Range Rover Sport but is much comfier and rides more calmly. If that sounds like an uncomfortable middle ground, it’s not. More of a finely judged compromise.

The cabin is a slightly less well judged compromise, but only in parts. Mostly, it’s very good with palpable quality, lots of space and very comfy seats. The boot, at 782-litres, is equally massive, but it does suffer from intrusion into the shape from what looks like the fuel tank. As for the rest of the cabin, a few small details let it down, such as main instruments, some lower-level plastics and a few switches that have no place on a €50K car (mind you, that’s a criticism you could level at rivals from Land Rover and Toyota too) and little touches detract from the overall sense of quality, like a gear shifter that looks and feels cheap and clunky and touch-screen controls for the infotainment system that appear to have been lifted from a Sega NES.

But these are but small quibbles, the stuff of a critic’s nit-picking. The overall effect of the Grand Cherokee is... charm. That’s a dangerous quality, because while charm can cover up a multitude of problems, it can never erase the fundamental failings of a poor vehicle. The last Grand Cherokee had charm, but it was still crap.

This one isn’t. The charm is still very much there, and it’s a blue-collar American charm that means that the GC feels less ostentatious (even net of the big chrome grille and wheels) than a Range Rover Sport. But it has only the mildest shortcomings to cover up for. Honestly, the Grand Cherokee has turned out to be one of the surprises of the year. A thoroughly well-sorted, dynamically capable and above all characterful and interesting vehicle, that’s well-priced in its segment and never less than welcoming and engaging as soon as you sit into the high-set driver’s seat. We just wish every new car could be so charming.


Facts & Figures

Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD Limited
Price as tested: €54,995
Range price: TBC
Capacity: 2,987cc
Power: 241bhp
Torque: 550Nm
Top speed: 202kmh
0-100kmh: 8.2sec
Economy: 8.3l-100km (34.0mpg)
CO2 emissions: 218g/km
VRT Band: F. €1,050 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested