Cherokee Crossover Sets New Standards
Dramatic new look of 2014 Cherokee tips off its array of high-tech features under the skin.
By John Gilbert
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. — The new 2014 Jeep Cherokee — an old name with a decidedly new face — raises the level of on-road driveability and fuel efficiency for any vehicle ever to wear the proud Jeep name, without compromising any of its off-road heritage.
The look of the new Cherokee is its most priminent first-impression feature, and it is, in a word, polarizing. Some critics, and a few within the Jeep family, think it goes too far, while others think it’s the best-looking thing Jeep has ever done. There will be few, if any, who will be able to avoid belonging to one extreme camp or the other.
Built of 65 percent high strength steel, the Cherokee allows you to bring three or four people with you and shows off its firm, independent rear suspension climbing rocks or while holding steady as you carve precise cornering lines at highway speed. All the while, it registers up to and beyond the EPA highway estimated 31 miles per gallon.
The new standard MultiAir 2.4-liter TigerShark engine has a city 22 and highway 31 gas mileage EPA figures, an improvement of more than 45 percent over the engine it replaces in the Jeep line. The entirely new 3.2-liter V6 has EPA estimates of 19 city, 28 highway. With both engines, those figures seem conservative. I talked to one engineer who said he drove the V6 on a 200-mile highway trip and got 32.5 miles per gallon, with that number dropping to 28 when he drove much more aggressively on his return.
Jeep’s strongest trademark is its 7-slot grille, and the Cherokee has seven slots, but they have never been shaped so provocatively, with a convex bend near the upper area of the vertical slots, rather than the normal straight slab of slots. The tiny light enclosure that turns the corner on the upper extension of that contoured line adds afurther high-tech touch.
If Jeep officials didn’t decide to resurrect the name Cherokee, they could have called it the “Surprise,” because there’s nothing about the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that is not surprising.
- You could say the appearance is surprising, but that would be a giant understatement, because the dramatically contoured Cherokee looks more like a futuristic concept vehicle than a mainstream vehicle.
- The interior is every bit as surprising as the exterior, with firmly supportive bucket seats, and instrumentation that is straightforward and yet high tech, and everything is covered with high-quality material.
- The engines are surprising, because both the 3.2-liter V6 and the 2.4-liter MultiAir 4 are new, bristling with technical goodies from intake to exhaust, and the transmission is a surprisingly unique unit, too, being the first application of a new ZF 9-speed automatic.
- The trademark Jeep 4-wheel-drive capability is even surprising, with three entirely different choices of systems to choose from, all hooked up to a front-wheel-drive platform instead of the conventional rear-drive layout — the first-ever Jeep to be so designed.
- The Cherokee’s performance on the road is lean and agile, with precise road-holding control even if you drive it like a sports car around curvy 2-lane roadways.
- Such impressive on-road performance begs the question that the new Cherokee must be conceding something from Jeep’s long and proud off-road heritage, but is it? No. Surprisingly, no.
- Even the name is surprising. Sure, Jeep built a vehicle call the Cherokee for decades, but after it grew into the larger and more sophisticated Grand Cherokee, the plain old Cherokee disappeared from the scene. So it’s a bit of an ironic twist that Jeep, which has the Grand Cherokee, the Patriot, the Compass, and the traditional Wrangler, would bring out its newest and most high-tech offering ever, and bring back the long-gone but not forgotten Cherokee name.
All lined up with some rugged off-road terrain ahead, the Cherokee is equally at home in the rough.
Tundra Revises Look, Features for 2014
A taller grille and wider stance sets off the 2014 Tundra.
By John Gilbert
After years of passing every test thrown at it, Toyota would like to reverse roles with the Tundra — asking competitors to pass the same tests, and consumers to consider testing the redesigned 2014 Tundra when shopping for a new half-ton pickup.
Toyota isn’t making any outrageous claims for its new Tundra, avoiding the hype that dominates the ad campaigns of competitors in the most brand-loyal segment. Toyota also stops short of trying to steal customers from F-150s, Silverados or Rams, but merely asks such half-ton pickup buyers to test the the Tundra for whatever criteria is important to them.
Through its life, the Tundra started off too small, and has since been accused of being not rugged enough, and/or too fancy. The last major renovation, in 2007, seemed to solve the criticisms, and for 2014, the new Tundra has a focus on refinement, chiseling a more aggressive exterior, and using mostly soft-touch and luxury touches to refine the interior. Improving the interior appearance is interesting, because the creature comforts of the first Tundra caused me to define it as the Lexus of pickup trucks, and it has inspired the competition to drastically upgrade their interior amenities.
A bolder look and stance sets the new Tundra apart from the current model, and while the truck continues with the same powertrains that is more an affirmation that its powerful array of high-tech engines is already substantial enough to take on the improved power of the competition.
When it comes to the perpetual tests the half-ton pickup players always face, Chris Gomez, chief product planner for Toyota’s large trucks, said he is both curious and amused at the lavish claims made for towing as Tundra competitors seemingly escalate their limits to claim the highest number, while Toyota prefers to pass the approved standards.
“In the half-ton pickup segment, we have something called the ‘SAE J-2807’ for towing standards,” said Gomez. “All truck manufacturers were at the table when we agreed on the tests and methods. The tests are done on a 12-degree grade, measuring acceleration, minimum speed, cooling system, braking distance, transmission locks, and every other characteristic, all done with a load, and in over 100-degree heat, to see how every component will function, and what its failure points might be.
“While everyone agreed on five primary tests and minimum requirements, Toyota is the only one that passed all the tests. None of the others meet the J-2807 standards, and Toyota has adhered to them since they were adopted in 2011.” Read more
New 1.8 Turbo Steals VW’s Base
VW may finally agree to give U.S. consumers the Scirocco.
By John Gilbert
ST. HELENA, CALIF. — The best thing Volkswagen is bringing to its lineup for the 2014 model year is more than skin deep — a new base engine for its whole car line. The best thing Volkswagen may bring to the U.S. for 2015 is the sportiest car in its whole lineup, a secret weapon that’s been sold only in Europe — the Scirocco.
Those were the main disclosures Volkswagen officials made to members of the automotive media, gathered at the Meadow Wood Resort near St. Helena, a small town in the heart of the Napa Valley wine-growing region north of San Francisco.
The engine is the hottest news. Volkswagen for years has stayed with a series of high-tech engines for its full line of vehicles, with a 2.5-liter 5-cylinder as its base engine, and upgrades that include a 2.0 TSi (turbocharged) 4-cylinder, and a 2.0 TDI (turbo diesel), with spot duty for a venerable V6 engine known as the VR-6.
Curiously, while the 2.5 is the largest-displacement engine in the basic Beetle, Golf, Jetta, and Passat, it also is the dullest engine in the fleet, because the 2.0 turbo has a lot more pizzaz and potential fuel economy, while the 2.0 TDi has remarkable torque and can get up to and beyond 50 miles per gallon of diesel fuel.
For 2014, Volkswagen is introducing a new 1.8-liter TSi 4-cylinder, which is remarkably engineered to coordinate less power into a lighter package but, with direct injection and turbocharging, make the little engine feel like a much larger displacement unit. A smaller derivative of the 2.0 TSi, the 1.8 Turbo feels quick and potent all the way up the RPM scale, and it also delivers better fuel economy on regular fuel, unlike the 2.0-turbo gas engine.
“The 1.8-TSi is built out of all-new architecture,” said Mark Trahan, the executive vice president of group quality for all Volkswagen and Audi vehicles. “It has all the latest technology, including direct injection, low-friction parts, and the exhaust manifold is designed right into the cylinder head. It has 170 horsepower and 184 foot-pounds of torque, and while that torque is 30 foot-pounds less than the 2.0 Turbo, the torque peaks at 1,500 RPMs.”
It is torque, and not horsepower, that gives a car brisk acceleration, and the new 1.8 Turbo proves that it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have a lot of torque, as long as that torque all comes in when it’s most needed. In a car like the Jetta, the 1.8 hits peak torque at 1,500 RPMs, which is barely above idle speed, and it stays on a torque curve that is almost entirely flat all the way to the horsepower peak.
Compact Jetta will be among first to use the new 1.8 TSi engine with 170 horsepower and 184 foot-pounds of torque.
After driving several other VW models from Meadow Woods around the area roadways, I signed out a new Jetta with the new 1.8. When I hit second gear with the 6-speed stick, the car had so much mid-range punch that my first thought was that I’d mistakenly taken a turbo-diesel model. The turbo-diesel has so much torque at start-up that it rivals the hotter GTI/GLI sports models, and that’s the way the Jetta felt. But instead of the tubro-diesel, the Jetta had the new and plenty zippy 1.8-liter turbocharged gasoline 4-cylinder . VW has gone to fewer cylinders and smaller displacement to find a far superior engine. Read more
Nissan Driving Itself Into Future
Future Nissan Leaf equipped for driving and parking itself.
By John Gilbert
NEWPORT COAST, CALIF. — One of the more common questions consumers ask automotive journalists is that, given the impressive expansion of innovative driving controls on contemporary cars, how long will it be before we have cars that will drive themselves?
That answer is a lot sooner than any of us might have expected, based on a visit to Nissan 360, a complete introduction to all the new cars and trucks that will be coming out for 2014 in all 170 countries of the world where Nissan sells vehicles. The show started in late August and lasts into September of 2013 to attract waves of auto journalists from all over the world, as a celebration by the Japanese company for its 80th anniversary of building cars.
Few vehicles in those 80 years compares to the Leaf, Nissan’s all-electric subcompact, which has now sold 74,000 units worldwide to become the top-selling electric vehicle (EV) in the world. But no other Leaf can compare to the model I climbed into on the “Autonomous Driving” course, designed as part of a revised layout at the abandoned El Toro airbase.
When it comes to drives-itself vehicles, there are models from Lexus and Ford and Lincoln that will parallel park themselves in no-touch fashion. But Nissan goes well beyond that with the autonomous Leaf. I was instructed to climb into the passenger seat by a polite Japanese engineer, who sent one of his young associates to sit in the driver’s street, but to carefully fold his arms to avoid touching any controls or pedals. Another engineer was in the back seat. The engineer himself stood off to our right, as we were positioned on the right side of two parallel rows of parked cars, simulating a shopping center parking lot, with cars filling all available slots.
Our man clicked the key fob, and — no-touch — we were moving forward, then turning left to drive down between the two double lanes of parked cars. As we slowly moved along, a driver pulled an SUV out of a slot on our left and drove away. We approached and passed that slot, as our Leaf pulled wide to the right, then it deliberately backed up in a smooth arc, backing perfectly into the opened slot and stopping perfectly.
Autonomous Drive means no-hands driving and parking.
I suggested that if you lived in an apartment building with a similar parking lot, you could stop at the door, grab your computer bag and a couple bags of groceries, and go inside, pausing to click the fob — and sending the Leaf away for find an open parking slot and park itself. He said that would be easily possible. Not bad for wintertime.
When the fob was clicked again, from 200 feet away, our Leaf left the parking slot and circled around to the left, arriving on a larger road-course for another test. Away we went, making the curve and heading back along the left of a row of parked cars. A motorized image of a person suddenly zipped out from between two of the parked cars, right into our path. It was too close for braking, but without hesitation the Leaf swerved to the left, around the wayward pedestrian, then veered back into our lane and continued on. Read more
New Engines Lift 2014 Dodge, Jeep, Ram
Cherokee returns for 2014 with new style, engines.
By John Gilbert
DETROIT, MI.
You don’t have to be a resident to sympathize with Detroit’s well-publicized bankruptcy struggles, much in the way you didn’t have to own a Chrysler vehicle to sympathize when that proud Detroit company went into bankruptcy four years ago. We can only hope the city recovers as impressively as Chrysler has.
A brief glimpse at Chrysler Group LLC’s array of 2014 products at the company’s Chelsea proving grounds offers evidence that under the guidance of Fiat, the folks at Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat are definitely headed in the right direction. We hit Chrysler’s Chelsea proving grounds in Auburn Hills on a day that alternated between bright sunshine and quick-striking thunderstorms, which made some test drives more exciting than usual.
Chrysler competitors are flaunting more power and bigger engines, such as in the Corvette and new pickups at General Motors, or EcoBoost performance from smaller engines across the line at Ford, but Chrysler Group LLC is attempting to cover both extremes, as well as everything in between.
Fiat appears intent on making sure Chrysler continues to be known for its engineering, and no vehicle better exhibits that than the Dart, an attractive compact that perfectly fits the definition of a global venture. Dodge is the beneficiary of its own engineering and design, plus the the expertise of Fiat’s Alfa Romeo chassis engineers and Fiat’s unique MultiAir technology, and the Tiger Shark engine designed by Hyundai in Korea.
The Fiat 500 mini car gets surprising performance out of its tiny, 1.4-liter 4-cylinder by using MultiAir, which eliminates the need for an intake camshaft and instead uses a system of oil-pressured tubes that allow the exhaust valves to actuate the intake valves. It is a system that has been used on Formula 1 engines, and allows infinite valve overlap for more complete combustion. It also could be adapted to any engine, and the first attempt at that is the Tiger Shark 2.4-liter engine.
New Dart gets newer GT model with MultiAir 2.4.
The Dart came out new as a 2013, but without the GT model, which is the one with the new MultiAir Tiger Shark engine. The Dart GT is ready to go as a 2014 model, which should help inspire a new wave of popularity for the well-designed global compact, and I got the chance to run a couple of GT models around the big test track and the intricate infield road course and found it to be satisfyingly strong in both stick or manual transmission form.
The 2.4-liter MultiAir develops 184 horsepower and 171 foot-pounds of torque and gets an estimated 41 miles per gallon. Dodge is wisely going to also use the new engine in the SXT and Limited Dart models, as well as the top-of-the-line GT, which starts at $20,995. The GT and SXT offer a manual transmission or the slick, Hyundai-sourced 6-speed automatic. The base SE offers a 2.0 version of the 2.4, while the Aero model will use the Fiat Abarth’s 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo. Read more
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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