Test drive 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee: Optimus Prime

Stellantis offers us the latest and most beautiful and fun designs. Not only can we not wait for the new Lancia Ypsilon, but we also think the Grandland GSe, for example, is really cool. Now the American branch has a new toy on the market and it cannot be ignored. Jeep Grand Cherokee is a luxury American all-terrain truck.

What is a Jeep Grand Cherokee?

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is the largest passenger car that Jeep offers in the Netherlands. In fact, with the exception of passenger cars, it is the largest passenger car in all of Stellantis. It is a large luxury SUV that competes with the BMW X5 (maybe even the X7 in length), the Range Rover and the Mercedes ML.

In terms of appearance, it is a typical American car. The off-road Jeep background shines and blends easily with the luxurious ski lodge atmosphere. It is very tall and bursts into life with its seven shining grilles. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is really bad main, and his face too. The back is neat and luxurious, the word dominates in the overall design.

We drove the Jeep Grand Cherokee Rally Drive. This is the only version you can buy in the Netherlands. It’s loaded with options and luxuries, but the engine is surprisingly European. There’s no big V8 under the hood, not even a six-cylinder. But, instead, the car is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with a PHEV drivetrain. In total it has 380 hp.

How does he drive?

The electric ladder barely comes off the curb when you open the door of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. As soon as you lift yourself up and sit in the chair, you see a great luxury. The seats are beautifully upholstered and the rest of the interior gives off a very luxurious yet friendly feel. It’s hard to explain, but the interior of the Jeep feels akin to that of a Grand Café or an elegant American ranch.

Apart from the size of the car, you don’t have to get used to anything when driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The whole thing is simple and everything speaks for itself. The engine, with the electric motor, has enough oempf, but the electricity runs out quickly. This leads to a sad experience, more about this later. The automatic transmission is very smooth and you can only feel it with a lot of attention.

The air suspension is good, but not very good. In the same way that the suspension is not too hard, that is also good. The car is big, but it can often be easily driven. Although parking can sometimes be difficult, practice makes perfect. Steering and braking are well controlled, despite the very large size and weight. So driving behavior is definitely on the line.

Strong

The Jeep Grand Cherokee’s amazing powerhouse is inside. What a beautiful interior this car has. Spacious, open and very nice to be in. The interior strikes the right chord, namely luxury and comfort, without sounding out of place by going overboard. Congratulations. The seats are comfortable and we think the dashboard is very nice. There’s even a slight hint of vulgarity to the whole thing without actually being taken seriously. Yes, there is skin attached to diamonds, but only a little. And with brown stitching, so it’s very luxurious. Yes, there is also wood, but good and classic wood. Cool, Jeep. Very neat.

The impeccable interior looks also seep through to the exterior of this mastodon. What a view this is. If you’ve recovered from the shock of an approaching pressure wave the size of a football field, we encourage you to take a closer look at this beauty. Beautifully finished details, perfect lines and, above all, many small improvements. That’s special, especially on a Jeep that size. It gives us the same feeling as Range Rover. Yes, he can go anywhere, but with a jacket. The only difference is that the Jeep Grand Cherokee also wears a cowboy hat.

This third point will not surprise, but it is obvious to mention. The Jeep Grand Cherokee has plenty of interior space. That’s right, and such a beast. But, it still speaks of good design. All five people can move around in the front seats and back seats comfortably and a dog (or four) can also sit comfortably in the back. It looks like there is no room in the battery pack, there is a lot of room everywhere.

Weak points

Unfortunately, it’s not all whiskey and moonshine. We’re really not fans of the hybrid system in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Don’t get us wrong: shifting between gears and between drives is seamless and incredibly smooth. But, the car is not economical. It looks like Jeep is doing its best to drive as electric as possible when the battery is fully charged. He also does it by way of example. High acceleration and high speed can be done quite easily with electricity. However, this ensures that the battery is empty in a short time. That is very bad. Therefore, we could not achieve an average usage that was better than 1 in 9.

We have another step, which you will need to consider with us. Is there a Jeep Grand Cherokee market in the Netherlands? We think so, we don’t know how big. One of the cars that we think is a competitor, the BMW X5, is about the same price as the PHEV. That’s the starting price, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is already fully loaded. Anyway, the In any case, he is good, so he has a reason for goodwill. Looks too, we think.

Equipment

Our pilot model is the only version available in the Netherlands, so that saves you the stress of choosing. It is fully loaded with equipment and technology. The co-driver has his own screen on which he can use the radio, among other things, but he can also look at the camera when parking. The car has a McIntosh sound system with two billion speakers. That system sounds really good.

Heated seats and steering wheel are of course included. Ventilated seats too. In addition, in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, you usually get a wide selection button with all kinds of different driving modes for all kinds of different places. Air suspension is also available. Five height positions are available, the middle one is normal and the car goes there directly. We loved it Aero Mode, the bus automatically slows down slightly on the highway to reduce air resistance. Good information.

Jeep Grand Cherokee test drive conclusion

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a very luxurious, spacious and luxurious Lodge on wheels. Leather, wood and good speakers are everything one could wish for in a good living room. Everything can be found in the interior of the Jeep, it just doesn’t have a fireplace. It runs well, well and well. Considering its size it is an easy car to drive, which is very pleasant. It looks amazing and the interior space is amazing. Unfortunately, it is less economical than we would like, but oh well. You can’t always roll six.

Jeep Grand Cherokee is available from 103,700 euros in the Netherlands. He is in Belgium is available from 93,000 euros. Since there is only one version available with almost all the options available, it cannot cost more than a few thousand above these prices.

All photos in this article were taken by Without Berger .