Test drive Jeep Grand Cherokee 1999 - 2003 SUV

Leaders

Cherokee is a modified Tciloki, translated - just people who speak another language (this is the name of this tribe included in the group of ironic, adjacent Indians). The Cheroki (or TCILOKI) themselves called themselves Ani Yun Wiya - completely inexpressible, but very proud people are very proud people.
 

To begin with, we repeat: we are strongly against the use of the everyday name of the jeep in relation to all SUVs. There are only two full jeeps: Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee - Products of the Chrysler Corporation. The first of them is the direct heir to the Honored Willes Willys, with his Spartan comfort and soldier's tolerance for disagreement. The second - the heir along the side line, having lost the carrying frame - is fundamentally different in terms of comfort. In 1992, Cherokee had a close relative - Grand Cherokee, who, despite his American origin, has long and firmly entered modern Russian folklore.
 

Last year, Grand Cherokee was seriously updated - for the first time since the start of release. The debut of the new model turned out to be somewhat premature and with a shade of the scandal - they were going to present a new car in the fall, but the amateur photographer (EE 6 and 8, 1998) intervened, and the presentation had to be held earlier ...

 
In the USA, the car went on sale at the end of last year, and it is not surprising that it soon appeared in Moscow. What has changed in it? To find out, we took the test two Grand Cherokee - the previous and current model years. (It is worth noting that the cars are of different origin - the 1998 model was made in the Austrian city of Graz, where another Russian hit is made - Gelandewagen. The new car is a purebred American, its release in Austria has just begun.)
 

When the new Grand Cherokee appeared before us, at first it seemed that there was some kind of mistake. What is new in him? Well, there are small cosmetic changes - and nothing more. But it is argued that the update was carried out radical. We put a car next to his predecessor - like a soldier at a morning examination - and begin to study.

 
Now the differences are visible - in detail. The grate of the radiator with seven slits is slightly rounded and more inclined, its rods in the upper part were slightly dispersed - in the shape of the letter V. the windshield and front racks leaned into the salon. The body is slightly different - it seems to be higher, it seems to be wider, with more rounded contours. The headlights - more convex, flowing to the wings, with completely smooth glasses made of polycarbonate - not as strict as on the previous model.

 
The continuity of generations is evident, and there is nothing wrong with that: the bestseller must be recognizable. All new stylistic solutions only emphasize healthy heredity - despite the fashionable roundness of the forms of the new machine, its appearance gives rise to a sense of reliability and confidence familiar in the old Grand Cherokee.

 
It should be noted that the task of the designers was difficult: both the new to the appearance of the machine must be brought, and fans of the military style are not too offended. Tom Gail, the chief in the Jeep branch, even said that from the point of view of preserving the style, it was not easier to update Grand Cherokee than, for example, Rolls-Royce or Harley-Davidson ...

 
Be that as it may, they solved the problem. Despite the fact that the alterations made in the car were really significant - only 127 parts (mainly fasteners) from the previous model were used in the new Grand Cherokee.
 

The visual increase in the size of the car was confirmed by numbers - the new Grand Cherokee is 110 mm longer, 40 mm wider and 60 mm higher. The track has expanded, the wheelbase and road clearance are the previous ones. Changes in sizes are not radical, the car was both a compact SUV: somewhere between M and L on the clothing scale, which ends on XXXL.
 

Access to that has become a little more spacious, the salon facilitates an honest, almost freight footboard, which is now included in the standard equipment. In addition, it does not stand out against the general background, as it was with an optional chrome or anodized installation of pipes hanging almost under the body of another car of previous years of production. The door handles have changed, pressing the thumb on the tight button of the lock is now not required.
 

The planting height became less than 30 mm, but the driver's seat did not drop, but rather, it rose by 25 mm - the review is better.
 

Seat adjustments - all electric ones - remained in the usual places. Light support is slightly strengthened. The management of all the illumination, janitors and washers was transferred to steering wheel switches (at first they seemed overloaded, but in the end they liked it).

 
The dashboard has a full -fledged set of six familiar scales: a speedometer, a tachometer, a voltmeter, oil pressure indicators, coolant temperature and fuel level. Almost diesel specifics, in difficult road conditions, is not at all superfluous. Grand Cherokee is not in vain nicknamed very wide: the shield reads perfectly - in particular, because on its large black field neither arrows nor dials are crowded. Extremum zones are indicated in red, arrows, translucent during the day, shine at night - it’s nice to watch.
 

The central part of the torpedo has become more concise, it is dominated by round, streamlined forms. The air conditioning management was somewhat simplified. The full -time radio tape recorder is far from perfect, but it is able to make a long way more attractive - it exacerbates the comfort both visually and acoustic. The left hand is in charge of an electric packet on the driver's door, it can only be a particularly gifted in it. About other benefits - such as an on -board computer and airbags, indication of temperature overboard, light bulbs of inadequacy - you should not spread particularly: made with stylistic changes, all of them retained their previous places. The chest between the seats is monumental: to sit on it (for example, for video shooting through the hatch) without much risk. By the way, Luke is traditionally not the strongest place of the machine - a new design, thinner and lighter.
 

In general, the salon has changed noticeably - for the better. General impression: more spacious, airy and richer. The soft surfaces were added to the touch. Perhaps the only negative is linden plastic on the torpedo and doors, completely unlike the tree that it is designed to imitate. The levers of transmission and hand brake control on the new car liked less - almost the same in shape, the battleships of the selector and demultiplitor can be confused to the touch, and the former male poker is more pleasant than the current handle from the umbrella. The hand brake lever, pushed from the driver, makes you pull the hand far to the side.
 

About passengers. In the region of the middle of the front leg, a threateningly cornerstone pipeline of unclear purposes is located. But the places above the head and in the shoulders were added to the front, and - especially - behind. But in the legs the rear passengers are still infringed - despite the increase in the length of the car (the wheelbase, recall, remained the same). Over the rear doors there are folding handles - quite subtile plastic brackets that may not stand if they are grabbing on an active driving on off -road. Salon lights are good - not like in an airplane or intercity bus, but everyone can read, and without interfering with the driver. The luggage compartment has increased slightly in volume, access to it has become more convenient. The main change is that the full -size spare wheel has taken a lot of space removed under the floor of the floor.
 

A runaway inspection of cars from below shows their almost complete external resemblance. A carrier body with powerful spars, uncertain beams of bridges on massive levers, a spring suspension with reproach stability in the front and behind is an indestructible structure that allows you to not be afraid of the trench-loud rebuses of road repair jokes. However, upon closer examination, it is clear that the back suspension has changed. The upper longitudinal reactive rods and traction of Panar gave way to a triangular lever that holds the bridge simultaneously from longitudinal and transverse movements, including vertical moves - this should improve controllability. In addition, with body rolls in corners, the rear bridge should slightly rotate around the vertical axis, therefore, the behavior of the machine will depend on its loading.
 

A few words about the engines. Since the beginning of its release, the base engine for Grand Cherokee has been 4 liters of its production - its pedigree goes back to the times of American Motors. As an option, 5.2 l of the V8 engine was proposed, and recently 5.9 liters of V8. Both optional engines are ancient lower -sized barbell structures with low specific dedication. Only a huge volume allowed them to develop the power necessary so that not too aerodynamic car could maintain high speed on the highway - sufficient to keep up with competitors. As a result - exorbitant appetite. (These engines have advantages - indestructibility and very decent torque on the bottom.) The car of the 1998 model year that came into our hands was equipped with just this - 5.9 liters - a motor.
 

For the 1999 model, a new engine was created, also a V -shaped, with a volume of 4.7 liters, but already a modern design - the top. With a noticeably smaller volume, it exceeds 5.2 l of the motor in power and only does not reach 5.9 liters a little.

 
Alas, the new Grand Cherokee we got was equipped with an old base engine, 4 liters of in -line six. True, they worked on the engine: the new intake tract and a more effective water pump allowed to win a dozen horses, in addition, the sound was ennobled, the noise level at high speeds and the content of harmful compounds in the exhaust were noticeably reduced.

 
That the old engine is not trouble. Actually, we were upset due to the fact that it would not be possible to try the new automatic transmission 45RFE, which is equipped with only 4.7 liters of motor, with two (!) Second gear and an improved Quadra-Drive all-wheel drive system. However, everything is ahead - in the near future we will certainly get to her, but for now we will be content with what is.
 

Both cars were all-wheel drive, with the quadra-trac hand-boxed boxes (respectively, I and II generations) and the rear differentials of increased friction. Naturally, with demultipliers.
 

Standard for 4 l of the motor is the SELEC-TRAC (NV242) box, which provides a constant all-wheel drive with the locking of the center differential and the possibility of turning off the front bridge. The optional automatic box Quadra -Trac (NV247) - more complicated. In normal road conditions, almost the entire torque is supplied to the rear bridge. When there is a difference in the speed of rotation of the front and rear wheels (slipping), the hydraulic pump puts pressure on the clutch discs of the center differential, thereby smoothly blocking it and connecting the front bridge.

 
The pump rotor is mechanically connected to the front axis drive, and its body is with the rear drive (clutch disks, through one), so the developed pressure depends on the difference in the speed of the axles. The advantages of this design over the viscous coupling include increased speed of operation and greater efficiency.
 

Given the differences in the power and especially the torque of the engines, we did not suit the speed. Of course, with a 5.9 liter of the Grand Cherokee engine accelerates faster, but it is difficult to blame him for impulsivity and ardor - this is not the leader of the LDPR. The machine with 4 liters of the engine is slightly inferior, but not so much that it was very noticeable during urban driving. But this motor is more economical, in addition, a in -line six will always furnish the V8 in balance and smoothness of work.
 

It was more interesting to find out what changed in the behavior of the car. The task of the designers was the following: to improve the highway behavior of Grand Cherokee, without depriving it of off -road opportunities. It was easy to fulfill the second - just nothing to change (therefore, the wheelbase was not increased). But the first ... After all, on the asphalt and the previous model behave absolutely like a car.
 

The suspension has become tougher and helps the car more confidently to keep the road. That's just the maximum speed is limited: 180 km/h, and then - as in the wall. It decreased, although not as much as we would like, the roll in corners.
 

The steering has become noticeably more acute, zero steering is better monitored, although the reactive effort in this position (as well as when the steering wheel is turned several degrees - in any direction) could be larger. But the designers managed to reduce the diameter of the turn by 300 mm, and now the Grand Cherokee will not yield to many cars.

 
To the automatic box - no complaints. The brakes are light and powerful, with enlarged disks, a new car stops confidently - more willingly old. The higher the speed and worse road conditions, the more energetic when braking knocks on the sole of the Abs boot - quite European. At first it allows you to make a mistake, and when he makes sure that the driver is still better to help, comes into action. For a competent pilot, it does not seem to exist, and it will contribute to the kettle.
 

Swaying on the asphalt, you catch yourself on the fact that you don’t really want to climb somewhere in the mud. Why, when and so good?
 

The off -road potential of the Grand Cherokee is well known, and the alterations of the rear suspension should not reduce it. Nevertheless, we still moved to the ground area. Everywhere - pieces of a reinforced assortment of Moscow fertilizers, rusty bodies of domestic cars and other trash, difficult to identify. In the eyes of the guest from the Caucasus, passing through a step for a detailed examination of the jeep, as if the question froze: wah, the way such a new car is such a dirt?. We agree: the rubber is inappropriate - Goodyear Eagle with a clearly road pattern. But on it, the car confidently moves along a soaked loam. Especially when the demultipliter is on. Yes, a feeling of guaranteed reliability is a good component of being ...

 
A fairly long -term suspension allows the machine to confidently overcome obstacles in the form of pieces of concrete, but we did not zeal in jumping through them, since the element of the frontal part of the front - a plastic apron designed to protect the lower part of the radiator - this would hardly withstand. Moreover, we planned in the near future to test a car with 4.7 liters of a motor and a new transmission on a real off -road highway. And the fact that in the new car this apron is located even lower than on the previous one once again confirms: the designers knew firmly that the owner of the Grand Cherokee rarely moves off asphalt. But at the same time, he is pleased to realize that he can do this at any time - easily, albeit sacrificing an apron.
 

Jeep cars, perhaps, were the first SUVs, which in the early 90s appeared in a fairly large number on Moscow streets. At first it was Cherokee, then Grand Cherokee, later the fashion for Jeep was held, and many models of other manufacturers appeared to be replaced. Now, with the birth of a completely new Jeep Grand Cherokee, the fashion to jeep in a real jeep may return.

 

Alexey Strelkov
 
 

 

Source: Magazine Motor