Jeep Cherokee (Liberty) test drive since 2007 SUV
The fruit of unification
It is correctly noticed: history and fashion are developing in a spiral The story of Jeep Cherokee began with a SJ almost unknown in our country. At the dawn of millennia, in the era of political correctness and tolerance, he gave way to the diplomatically rounded Liberty. Now sharp corners are replacing the usual roundness.
In the appearance of the new square Cherokee, the features of the flagship Commander are clearly read. The same emphasized brutality and aggressive playing with muscles. But most of all, comparison with Dodge Nitro suggests itself. And is not unreasonable. For Baran, already becoming familiar with domestic open spaces, shares not only the platform from Cherokee, but also most body parts. Unification, you understand. Saving.
The salon of the new Jeep also has much in common with the nozzle Dodge: the chopped front panel with a massive central console, thorough-looking, but rather narrow chairs. The steering wheel is still regulated only in height. True, there is no longer to complain about the insufficient range of the longitudinal setting of the seat. The back is also not crowded. And the ability to back the back of the seat allows you to make even distant trips comfortable. However, it is still inconvenient to squeeze into the rear seats through a tapering door of the doorway. (By the way, Nitro passengers, having a longer wheelbase, have no such problems.)
Thanks to the spare wheel (a dock or full-size depending on the configuration), which moved from the rear door under the bottom, the luggage compartment was a few dried up and rose above the ground for 1015 centimeters. Although, having folded the separate backs of the rear seats to the floor, to get a flat and quite spacious cargo The platform is still possible. True, the expected by obsessive analogy with the Nitro drawer in the trunk was not found. But there is a removable panel finished with carpet on one side and easily washing plastic on the other. Comfortable. The fifth door now opens up, and not sideways, as on the model of the previous generation. And the rear window, as before, can be opened separately.
Well, let's see what the novelty is on the go. Are the consumers to taste the fruits of unification here? From a fairly wide range of power units of the predecessor, the current Cherokee inherited only two engines.
In the Russian line, a 3.7-liter 205-horsepower V-shaped six-shaped six and a 2.8-liter 177-horsepower 4-cylinder diesel diesel engine, aggregated with a 4- and 5-speed automatic, respectively. (There are no more basic versions with mechanics.) After testing both versions during the test, my colleagues and I came to a paradoxical conclusion: gasoline and diesel Cherokee are completely different machines. Moreover, the differences are by no means exhausted by the technical characteristics of the engines (and, accordingly, the dynamic properties of the car). With the same design (and, according to manufacturers, identical settings) of the suspension and the same level of equipment with active security systems, the behavior of cars on the road varies significantly. Apparently, due to a more successful distribution of mass along the axes, the diesel version is controlled more reliably and more predictable than gasoline, allowing you to enter turns at relatively higher speed and practically without interfering in the ESP vigilant system. By the way, electronics enters only when it is really necessary, and insures the driver very delicately.
However, regardless of the engine, the controllability of the new Jeep installed under the hood, compared to the predecessor, improved markedly. Thanks to the independent suspension of the front wheels with double levers and the reptile stability stabilizer (the rear bridge remained uncertain, but received a complex five -legged pendant) Cherokee confidently keeps the road even at the highest speeds. The steering (a gear-rake with a hydraulic wrap) provides a very understandable and unambiguous connection, which is preserved both in direct and in steep turns. The jeep prescribes an arc without unnecessary swing and screening. Reliable and understandable. The rolls are small.
Supporting controllability and brakes. Elastic, with male efforts and short stroke, the pedal allows you to accurately regulate slowdown. ABS is softly triggered, and the moment of the anti -lock is predicted quite accurately.
Things are not bad with the smoothness of the course. Small bumps and joints are overcome almost imperceptibly, and when meeting with large coating flaws, the case does without painful breakdowns. The swing on the waves is minimal. The SUV does not refuse passengers in comfort, even on a broken country.
The new car, as before, has a lowering gear, but the all-wheel drive transmission, called Selec-Trac II, has become different. If earlier, on expensive versions of Cherokee, there was an interdosseous differential, now it was replaced by a multi -disc cyk with electronic control, with which the front line is connected. And the handout is controlled not by a lever, but by a new -fangled switch. In the rear -wheel drive mode of the 2WD, the coupling is dissolved, and in position 4WD Auto it is blocked only if the rear wheels are slipped. Reducing gear (4WD Low mode) allows you to increase the torque on wheels almost three times. Helps and the HILL Descent CONTROL Mountain control system helps on roadway: braking wheels, electronics automatically maintains the minimum steady speed on a steep descent. Moreover, it can be increased by switching to a second or third gear. By the way, unlike similar Volkswagen or Land Rover systems, electronics allows the driver to use both brake and gas.
The new Jeep Cherokee is delivered exclusively in the execution of Limited (climate control, leather interior, heating of the seats, rain sensor, parking sensors). Those who wish to understand the car to their own taste are offered a wide selection of options, including the folding panoramic fabric roof of Sky Slider. For gasoline Cherokee, dealers ask for $ 51,600. The diesel version costs $ 1000 more.
The new Jeep Cherokee, as well as his named brother Dodge Nitro, are produced at the same factory, in the city of Toledo (USA, Ohio). Cars are very similar to each other. It is not surprising: after all, they share not only the platform, but also most of the components and assemblies. In fact, SUVs differ only in all -wheel drive systems. The Cherokee transmission has a lowering gear, and Nitro is deprived of it.
Andrey Tsybulsky
Source: Mkobil magazine [October/2008]
