Jeep Cherokee 2014 Review

Jeep says it invented the mid-sized SUV segment when it introduced the Cherokee back in 1984. But now there's an all-new model here and it's got a fair bit of competition on its hands. As well as all the mainstream competition like the Nissan Qashqai and the Volkswagen Tiguan, Jeep has priced the Cherokee from £25,000, so it's expecting it to go up against proper premium SUVs, too. That puts the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 in its sights, and while it may not have the same badge appeal, the Cherokee has got some pretty brave styling. Jeep is promising us it's made big improvements to the cabin quality, too, so if you're stepping out of an Audi, you won't be disappointed. Because this is a pretty new car, we haven't really seen much of its interior yet, so I thought I'd talk you through it. And you do get quite a few nice chunky switches, so it feels quite Jeep-y and the quality is pretty good. This one is a top-spec Limited car, so you get this soft-touch dashboard here with a nice bit of contrast stitching. There's a big 8.4-inch colour touchscreen in the middle, and there's a seven-inch colour screen in the instrument cluster. While all that's quite nice and luxurious and hi-tech, you do find that certain materials like this surround for the gear-lever here looks a bit early 1990s - a bit cheap and tacky. And this lower down plastic here is pretty scratchy and hard, and that's the same for this centre part here. But at least you do get quite a lot of equipment, so the mid-spec Longitude models get cruise control, dual-zone climate control, power windows and rear parking sensors. Then if you upgrade to this Limited one, you get all the fancy stuff I mentioned earlier, plus you get a reversing camera, so it's pretty well equipped and that's good considering it's going to have a bit of a premium price tag. Because it's a Jeep, this new Cherokee has to be the best in its class off-road, but the engineers told us they've worked *** the on-road dynamics too. After all, that's where it'll mostly be used. For serious off-roaders, there's a Trailhawk version with better approach and departure angles, a proper locking rear-diff and a low-ratio gearbox. So, if you don't buy a Trailhawk, you can basically choose from two-wheel-drive or two slightly less capable four-wheel-drive systems. But whichever one you go for, in all likelihood you'll probably have bought the 2.0-litre diesel - that's the engine most people are going to go for. It's available with 170 or 140bhp, and we've got the most powerful one here. It's mated up to, as standard on the more powerful engine, a 9-speed automatic gearbox. And it's okay - the gearbox works really well and the engine has enough torque. You get from 0-62mph in just over 10 seconds and nice smooth shifts from the gearbox, but the engine itself? There's some issues with the refinement. It's fine just cruising around like now, but if you do ever want to try and use all that performance and the gearbox kicks down a couple of gears, then you do notice it sounds quite rough towards the top of the rev-range. The ride is actually pretty good. It's nice and soft and it feels smooth over these bumpy roads, but when it comes to the handling, the steering is nicely weighted - it has a bit of heft to it - which is what you want from a Jeep. But, there's not all that much involvement, it kind of feels really numb and it leans a bit in the corners, so in terms of this being a fun-to-drive or performance-y SUV, it doesn't really feel that brief. So what we've got here, is a Jeep SUV that's really capable off-road, pretty good on-road with a hi-tech cabin and Euro NCAP named it the safest car in its class last year - that's a pretty long and impressive list of talents, but then the Cherokee goes up against some seriously talented rivals. The good news is, is that it's no longer as far adrift from those rivals as it previously has been. It's not best in class, but it is at least an unusual alternative to the Nissan Qashqai and Volkswagen Tiguan - and that's something we haven't been able to say about a Cherokee for quite a long time.