   2014 Jeep Cherokee North 4×4 V6. Click image to enlarge |
Away from the confines of suburban commuting, the Jeep Cherokee was able to put those quick gear changes to use bringing the little truck up to speed quickly, but what impressed me most was the ride quality. I found it balanced the comfort and stability perfectly for my tastes in a small SUV. There was no harsh, jittery bouncing around as we’ve experienced in the Toyota RAV4 or VW Tiguan, nor did it wallow and roll like the Outlander or Kia Sorento. It seemed to fall into the category with the Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V, which provides reassuring control in turns, sufficient compliance on rough surfaces, and never seems to get thrown out of sorts even in tough conditions.
Speaking of tough conditions, although the weather was severe during the week we had it, the basic Active Drive I AWD system with a single-speed transfer case and fully automatic operation was entirely sufficient. It can also be set to Snow, Sport or Sand/Mud settings using the Selec-Terrain knob just ahead of the shifter. We used the Snow setting occasionally, though never out of necessity (Auto seemed to handle everything just fine). We even tried out Sport on a couple of occasions, but we weren’t exactly running the Baja 1000, so it didn’t really seem to offer any great improvement when the environment is the weekday commute or a milk-run to the grocery store, so that will have to wait for a proper adventure, as will making use of its articulation prowess.
For those who plan to use their Jeep for legitimate off-roading excursions, the Active Drive II 4WD system is available in any trim, offering a 4-Low mode that locks front and rear drive shafts, increased ride height and low 2.92:1 gear ratio. There is also a Jeep Active Lock 4×4 system standard on Trailhawk models that add a locking rear diff and other off-roading-specific components that helped Jacob get over his fear of driving up a cliff.
Our Cherokee was the popular North Edition, a mid-level trim starting at $26,495 between the base $23,495 Sport and top $29,995 Limited. The 4×4 system is a $2,200 price hike over FWD models in any trim. The V6 engine is a $1,300 upgrade on the North Edition (as it is in any trim), and our tester was dressed up with various options to the tune of $34,995 once you account for the A/C Tax and $1,695 Destination charge.
At that price point, the North Edition seems luxurious as any small SUV needs to be, with a large 8.4-inch touchscreen interface that is simple, easy to operate, and visually pleasing. It deftly balances the clean layout that touchscreens allow by embedding functions like seat and steering wheel heaters (seat and steering wheel heaters! Nice.) as pop-ups on screen when you first start up, then nested along the bottom of the screen along with main menus for audio, nav, phone and vehicle settings. The Cherokee still offers hard buttons for the dual-zone climate control and stereo volume and scrolling through stations or playlists. Best of both worlds, indeed.
  2014 Jeep Cherokee North 4×4 V6. Click image to enlarge |
One feature lacking in this fairly well equipped model was leather seating, though the steering wheel and shifter were leather-wrapped; leather is available only in the Limited trim. The alternative we experienced was a two-tone grey inserts on black fabric, both of which felt durable and looked nice in our eyes, complementing the other high-quality, soft-touch materials throughout the interior, a significant improvement over the Patriot and Compass twins, and solidly amid class leaders.
