   2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge |
Uconnect is Chrysler’s answer to the human machine interface and I think it’s one of the better ones. The phone pairing was simple, it was easy to use and the touchscreen was accurate and fast. The nanny-state is in full effect when it comes time to use the nav on the move, though. Even if you are a passenger you can’t use the touchscreen to enter a destination while on the move. Some brands feature a system that senses when there is a passenger (using the airbag seat occupancy sensors) and allows the screen to be used when a passenger is detected – it is infuriating that any car with touchscreen nav doesn’t have this feature.
   2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge |
The only other gripe I had with the SRT was the rear compartment. It is poorly lit, and the child-seat tethers are dangerously confusing. The two down-lights in the tailgate light up when the gate is lifted, but they offer a pitiful amount of lighting, so it’s hard to make out the details in the carpet linings. That’s where the child seat anchors get confusing.
The carpet folds up and covers the opening where the latch is, so you have to know that it is there and fold the carpet out of the way. No drama, except to get it out of the way enough you have to actually remove the entire little panel, or fold the seat forward – difficult when the point of the exercise is to install a big bulky child seat. Adding to the confusion, there is a luggage anchor pretty much immediately next to the seat on the floor – bet your bottom dollar someone will mistake that for the child seat anchor and connect their child seat to it. Bad form that.
This tester also had cross-path warning and a back-up camera with direction guidance – so you know where you’ll end up, not just where you are. Leaving a restaurant in Brampton, one local wannabe racer was kind enough to test the cross-path warning system for me, and as he barrelled through the car park the Jeep gave me plenty of warning time. The side mirrors automatically rotate downwards, too, which is handy if you’re parking next to a curb, but annoying when you want to judge closeness to another vehicle. The forward collision warning system is a gift when parking too – there is a surprising amount of bulge at the front of this rig and the radar helps you not bash it into walls.
Much has been made of the Jeep’s eight-speed automatic transmission and I really expected to be impressed by it. I wasn’t. Eight speeds is probably too much. The gearbox is changing gears constantly – probably in a futile effort to return less obnoxious fuel usage – and I found it intrusive. This car has so much grunt that there is no need to keep it within such a tight rev range. Heck, with the amount of torque in this bad boy you barely need two gears, let alone eight!
Despite the busy gearbox, the SRT ranks high on livability. It’s comfortable, spacious and there are dozens of great little cubby holes for knick-knacks and gadgets.
Everything in the SRT is lit up, from the rims of the cup holders to aeroplane-style floor and under-seat lighting. There is heavy, thick leather on every surface and plenty of chrome trimmings to make you feel all powerful. The cabin wants you to know that you’re a heavy hitter, in a heavy-hitting car. If you were a family businessman, this cabin would give you a negotiation advantage.
