Topic: Test Drive: 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 5.7 4X4

[editorgreg]

Contrary to the article, E85 increases consumption, and thus decreases mileage from 22 to 16 (highway) in this vehicle.

Oops!  Right, I meant "increases" not "decreases" fuel consumption.

GW

[Ex-airbalancer]

Contrary to the article, E85 increases consumption, and thus decreases mileage from 22 to 16 (highway) in this vehicle.

What's the point of going with E85 if it increases consumption by 37%?!

EDIT: Looked it up myself. According fueleconomy.gov, it'll cost an extra $150 a year to run it on E85 ($2613 vs $2469), but will also decrease the carbon footprint by a good margin (7.6 vs 10.4 tons/yr of CO2).

So, the question is, will a Grand Cherokee owner will decide to buy more E85 fuel (meaning more trips to the gas station!)to decrease his carbon footprint? Doubtful.

The point of E85 is for the Americans to reduce the amount of oil imported into the country and for the farmers to get paid for their corn crop
The rest is all spin

[EV Dan]

I saw one at the dealer's, in top trim I assume. The interior is gorgeous, by any standards. The thing is not bloated, like many suvs become over the years. Overall I liked the styling too. The reason it would never be on my shopping list are the seats. I don't mind them firm, but those seemed flat, I mean TTC bus seats are shaped better, and the worse of all, at the end of the seat the bolsters were kind of narrow, low and still managing to cut into my thighs. Even their bottom of the pack trucks come with better seats. So much for cornering with that hemi, and on a trail your behind will be all over the place.
Just my opinion. I though I would share since nothing was said on those 3 pages.

[Roy]

EDIT: Looked it up myself. According to fueleconomy.gov, it'll ... also decrease the carbon footprint by a good margin (7.6 vs 10.4 tons/yr of CO2).

The carbon emission is just being transferred from the GC tailpipe to the seeder that plants the grain, the inputs for the fertilizer and pesticide that get sprayed on the grain, the tractor stack of the combine that harvests the ethanol, the truck that transports that grain, and the refinery that processes that grain into ethanol.  And all of the other inputs in between above.  Using ethanol/corn/maize etc as fuel is actually self defeating b/c there are more inputs like, fuel!, that go into its production than what goes into finding, pumping, refining and transporting fossil fuel.  Especially since there is less energy in ethanol etc and hence the higher fuel consumption.  Its really a lose-lose.

And as someone else pointed out, E85 is more of a loophole to help auto manufacturers continue on until a real sustainable fuel solution can be found.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

EDIT: Looked it up myself. According to fueleconomy.gov, it'll ... also decrease the carbon footprint by a good margin (7.6 vs 10.4 tons/yr of CO2).

The carbon emission is just being transferred from the GC tailpipe to the seeder that plants the grain, the inputs for the fertilizer and pesticide that get sprayed on the grain, the tractor stack of the combine that harvests the ethanol, the truck that transports that grain, and the refinery that processes that grain into ethanol.  And all of the other inputs in between above.  Using ethanol/corn/maize etc as fuel is actually self defeating b/c there are more inputs like, fuel!, that go into its production than what goes into finding, pumping, refining and transporting fossil fuel.  Especially since there is less energy in ethanol etc and hence the higher fuel consumption.  Its really a lose-lose.

And as someone else pointed out, E85 is more of a loophole to help auto manufacturers continue on until a real sustainable fuel solution can be found.

To be fair, when comparing biofuels to traditional petrochemicals, you would also have to figure in the CO2 emissions of extraction, transportation, refining and distribution of petro diesel and gasoline. (some bright egg calculated that 16 supertankers emit as much co2 as all the world's cars)

Land use, and food supply issues still make bio-fuel a dubious exercise. We need to concentrate on reducing energy use.

[saint_satan]

Sir Osis:

Right on - I'm not sure a rig that burns 18l/100 km in town is part of the solution   Jeep should bring back some of its diesel options - including the 2.2 Mercedes option for the 2011 Patriot we can't get here in N.A.

Don't worry, $1.40 gas is right around the corner again!

[Calvin]

I'm surprised the author commented that the transmission shifted well and was a good match for the HEMI when Motor Trend took the new '11 HEMI Charger and called the 5 spd the only reason the Charger couldn't be considered a sporty car. One says it's great, the American autosnobs call it poop.  Such differing opinions.  Better than my 00 Taurus I'm sure. 

I for one love the way the new GC looks.  Better than the last gen which looked kinda bland.  They fixed what was wrong with it anyway.  I'd wait for a 3 yr old before buying one though.  Ouch!! $$$ 

[Erik]

Don't understand the comments about the 5 speed. In general, I find mine to be a gem. One of the best aspects of the car in my opinion.

[Calvin]

I'm sure if they slapped a BMW or Audi badge on the front of it the 5 spd would illicit few negative comments.  If any.

[Cory X]

I think this vehicle is very much so better than the old one.  My concern is always going to be with reliability.  Jeeps have always been good off road and the Cherokee seemed to be the most luxury and I think this new one takes it up a notch in the luxury department.  That being said if this was my money I was spending I would buy the new Ford Explorer as I think it is the better product and has a bit more attractive price.  If you want a serious off roader then I'd suggest the Toyota 4 Runner as it's the best main stream off roader made today I believe.

Actually Jeep's and Chrysler products are probably the most reliable vehicles around..They always start,drive but the biggest complaint and they are deemed unreliable because of the brake calipers cause the rotors to warp and brake pads to wear out sooner than most other vehicles.. this is why they lose marks in C.R because of their brake calipers...

Their engines are bulletproof,transmissions bulletproof,I repair cars for a living,Toyota's have less mileage in general and more major breakdowns ! Remember if a speaker blows up and enough people are annoyed with the speaker they say the jeep is unrealiable !!

[Shnak]

Don't understand the comments about the 5 speed. In general, I find mine to be a gem. One of the best aspects of the car in my opinion.

Okay, but yours doesn't have over 2.5 tons of metal to haul around...

[Shnak]

I'm sure if they slapped a BMW or Audi badge on the front of it the 5 spd would illicit few negative comments.  If any.

If this was 1990 maybe... Audi and BMW haven't had 5-speed automatics in a few years now... 6 and 7 is pretty much the standard now. When you've got a $24k CUV with a 6-speed automatic, I think it's reasonable to ask for a $40k+ to have a modern transmission, no?