The first thing you notice about the Grand Cherokee when you get it out on the road is the general safe, solid aura it delivers. The seating position almost reminds me of a Toyota 4Runner. High ride height, narrow windshield that feels nice and close to the driver, and a big front hood. It’s all very reminiscent of an older body-on-frame SUV. You feel like you’re in a tank when you’re driving down the road in this thing, and I love the feeling of roominess and isolation that the Grand Cherokee delivers.
Visibility in the Grand Cherokee is good as well. The shorter dashboard and the close windshield kind of allows you to see right over the hood onto the road directly in front of you. As I mentioned above, you also sit really high up in this SUV. It feels about as tall as a 4Runner, and you pretty much tower over everybody. Other mainstream crossovers like the Explorer and the Highlander don’t quite give you that same “king of the road” feel that the Grand Cherokee does. The side mirrors are pretty big, maybe slightly lacking where blind spots are concerned, but overall you can see out of them just fine. The rearview mirror is a little bit small for the back window and doesn’t quite frame it perfectly, but your view out the back is still completely open and unobstructed.
One thing you pick up on after driving the Grand Cherokee Summit for a while, is that this is a very comfort-oriented SUV. Plush ride, hushed road noise, smooth engine and transmission. It’s definitely not a sports car, nor does it pretend to be one. That isn’t a bad thing though, as the Grand Cherokee’s driving experience excels in the category that this vehicle competes in. This SUV feels solid, and you feel like you’re driving something expensive. The Grand Cherokee reminds me of a Lexus with its plush yet sturdy feel when driving down the road, and the material quality in this vehicle is excellent. The steering wheel with the wood trim is beautiful, as well as the suede headliner, the panoramic roof, the wood trim, the Harmon Kardon speakers, and the various leather stitching throughout. Everything merges together to form this really comfortable and high-class environment, and I think the interior of the Grand Cherokee Summit definitely looks better in person than it does in pictures.
The Grand Cherokee is generally a nice and responsive vehicle. You hit the gas and it takes off well, and overall the vehicle moves quick for its size. The engine delivers pretty good torque right away, the transmission gives you the gears that you want, the brakes inspire confidence, and you feel safe at just about any speed. The accelerator is a little bit too springy for my taste, and it also feels a little bit small for your foot, along with somewhat of a minute dead zone right at the beginning. That’s just a minor quirk that I noticed at the beginning of the test drive, but I got used to it quickly. As for the braking response, the brake pedal is stiff, gives you a pretty normal bite, and they provide smooth stopping power.
In terms of engine response, you can definitely tell that you’re not in a Trackhawk, but overall the 3.6 liter V6 is decent. I do think the 5.7 liter Hemi V8 should be standard in the Summit trim level, but the V6 doesn’t really give you much drama. With 295 horsepower, the acceleration is adequate, merging and passing aren’t really an issue, and you’ll be able to keep up with mostly everything else on the road. The engine does feel and sound a little bit “minivan-ish”, and sometimes the Grand Cherokee feels a bit too heavy for the amount of power this engine produces. 90 percent of the time the power feels just fine, but sometimes if you’re on a highway and need to pass someone, or if you’re climbing a hill, you kind of feel the weight of this car lugging along with the engine. Thankfully the Grand Cherokee has a pretty intuitive 8-speed automatic that disguises that, so unlike the front-driven Chrysler Pacifica and its less intuitive ZF 9-speed automatic, you don’t really have as much of that feeling of curb weight trying to play catch up with the engine. I would definitely get the V8 if I was going to buy this car, but for people who aren’t big on horsepower and performance, the V6 does just fine. The power band is smooth, the torque off the line is good, and you don’t really need to wring the engine out to pull out into traffic or to perform passing maneuvers. It’s not lightning quick or anything to really write home abut, but it does get out of its own way when you put your foot down.
As I mentioned previously, the Grand Cherokee’s 8-speed automatic makes a good partner for the engine. The V8 would probably feel out of this world with this transmission, but the V6 is fine too. I wouldn’t call this a sporty transmission nor would I say that it really reads your mind all the time, but it performs well regardless. The 8-speed feels predictable, and the shift points match up with your throttle inputs decently well. The kick down into the lower passing gears feels crisp and fairly immediate, and you don’t really need to dip down into the throttle too much to get a nice downshift. Unlike some of the 9-speed automatics in Chrysler products, this 8-speed seems to give you the exact gears that you want upon requesting passing power. The shift quality is smooth and won’t disturb you at all. Sometimes this transmission clunks into gear a little bit when engaging at lower speeds (as in stepping on the gas at around 5 mph), and you can sometimes feel a slight clunking sensation upon reaching a complete stop under braking. The transmission isn’t laser responsive, but everything seems to be programmed well. Overall it’s a good, honest automatic transmission with smooth and predictable shifts. The only negative that comes to mind is that sometimes the 8-speed seems to keep itself engaged in gear for too long after letting off the accelerator, but I only really noticed that at parking lot speeds.
As for the steering response in the Grand Cherokee, it’s not necessarily bad, but it is very isolated and geared entirely for comfort. Very smooth and solid, but at the same time a little bit mushy and Lexus-like. I can’t knock a big SUV like this for lacking in that arena, but the Grand Cherokee’s steering could stand to feel more connected. It’s pretty slow to react, the on-center feel is a tad vague, and there’s no feedback from the road. You have to maneuver the steering wheel just a little bit more than you would expect around 90 degree turns as well. The steering is very consistent and has a linear progression about it, and the weight is pretty good, so I wouldn’t call it sloppy or unpredictable. The leather and wood trim on the steering wheel also feel really nice to the touch as well, and the thicker bolstering gives you a good sense of control. You turn the wheel into a corner, and the vehicle tracks consistently throughout the duration of the corner, and the vehicle points in a straight line when the steering is on center. I felt that the steering in the Grand Cherokee reminded me of a luxury sedan. Even though the steering in this car feels refined and premium, I thought that the Ford Explorer had a sportier and more connected steering feel. I also found that the steering wheel would sometimes track or “tramline” slightly with pavement indents and road imperfections, but I’m not sure if all Grand Cherokees have that, or if it’s just an isolated thing with the particular one that I drove.
I can’t speak for the SRT or Trackhawk models, but the Grand Cherokee Summit is not meant to be a corner carver. This SUV is designed for comfort, cargo space, and tackling bad weather, all with a touch of off-road credibility. Sporty handling seldom goes with those other four categories, so again, I can’t knock the Grand Cherokee for feeling a bit lackluster in its handling capabilities. Being that the Grand Cherokee is built on a unibody platform, the handling is definitely more capable than some of its body-on-frame competitors, but I wouldn’t be so quick to call the Grand Cherokee “car-like”. This is an SUV, and you pretty much feel like you’re driving one. You can take corners and cloverleaf on-ramps at some decently quick speeds, the chassis remains refined and consistent throughout the apex of the corner, and it will perform just fine in your everyday commute. However, you can tell that the Grand Cherokee doesn’t like being hustled around. You feel the high center of gravity, you feel some body lean, and the seats, while comfortable, don’t really hold you in place through the turns. You can definitely feel those 5,000 pounds when you’re trying to drive quicker in this thing as well. If we’re going to compare this to the 4Runner, the Grand Cherokee definitely feels more linear and precise as far as handling goes, but I thought that the Ford Explorer felt a little bit tighter and more predictable around corners than the Grand Cherokee. While the suspension never really gets lumbering or unwieldy, I still wouldn’t want to drive this thing like an X5. The Grand Cherokee simply feels more focused on highway cruising than it does for spirited driving, which is to be expected for a vehicle like this.
In terms of highway handling, the Grand Cherokee does feel a little big in its width and dimensions, and it takes up a pretty large portion of the lane. It’s definitely a softer experience, but the chassis still feels solid and controlled. You feel really secure and shielded from the outside world, a typical type of aura that you would get from a luxury SUV.
Ride quality in the Grand Cherokee is super plush and comfortable, especially with the air suspension that you get in the Summit and Overland trim levels. You basically just glide right over everything. The ride is controlled enough to still feel confident on the road, but soft enough to really deliver on that $50,000 price tag. It’s definitely one of the most resounding traits of the Grand Cherokee, and another aspect that makes me feel like I’m in an expensive Lexus. The suspension does get a little bouncy over rough patches, but I would say the ride quality is easily what separates this SUV from all its competitors.
The sound deadening in the Grand Cherokee is class competitive as well. You do get some wind noise coming through the panoramic sunroof, but overall the Grand Cherokee provides you with a quiet and relaxing cabin. Definitely one of those cars that does a good job isolating you from the outside world and all the stresses that come with it. You don’t really care about the person tailgating you or the person cutting you off in this car. You feel comfortable just cruising at your own pace and doing your own thing. It could be my imagination, but I also feel that a larger and slightly flashier SUV like the Grand Cherokee just grants you a little more respect on the road, which makes for a pretty good selling point. People seem to get out of your way a little quicker, and they’re definitely more hesitant to jump out in front of you compared to if you were driving something like a Hyundai Accent.
Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent in the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit. It’s not so much how it drives, it’s just the type of feel that you get from driving it. You feel like you’re in something expensive and just overall “better” compared to mostly everyone and everything else on the road. I really loved the elevated seating position, the material quality, the plush ride, and having the general feel of solidity and security when driving. It’s not a corner carver, and you will need to at least get that Hemi V8 to really get a feeling of power and agility from this thing, but the Grand Cherokee would make a great SUV to daily drive. If you’re looking into something like a Lexus RX but want something more spacious and off-road capable, you’ll feel right at home in the Summit variation of the Grand Cherokee. FCA vehicles typically don’t have the best reputation as far as longevity is concerned, so I might stick with the Lexus anyway just to have more of a trouble-free ownership experience, however the Grand Cherokee definitely tempts me more compared to most of the more plain and cookie-cutter options in this segment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3tLSVoksQ&t=49s