2014 Jeep Cherokee 2.4L Driven: You’re Gonna Need to Pack Differently

First Drive Review

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You’re gonna need to pack differently.

Inasmuch as the 2014 Jeep Cherokee is all new, you’d be excused if you didn’t quite know how to pack for your first road trip in one. Tip: you might want to sneak something along the lines of a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo slip-on driving shoes into your travel bag alongside the trusty old Danner Crater Rim GTX hiking boots. Sure, being a Jeep, you can expect 4WD versions to perambulate bad roads and worse weather in stride, and should you purposefully exit the pavement (particularly in the lifted and off-road-tech-gifted Trailhawk—see our first drive) to tackle steep ascents, descents, and seriously scary two-tracks without reaching for the winch and tow straps, you’ll still be in business.

But the front-drive Cherokee is a whole new deal for 2014, even with the base 2.4-liter Tigershark Multiair2 four-cylinder. Built upon Fiat’s modular CUS Wide platform, it drives way smaller than the boxy, upright Liberty that it supplants in Jeep’s lineup. The 2014 Cherokee feels planted on-road, more carlike than trucklike, with crisp steering, well-damped body motions, little or no roll in corners, and pinpoint braking control. The structure is solid, with no creaks or groans, even over seriously uneven terrain. Think engaging, balanced sports wagon rather than lumbering, bobblehead sport-utility. It’s light on its feet like no Cherokee/Liberty before it, despite its 3600-plus pounds of mass.

So Many Speeds, So Little Shifting

While a featherweight compared to the old Liberty, the new Cherokee still hits the scales a few hundred pounds harder than top-selling competitors such as the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, and Toyota RAV4. So even though the Cherokee four-holer’s 184 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque are commensurate with the output and oomph of the CR-V, RAV4, and naturally aspirated Escape four-cylinders, power to weight suffers a bit. Jeep’s all-new ZF-sourced nine-speed automatic transmission—standard equipment and a segment first—addresses the power-to-weight deficit versus the competition with a fusillade of ratio scenarios (9.81:1 ratio spread) to meet the requests of the driver’s right foot. Not only is the ZF ’box quick to find the best available ratio for any given road load, vehicle speed, or throttle position, it easily skips past ratios it doesn’t want.

Because of the wide gearing in the Cherokee’s nine-speed gearbox (both first and second in the Jeep are shorter-cogged than the CR-V’s first gear), the Cherokee comes out of the hole enthusiastically. The enthusiasm continues in the first four underdriven gears, such as when bombing around twisty back roads or squirting into a gap in the traffic flow entering the mall. Front-wheel-drive versions of the Cherokee four-cylinder are sufficiently sprightly, but the 4WD four-bangers could benefit from using the Trailhawk’s shorter 4.08:1 final drive. Currently, both the near-3700-lb FWD Cherokee 2.4 and almost two-ton 4WD four-cylinder Cherokee use the 3.73:1 final drive. The lack of throttle response in 4WD four-cylinders is particularly noticeable at higher speeds, as sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth gears are all overdrive ratios.

As a matter of fact, we never did see ninth gear in our 4WD four-cylinder test vehicle. Even when cruising at light throttle or coasting with the foot off the accelerator at 80 mph on California’s 101 freeway, ninth gear was AWOL during our drive. (A Jeep drivetrain expert explained that the transmission’s electronic brain won’t pick a ratio if performance and drive quality will suffer, so we’re thinking maybe 100 mph might be just right for the gas-saving engine-speed reduction the 0.48:1 ninth-gear ratio might provide.) And on the freeway, there isn’t an abundance of power left for passing. An 8–4 downshift and wide-open-throttle stab in a 4WD four-cylinder Cherokee produced more noise than scoot, and exposure time in the passing lane was uncomfortably long. If you want 4WD, we’d recommend upgrading to the more powerful 3.2-liter V-6.

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front- or 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon

BASE PRICE: $23,990

ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter inline-4 aluminum block and head, port fuel injection

Displacement: 144 cu in, 2360 cc
Power: 184 hp @ 6400 rpm
Torque: 171 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 9-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 106.3 in
Length: 182.0 in
Width: 73.2–74.9 in Height: 65.7–67.8 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3700–4300 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 9.0–9.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.8–17.2 sec
Top speed: 120 mph

FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 21–22/28–31 mpg

Continued…

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