2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L first drive review: What the L?

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a single of the most well known SUVs accessible these days, and for good rationale. Not only does it glance good, this rugged automobile offers immense off-road capacity, a coddling cabin and a great deal of refinement. Accordingly, each time Jeep redesigns this mountain goat, it truly is major information. And for 2021, that’s in particular true, since the freshly minted Grand Cherokee L is pumped up in stature and now comes with a regular 3rd-row seat.

The addition of that new bench will allow the Grand Cherokee L to seat up to seven men and women (a six-passenger configuration is available, as well), drastically raising its flexibility. And this 3rd row is just not just some young children-only zone — daily life-sized adults fit with a great deal of house for knees and noggins, and the bottom cushion is a good height previously mentioned the ground. Of system, the next-row chairs are even nicer to plunk your backside down on and the outboard ones tip up and slide for much easier obtain to individuals rearmost seats.

To accommodate a 3rd row, the L is 15.1 inches longer than the outgoing regular Grand Cherokee and the wheelbase has been stretched by 7 inches, alterations that add to the vehicle’s longroof glance. Obviously, if you never will need more seats or desire a more workable automobile, Jeep will present a traditional two-row version, but it is not going to get there till afterwards this calendar year.

It truly is debatable irrespective of whether the new Grand Cherokee L is more desirable than its predecessor. The L’s gaping reduced air ingestion and curiously angled grille glance odd, in particular on a body that’s if not cleanly styled and handsome. Matching individuals fresh appears, the 2021 Grand Cherokee L is developed on a new flexible architecture, a unibody structure comprised of more than 60{36a394957233d72e39ae9c6059652940c987f134ee85c6741bc5f1e7246491e6} substantial-toughness metal, which offers this off-roader an practically unyielding backbone. To lessen excess weight, the vehicle’s closures, like the hood and liftgate, are manufactured of aluminum.

I am not absolutely sold on the Grand Cherokee L’s exterior styling, but designers knocked it out of the park with this Jeep’s inside. The layout, materials, consolation and tech are all primo. The array-topping Summit design comes with charming Nappa leather or tremendous-quality Palermo cow hides if you nab the Summit Reserve deal. You can also get beautiful open-pore wood accents and even Berber ground mats. A common rotary shifter is regular gear, nevertheless its metallic building and artfully milled edges make this dial feel like a piece of jewelry. A suede-like headliner is available, as well, as is a 19-speaker McIntosh audio process. In higher-conclude designs, this Jeep’s inside is luxurious-car or truck great, sufficient to give cars like the Acura MDX and Lincoln Aviator a run for their money.

The Grand Cherokee L’s symmetrical dashboard arcs from door to door, bringing to intellect a bird’s outstretched wings. In the center is either an 8.4- or 10.1-inch touchscreen, equally of which are dwelling to the Android-driven Uconnect five infotainment process. With rather graphics and hundreds of operation, this multimedia array is easy to use and supposedly 5 times speedier than its predecessor. A 10.three-inch digital instrument cluster is bundled at no more demand and you can even get night time eyesight.

Typical safety tech incorporates automatic crisis braking, rear cross-targeted visitors inform, lane-preserving guide, blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise management with end-and-go capacity. Lively Driving Guide, generally adaptive cruise with lane centering, is accessible on Overland designs and regular on the Summit trim. This arms-on process functions phenomenally, preserving the Jeep locked in its lane and adeptly varying speed primarily based on targeted visitors situations. Capacitive sensors in the steering-wheel rim know if you have obtained a hand on the wheel or not, popping up an orange warning in the instrument cluster if you never have at minimum a pair fingers earning contact. Having items a phase even further, Fingers-Absolutely free Lively Driving Guide will be available in the 2022 design calendar year. This really should purpose like GM’s superb Tremendous Cruise process, giving arms-free comfort on accredited motorways.

Together with a two-row variant, an electrified version of the Grand Cherokee is beneath growth, as well. But for now, the Grand Cherokee L is available with two helpful and common engines. If you are very well-versed in the Stellantis powertrain lineup, almost nothing in this article will shock you. The base offering is a three.six-liter Pentastar V6. It provides a respectable 293 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, sufficient pork and beans to allow this SUV to tow up to six,two hundred pounds. As easy and silent as ever, this bent-six offers sufficient oomph for most clients in ordinary diving, even if it isn’t going to make the Grand Cherokee L feel specially vigorous.

Of system, if you will need more gusto, a five.7-liter Hemi V8 is on the menu, as well. Easy, spirited and supremely sonorous, it offers a 357-horse stampede and 390 lb-ft of twist, sufficient for this SUV to drag 7,two hundred pounds. If you never intellect the added price tag — equally up entrance and at the fuel pump — this is the powerplant to get.

Rounding out the Grand Cherokee L’s drivetrain is a regular eight-speed automatic transmission. Engineers have yrs of knowledge with this gearbox and its tuning is just about best. The transmission shifts quickly and seamlessly, in addition it truly is more than prepared to drop a couple gears when you will need to boogie. Torque gets routed by this cog-swapper to either the rear wheels or a single of a few various 4-wheel-generate units.

A V6-driven Grand Cherokee L with rear-wheel generate is EPA-rated at 19 mpg city and 26 mpg highway. Mixed, assume 21 mpg. Opting for 4-wheel generate minimizes the first two figures by 1 mpg each and every, nevertheless the merged score is unchanged. Hemi-driven Grand Cherokees, which occur regular with 4-wheel generate, are rated at fourteen mpg city, 22 highway and 17 mpg merged.

This Jeep’s on-road performance is admirable. Acceleration is brisk, in particular with the Hemi. And thanks to a array of NVH enhancements — items like acoustic glass, distinctive door seals and improved active sounds cancellation — the Grand Cherokee L’s inside is often serene. The accessible air suspension boosts dynamics and increases off-road performance by permitting the body to be raised a number of inches. The vehicle’s ride good quality is comfortable, even when equipped with 21-inch clodhoppers that occur in the $three,000 Summit Reserve Group alternatives deal, still body roll is minimum when pushed by corners. The steering is gentle but fairly specific, which would make the Grand Cherokee L feel smaller than it actually is.

Off road, this a few-row SUV is a Jeep by and by, an unbelievably able mountain goat inspite of its cumbersome proportions. Thoroughly equipped designs have up to 10.nine inches of ground clearance and can generate by an spectacular 24 inches of drinking water. This SUV’s off-road geometry is praiseworthy, as well. Talking in optimum figures, the method angle is 30.1 degrees, breakover angle 22.six and its departure measurement clocks in at 23.six degrees.

Of the a few accessible 4-wheel-generate units, Quadra-Travel II is the most state-of-the-art. It incorporates a two-speed transfer situation and an electronically locking rear differential. If slippage is detected, this process can automatically redistribute torque to the wheels with more traction. Quadra-Travel II is accessible on Overland designs and regular on the Summit trim.

Crashing in excess of rocks on a specially gnarly section of off-road system at Stellantis’ Chelsea, Michigan proving ground would make me value the accessible substantial-toughness metal skid plates, which shield delicate underbody componentry from tough terrain. Bashing into and scraping alongside boulders leads to me to wince in agony, nevertheless the spotters never bat an eye and neither does the Grand Cherokee L. Aiding tailor this SUV’s behavior to different situations, the Selec-Terrain traction-management process has 5 modes: vehicle, activity, rock, snow and mud/sand. Hill-descent management automatically checks the Grand Cherokee L’s speed, even in reverse.

The 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L is assembled in Detroit and goes on sale this thirty day period. It will be available in 4 trim degrees: Laredo, Minimal, Overland and Summit. Of system, that’s just the start till there’s a Trackhawk design or a plug-in hybrid variant or whatsoever else Jeep’s engineers may be cooking up.

An entry-stage, rear-wheel-generate Grand Cherokee L commences at $38,690 including $1,695 in delivery fees. Opt for 4-wheel generate and you are going to be paying out an added $2,000. My V6-driven Summit tester checks out for a significant $66,275, a determine padded by the $1,995 Sophisticated ProTech Group, the $245 Luxury Tech Group, a shimmering Diamond Black Crystal Pearl-Coat paint occupation for $345 and, of system, the dear Summit Reserve deal. That’s a whole lot of difficult-earned scratch to devote, but thanks to the Grand Cherokee L’s refinement, capacity and luxurious inside, that determine is not unreasonable, in particular in contrast to some of its luxurious competition.