Jeep Cherokee

There are much more prominent changes on the inside of the Jeep Cherokee, with a heavily revised dashboard and inclusion of new comfort and convenience features on board.

The V-themed multi-functional steering wheel with silver inserts on the lower portion of the spokes is a new thing here, with major changes to the instrument console, which gets nice looking chrome surrounds and a new MID in between the analog pods.

The center console of the dashboard here also looks all-new, with a broad design for the large square-shaped touchscreen infotainment system and rounded trapezoidal and vertical AC vents, all of which are enclosed in a panel which gets chrome surrounds. The panel for the buttons of automatic climate control looks chunky and has buttons which offer good tactile feel.

The cabin now feels richer in terms of equipment, with premium features onboard including heated, ventilated and powered front seats and a panoramic sunroof. However, while the SUV has a commanding size from the outside, the cabin is not as spacious with only enough room for four passengers.

Compared to the previous model which consisted of a number of odd-looking design cues, the Jeep Cherokee’s latest model looks much more sophisticated and proportionate. The SUV now has turned into a sleeker-looking SUV, which is a good thing, considering all the other SUVs from Jeep have the traditional old school appeal.

The major changes in this revamped Jeep Cherokee happen to be at the front, as the front bumper is a completely all-new unit with revised fog lamps with chrome housings. Also new are winged like rear view mirrors which sport LED projectors and eyebrow shaped daytime running LEDs.

What’s the same here as before is the seven slat grille, with all the slats shaped in rectangular form and are surrounded by chrome lining. The Trailhawk variant, however, boasts of a completely different blackened bumper with much smaller round fog lamps and red coloured tow hooks towards the bottom.

The side profile of the Jeep Cherokee remains more or less unchanged when compared to before, with the SUV having a sleek design with an aerodynamically styled bonnet and roofline. The squared wheel arches with body cladding running throughout the side profile add the much-needed muscularity here on the Cherokee.

The Jeep Cherokee has now received a new pair of LED tail lamps, which are placed at the lower edges of the rear windscreen, look broad and come with much prominent looking LED inserts. There are a couple of other design elements which make the Cherokee look beefy from the rear, including big plastic molding on the bumper and large trapezoidal housing for the license plate.

Despite having a much more urban personality than the rest of the Jeep lineup, the Jeep Cherokee still has got the traditional Jeep flavor of having a rough and tough suspension as well as Selec-Terrain Traction Management System with 4 traction control settings. The more off-road-oriented Trailhawk variant also gets off-road suspension with revised ride height and additional one drive mode.

The Jeep Cherokee is being offered with a versatile range of engine options, including three petrol and one diesel. The oil burner in question here is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine (153 PS/450 Nm) and is available with both 6-speed manual and 9-speed automatic.

Then comes the petrol engine lineup, which consists of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol (272 PS/400 Nm), 2.4-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol (177 PS/232 Nm) and a 3.2-litre naturally aspirated V6 petrol (272 PS/324 Nm). All these petrol engines are offered with a standard 9-speed automatic gearbox, with an additional option of 6-speed manual gearbox in the 2.0-litre petrol.

With front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, traction control, electronic stability control, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross-Path Detection, Electronic Roll Mitigation, All-Speed Traction Control, Brake Assist and four-channel antilock brake system, Hill Start Assist, Trailer Sway Control, Full-Speed Forward Collision Warning Plus, Lane Departure Warning, front and rear parking sensors and reverse camera, the Jeep Cherokee has got an extensive list of safety features.

With the revised changes in its design in and out, the Jeep Cherokee looks much more contemporary and appealing, while retaining all the virtues which a traditional Jeep SUV is known for, including good road presence and brilliant drive-ability on all kinds of terrains.