What is it?

It’s exactly what it says on the tin, the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee is the Daddy of the Jeep range, a full-sized, premium SUV that’s roughly the same size as both the Range Rover Sport, Discovery and Mercedes GLE.  Being 4.91m long and 1.97m wide it uses the Giorgio platform, the same used by the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio, amongst others.

Of course, looks are always divisive, and with a lot of modern SUVs looking a bit bland and boring these days, I think Jeep have got it spot-on, the Grand Cherokee looks great.  Jeep have retained their seven-slot Jeep grille, obviously, and given it slimmer headlights for a more aggressive look, and overall there’s an appealing modern, yet retro look about it.

Although the Grand Cherokee has been on sale in the UK for a while, Jeep recently organised a media day in North Yorkshire for both that and the 2024 model Wrangler, the latter I’ll get to some other time.

On the road

To get a good feel for the Grand Cherokee we explored the often crowded A roads around Hawes and Richmond, and it was no surprise the Grand Cherokee performed as you would expect a large SUV to. The air suspension soaked up the odd imperfection and kept it stable when I was a tad too over enthusiastic around tight corners.

Although it can feel a tad heavy (because it is), the steering is well balanced and never felt flustered when pushed.  So, whether you are threading it around a multi-storey car park, or zooming along country lanes, it always felt nicely weighted.

Plant your foot on the accelerator, and with a full battery, 375bhp and 470lb ft will get you from 0-62mph in just 6.3sec. The 8-speed automatic gearbox does a fine job when cruising, but if you want to have fun you’d better switch to manual.  I’m not going to say the in-line 4-cylinder petrol sounds boisterous, it doesn’t, but you can tell it’s working hard.  On the topic of noise I found sound insulation to be very good, even on rough tarmac.

I haven’t driven the new Toyota 250 Land Cruiser yet, but from what I’ve read the Grand Cherokee sounds more comparable to LC than anything from the Land Rover stable.  Overall it was fun to drive and I would imagine it to be a very comfortable long distance cruiser.

Off road

Well, as you would expect, the Grand Cherokee’s delivers off-road prowess in bucket-loads, so you would think it could handle any green lane here in the UK with ease, right?

To prove it, Jeep UK asked Russ from 4WDGurus to plan the route around North Yorkshire which included a couple of water crossings.  There was no way he was going to take it easy on the Grand Cherokee, especially as the final green lane of the day was the infamous, and technical Fremington Edge.

With five different height settings from the air suspension, we cranked it up to the maximum that gave us 275mm worth of ground clearance, and of course selected low-range.  Low box Auto was all that was needed for the majority of the green lanes and fords, and the Grand Cherokee traversed them with ease.

For the more technical routes, selecting the Rock function gave us far more control, and the only thing that made for a challenge were the loose rocks and opposing holes on Fremington Edge that will never make for smooth driving. However, with a steady foot the Grand Cherokee made it look relatively easy.

When it comes to towing, it has a maximum braked trailer load of 2.2 tonnes (2.3 tonnes for a drawbar trailer).

With a wading depth of 610mm and a maximum approach angle of 28.2º, breakover angle 20.9º and departure angle 30º, along with an array of ‘off-road’ options, the Grand Cherokee will take you pretty much where ever you want, just be mindful of fitting tyres with decent sidewalls.

Interior

Getting comfortable behind wheel is an easy affair thanks to the standard 16-way electrically adjustable seats that are very armchair-like.

I really liked the caramel leather and pale wood interior, it would definitely be my choice. Unfortunately it looks like that option has already been deleted from the UK options list as I couldn’t find it whilst perusing the Jeep UK website; shame.

Elsewhere, the 10” touchscreen, with the Uconnect 5 software, sits quite low and therefore doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb.  If you’re used to other brands in the Stellantis group then the workings will be familiar to you, and it has all the features you want, including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. To keep the front passenger amused they have a screen of their own too.

When it comes to heating and ventilation, Jeep score a solid 5-stars from this grumpy bloke who likes knobs and dials, by giving the Grand Cherokee plenty of buttons, dials and switches that are within easy reach, which includes terrain response modes.  There are also switches on the front and back of the steering wheel for various functions.

Being a larger vehicle, it means that there’s plenty of room in the back for tall and long legged passengers, including ample space for storage as well a decent armrest.

Some might moan about the lack of a 7-seat option, though not me, as this means Jeep is able to give owners an actual spare wheel - remember those?  This also means you get 533-litres of  useable boot space, and with rear seats that fold flat (1,463 litres), you can be assured of a good nights sleep if car-camping is your thing.

Engine ’n’ transmission

The plug-in hybrid powertrain consists of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, two electric motors and a 17.3kWh (15.0kWh usable) battery pack which officially gives you an electric range of just 30-31 miles. Real world driving will probably see that drop to 20-25 miles.  With both power units complimenting each other, Jeep reckons a total range of 434 miles is achievable.  There’s also a Max Regen button which can be on in any mode which helps.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to like about the Grand Cherokee, but let’s touch on some negatives. As I mentioned above, a range of up to 31 miles on electric isn’t the best, also with a price ranging from £69,915 to £85,615 for the Summit Reserve, the Grand Cherokee is quite expensive.  That said, it’s now roughly the same price bracket as the new light-duty 250 Land Cruiser -  which in most people’s opinion is still grossly over-priced. 

On a more positive note the interior is lovely, you get loads of standard features, it looks great and it’s fairly unstoppable off the beaten track.  Whilst it may not be as accomplished on-road as some of its rivals, it’s still offers a smooth and relaxing drive.  There’s also a certain honesty about it, you know you’re driving a 4x4 that’s been designed to excel ‘off-road’ as well as offering the best on-road experience it can.  With a 4x4 like the Grand Cherokee you are always going to have a compromise.

Having only had about an hour behind the wheel I would love to spend a bit more time with the Grand Cherokee and get to know it better, but sadly Jeep UK don’t have one on their press fleet, which is a real shame.