2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee 75th Anniversary Edition Price
Jeep Grand Cherokee 75th Anniversary 2016 Review
There's both style and substance in Jeep's Grand Cherokee 75th birthday special
Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 75th Anniversary Edition
Australian Launch Review
Flinders Ranges, SA
The Grand Cherokee 75th Anniversary edition not only serves up splashes of colour and badging to mark Jeep's birthday but also delivers some of the cosmetic and technical improvements due in the facelifted MY2017 Grand Cherokee range due in October. The Grand Cherokee CRD 75th Anniversary Edition costs $2500 more than the Limited on which it is based, and is priced at $71,500 plus on-road costs.
There's no denying that most 4WDs never leave the safety of the city, and those that do rarely get their bodies dusted up on a dirt road, let alone slug it out on a steep, rock-strewn track.
Yet there we were, in the Flinders Ranges, driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 75th Anniversary Edition on a rough, steep climb, doing our best to pick a line that not only got us up to the top but also one that didn't involve slicing the 20-inch tyres on knife-sharp rocks.
The Jeep made it up the climb unscathed, but there were a few spare wheels put into service on the two-day launch in this remote part of South Australia. This is one place where you'd ditch the fragile OE Highway Terrain tyres on any 4WD and get a set of Light Truck construction All-Terrains or Mud-Terrains.
The 75th Anniversary Edition's Recon Green looks the part, although why Jeep didn't go the whole hog and offer camouflage colours — say, a jungle green pattern and a desert yellow pattern — is beyond me. Picking this colour (over Brilliant Black, Bright White, Billet Silver and Granite Crystal) will cost you another $500.
The 75th model's nose job (that will be introduced across the range in the MY2017 Grand Cherokee in October) is not the full facelift as much as a touch of make-up. Jeep-spotters will notice the narrower grille and headlights and altered lower fascia straight away, but it's far less likely anyone else will.
The 75th Anniversary Edition interior has only a few discreet changes to mark the birthday edition. Tangarine stitching joins the leather panels on seats, door cards and centre armrest and there are debossed 75th logos on the front seats and 'Moroccan Sun' (satin gold) highlights on the centre console, steering wheel and door release surrounds.
The most significant change inside starts with the new gearshift lever. The previous lever, a spring-loaded gear selector with a button on top to select Park, was never an easy thing to use (and has been the subject of a recent recall).
The new lever is the antithesis of the previous lever: it moves in a vertical plane with a horizontal move over to select manual mode. Very simple and straight-forward. In manual mode (where you can use either the gear lever or paddle shifts to change gears) the shifts are crisp but the transmission upshifts automatically a few hundred rpm shy of redline.
Not ideal when you've accelerated on a straight but then approach a corner, relying on the engine braking to help slow the two-tonne Jeep down.
Manipulating the Grand Cherokee's controls and reading the instruments has always been a simple affair in the WK2. The Uconnect centre screen and instrument cluster offer multiple functions but are not confounding or clunky. Jeep has resisted the temptation other manufacturers have fallen for to leave climate-control functions solely in the centre screen — large dials on the centre stack make getting the right temperature and fan speed an easy and quick operation.
With stones kicking up underneath on the drive, it wasn't obvious what noise reductions might've been gleaned with the new acoustic windscreen and front window glass, but the Grand Cherokee has always been pretty quiet inside.
Front seats are firm and have substantial side bolstering. The net result is a comfortable and supportive pew. Rear seats are also bolstered and while they favour outer occupants for comfort, but they still do an OK job three-up.
The cargo area has a 782-litre capacity but is soon filled to overflowing with a family of four's holiday luggage. The swept back tailgate might look good but it robs the Grand Cherokee of useable cargo space.
The 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel has a soft response taking off but feels linear -- unlike the lurch of forward movement just off idle, then a long pause before boost hits with some turbo-diesels. When the mid-range torque does arrive, the front-end lifts and the Jeep just gets on with it. It's a smooth, free-revving diesel.
Driving on the rough, slippery Flinders tracks, it was hard to tell what difference the new electric power steering made. Steering was direct but it's fair to say the change from the hydraulic set-up hasn't elevated steering feel to a new level.
The 75th's coil-spring independent suspension did a great job of ironing out the worst of the bumps. The only problem was the tendency for the front-end to top-out, suggesting a lack of suspension travel.
That lack of travel is more obvious off-road, but then that's the nature of the beast with most independently suspended 4WDs. The Jeep's traction control and low-range reduction are very good though, allowing you to climb obstacles or hollowed out tracks with a wheel well off the deck and still keep going.
The main problem with the Grand Cherokee in some off-road situations -- until the Trailhawk arrives in October — is the lack of underbody protection.
It's hard to see the value in the 75th Anniversary's extra stitching, badges, wheels and colours over the Limited, but the added bling plus incremental improvements such as the new shifter and acoustic glass might be enough to give this model the viagra it needs to sex Grand Cherokee up for prospective buyers.
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 75th Anniversary Edition
pricing and specifications:
Price: $71,500 plus on-road costs
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel
Output: 184kW/570Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 198g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP
Also consider:
>> Ford Everest Titanium ($76,705 plus ORCs)
>> Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed ($65,990 plus ORCs)
>> Toyota Prado VX ($73,706 plus ORCs)
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee 75th Anniversary Edition Price
Source: https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/jeep-grand-cherokee-75th-anniversary-2016-review-103580/
