Jeremy Clarkson on the Jeep Grand Cherokee

[SL65]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Clarkson

The new Grand Cherokee may be 5in longer and a wee bit wider than the old model, but climbing inside is like climbing into the wrong end of a pair of binoculars.

^Whats changed since the last one ?

Originally Posted by Jeremy Clarkson

And then there’s the leather, which seems to have come from those polyurethane synthetic cows that provide America with its UHT milk.

American car designers have a very diffrent view of luxury than the European car designers. I can't name a single proper luxury car from America. The Acura TL or whatever its called is quite nice but the leather is a bit weird.

Originally Posted by Jeremy Clarkson

So it’s uncomfortable, cramped and feels like it’s made entirely from melted Lego.

Haha melted lego So true!
I rekon why this car is such a big failer is cos Jeep finally recognised that most people want a 4X4 that they can drive on the streets and Jeep have tried to make exactly that but havent really improved on what made their last cars so undesirable on the streets. The new Jeep isnt even that good off-road either. Does it have Downhill Assist Control?
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...2795_1,00.html

[Z Draci]

The Acura is a Japanese company operated by Honda. However, I believe the TL is mostly assembled in the US.

Jeremy was just plain brutal on the Grand Cherokee. I was laughing through the whole thing! I've been in that car and I agree 100% with him. I wish American journalists had enough balls as Jeremy to honestly criticise cars. Some people in the American auto industry are criticising their own companies' work and are appalled at how far behind they are.

Americans think plain wine is an aristocratic beverage. Most people here have no class. We sit around our caves and chew meat off animal carcasses.
You never see a high class American drive around in an American car.

[bone]

And then there’s the leather, which seems to have come from those polyurethane synthetic cows that provide America with its UHT milk.
American car designers have a very diffrent view of luxury than the European car designers. I can't name a single proper luxury car from America. The Acura TL or whatever its called is quite nice but the leather is a bit weird.

i heard americans think leather stinks and don't want it in their car at all. stinks??
nothing so nice as the smell of leather (no, i'm not a fetisjisth )

but leather does get very hot when in the sun, and i can see why you don't want leather if you're living in some kind of hot weather

[dutch_designer]

Leather is also very sticky when you're even the slightest bit sweaty.. and being in a hot climate will do that for you..

I was really laughing at that review... made me want to get an Argocat (and then I remembered where I live... ermm.. .no hills or anything)

[watto]

I want one!

An Argocat that is

Chains, as any eight-year-old boy knows, come off a lot, causing your testicles to slam into the saddle and become pancake-shaped. Chains make you go cross-eyed.

Then there’s the question of noise. The Kohler engine may be small but my God it makes a din. It’s so loud you can’t even hear what the environmentalists are saying as you bumble by.

[astondg]

Originally Posted by Z Draci

I wish American journalists had enough balls as Jeremy to honestly criticise cars.

It's not just Jeremy, Jason Plato gave it a bad review as well.

[Buba]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Clarkson

Which brings me neatly on to the Argocat I’ve just bought. This is a small Canadian bathtub with headlamps. But it has eight-wheel drive and this means its off-road ability is simply incredible.

He actually bought that thing... Pheww... He IS getting old!!!

[flyingfridge]

yeah i just read that too! those things are awesome fun!!! although, my uncle has just built his own. The plans were for a 6 wheel drive job with a 600cc Yamaha motie engine in it, but he got a big excited and added an extra two wheels and a Subaru 4-cylinder. The advantage of the Subaru drivetrain, is that u can run a propeller off the tailshaft and the chain driven 8 wheels with the side-front drive axles. You turn the prop on and off with the 4WD button on the auto gearbox lever. He's had it up to over 100km/h, and while he says that's great and it had lots left in it, he didn't have the guts to take it further, as his doesn't have a bonnet, and you sit in front of the front axle, as he wanted to make the back into a tray for farm use.

It's an Argocat, but with real go.

[Buba]

^^ Nice... Does it also float?

Buba

[flyingfridge]

yep!! haven't clocked it on water, but the prop should make it a hell of a lot faster than the argo

EDIT: here's pics:

[empowah]

Just me being pedantic, but the old Grand Cherokee had a unibody frame as well. The new Disco has a unibody, but a ladder-chassis underneath, like you get on an Elddis Mistral GTX caravan. In America, the Grand Cherokee isn't a competitor to the X5, but rather to equally medieval oxcarts like the Nissan Pathfinder. You can get one for the equivalent of £12,000.

Normally, I dislike DCX products, but there's something about the V8-powered Grand Cherokee that I like... that sense of hugeness, wastefulness, and infinite power. I was surprised Jeremy's Northern part didn't get him to like it... but then of course, he drove the diesel version. The V8, well, sits in the mix like a giant anchovie on a mini pizza. It dominates everything.

The new SRT-8 version adds to that... it's rumored to stand a chance against the Cayenne Turbo, but at a fraction of the cost.



415 horsepower, 0-60 mph in under 5 seconds, 0-100-0 mph in 19 seconds

[bartboy9891]

who would seriously buy a SRT8 Grand Cherokee over a Cayenne Turbo?! and it will still handle like shit

[Dark_Templer_102]

Yes why don't we just put more big ass engines produced by AMG rebatched as Dodge or Jeep or Chrysler

(truthfully i think it was just Crossfire engine that was a rebadged engine)

If mercedes wanted to challenge that (which they have) they could slap that SRT8 with some nonsenical quad turboed AMG...(heh like they would do that)

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Dark_Templer_102

Yes why don't we just put more big ass engines produced by AMG rebatched as Dodge or Jeep or Chrysler

(truthfully i think it was just Crossfire engine that was a rebadged engine)

If mercedes wanted to challenge that (which they have) they could slap that SRT8 with some nonsenical quad turboed AMG...(heh like they would do that)

The Chrysler V8s have big, unsophisticated, pushrod engines: Mercedes, much less AMG, wouldn't want to touch them.

Strangely enough, the Crossfire has "Made by Mercedes" written in huge letters on the plastic shield. Shh! You're not supposed to let those suckers know!

[Cruzz563]

I think the Trailblazer SS will be a better than the Cherokee SRT-8 'cause GM tuned the Trailblazer's suspension at the 'Ring

[jayjaya29]

All SUVs suck, including this one.

Sorry about that, I had to say it.


And I hate this SRT-8 crap Dodge is pulling, we know the Hemi is a good engine, but stop sticking it in every damn car!

[Cruzz563]

They're doing what Mercedes does, and since they're the same company, the prolly learned from them. "Yes, poot ze Hemi in all ze cars, they vill buy zem."

[jayjaya29]

Its a good marketing scheme becuase everybody is like, oh damn it has a Hemi, I gotta get it! But its getting to be to much.

[Cruzz563]

I hate DCX, so it doesn't work on me

[bone]

i hate HEMI. it's a flawed concept they don't use anymore, but they keep putting "HEMI" on their engines to sell better