"Dori A Schmetterling" > wrote in message
...
> Here is a review in today's UK Sunday Times of the new Jeep Grand
Cherokee.
>
> http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...630542,00.html
>
> I have reproduced the article below my signature for convenience.
>
> What do you think? Agree/disagree, bearing in mind the European context?
>

I think the writer either has a fantastic bead on what new car buyers use as
criteria
or is totally out of his gourd. Some of the choice lines in this review:


> to the Range Rover - then
> as now king of the 4x4s

Ah, at least we state our bias upfront so the reader knows this isn't even
an
attempt an an unbiased review..

> A lot has happened to SUVs since then.

When has Jeep become a SUV?

> Even so, Jeep can't afford to ignore the fact that today's 4x4s need also
to
> be as smooth as a premium saloon on normal roads.
>

If you want smooth as a premium saloon why don't you just buy a premium
saloon at
a quarter the price and fuel consumption? Since when does a 4x4 need to be
a plushmobile?
If this is a selling point then he-men are no longer buying 4x4's, now it's
girley-men. What
a sad statement on the 4x4 crowd.

>
> It represents something that Mercedes can't
> offer: good old-fashioned American muscle.
>

Don'tcha mean good new-fashion American muscle? Old-fashioned American
Muscle went away in 1973 and has never come back.

> The V8 produces 322bhp and propels the hefty
> Jeep to 60mph in 6.8sec and to a maximum of 130mph.

Ah, yes, a 4x4 that can do 130Mph. I heard of tearing through the
forest but this is rediculous. How about telling us about it's ability to
crawl out of deep snow and bogs? Or that it has a decent frame that you
can attach a winch to and pull stumps without the thing folding up and
blowing off it's airbags?

> A sharp prod on the
> throttle produces a wonderful roar

Yes, we need that - drown out all the noise of the birds and the wind out in
nature,
right. Hey, if I pound a hole into my muffler on my 81 Datsun 4 banger can
I get
that same wonderful roar too?

> speed, it still drinks unleaded at an embarrassing rate. The official
urban
> fuel consumption is 13.3mpg.
>

How about the official off-road fuel consumption?

> independent front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering, which make for
a
> more comfortable ride and better on-road handling.
>

What about off-road handling?

Like I said, either the new Jeep buyers are on a completely different planet
than
this reviewer, or they are now all a bunch of girly-men and this writer has
them
nailed spot-on.

Ted