2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Unveiled

By Alborz Fallah | October 15th, 2010

What better way to launch a new Jeep Grand Cherokee than to gather more than 900 Jeep Enthusiasts and showcase the car’s new features? That’s exactly what Jeep Australia did lat week at the 2010 National Jeep Jamboree.

The company brought out a left-hand drive new Grand Cherokee to entice Jeep lovers across Australia. Expected to go on sale in Australia by Feburary next year, the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a significantly better looking piece of machinery.

It also happens to come packed with features such as Hill Decent Control (DHC) and Jeep’s new Selec-TerrainTM system which allows the driver to pick between five different drive settings: auto, mud/sand, rock, snow and sport.

Jeep will also make its all-new Quadra-LiftTM air suspension system available on certain Grand Cherokee variants. The Quadra-Lift system adds an additional 105mm lift span to improve off-road performance. Little is known about interior details except that it will be an improvement over the outgoing model.

Powering the new Jeep is either the all-new Pentastar 3.6L V6 engine (the first application of this engine in the Australian market) or the 259kW 5.7-litre HEMI V8. Although fuel economy figures are yet to be released, Jeep says the V8 will be capable of shutting down four cylinders to save fuel.

What do you think of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee?

General Purpose

It has turned into a yuppies vehicle, with the adoption of all round independent suspension. For this reason i think it will suffer off road, which is why it has required a lot of electronics to keep it capable. Step back 5 years to the WG on limited and overland models, they had no electric wizadry. Just centre locking and front and rear lsd’s with proper front and rear live axles which enabled huge wheel articulation. All that enabled them to have the same off road capabilities as the Discovery minus the inherit electronic failures that plague the Disco. I cant help but think this Jeep GC will suffer the same fate in a few years. For Chrys-lers sake.. lets hope its made properly.

Adam

If you want a hard-core off-roader, buy a Wrangler.

Good on Jeep for realising that most Grand Cherokee buyers use their vehicles in a primarily on-road, light duty off-road context and designing the vehicle accordingly.
Richo

The “electronic failures that plague the Disco” are greatly exagerated I can assure you. The 4WD industry is very supportive of older 4WD’s because they are easier to modify and therefore the aftermarket 4WD industry love them, and hate the newer more advanced 4WD’s because they aren’t as easily modified and therefore they don’t make as much money out of them. So what do they do? Spread rumors of so called unreliability of the newer more advanced 4WD’s.

The “advanced technologies” the Disco and other 4WD’s use are just an adapation of the vehicles ABS and ESP systems, and how often do you hear about ABS and ESP failures? Not very bloody often!

It’s all exagerated crap! The new 4WD’s work very well and are more capable out of the box then any standard 4WD’s ever have been before, plus they mean you don’t need to use excessive momentum to get through difficult spots, significantly reducing the risk of CV and other drivetrain damage.

Alex

A HUGE step up from the older model from an exterior design perspective.

Doesn’t mean I’d buy one though, it’d probably catch fire.

Chris MC

Doesn’t matter what engine you get, they all have issues. EVERY person I know that has bought a Grand Cherokee (2 petrol, 1 diesel) in the last 5 years has had major problems with it.

Richo

The Grand Cherokee happens to be a pretty niche vehicle of which they only sell around 1,000 a year in all of Australia, but you just happen to know not just 1, not 2, but THREE of them…. uhuh!

nickdl

I reckon it looks fantastic inside and out, and has figures to back that up. Great job by Jeep, the only thing holding it back is Chrysler and Dodge.
Reckless1

They’ve removed the good engine option.

Petrol engines in large 4WDs mean petrol drinking.

No diesel, no good.
http://www.autostatic.net Aneum

Well done its looks fantastic at a realistic price.a nice jeep for jeep lover.. with its strong looks.i like it