Jeep Cherokee (2008-) Review

On the road

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If this section was called Off The Road then the Cherokee would pass with flying colours. We took the car over the most rugged terrain and it answered all the questions asked of it. Steep inclines, ungodly descents, stupidly deep ruts and river crossings were all easy meat for the Cherokee. There are only a few off-road vehicles that can cope with such extreme conditions and the Cherokee is easily in that elite group.

However, it's when you get the Cherokee on the Tarmac that things start to go wrong. This two-tonne beast struggles for grip particularly when it is in two-wheel drive only mode and on wet roads. The car feels cumbersome around corners and if you push it only slightly energetically into a corner you feel it lunging forward - it hardly inspires confidence.

It's not wallowy though - the suspension feels stiff enough and although you feel the odd bump filtering through to the cabin the ride is acceptable.

This is not an excitement-fest and the European and Japanese competition that use smaller engines feel much more spirited. You would expect more performance from Cherokee's 2.8-litre diesel engine, particularly when you embark on A-road overtaking manoeuvres on single carriageways - you need an abundance of clear road to get the job done safely. When you want more grunt from the kickdown you experience a very unwelcome delay and, despite the 339lb-ft of maximum torque available, it still feels short of pulling power.

Then there's some irritating gripes that you can't ignore when pottering along and minding your own business. All-round visibility is poor because the shoulder is high and the windows shallow. The pedals are also poorly set with the throttle and brake too far away from each other; you have to move your foot a sizeable distance to transfer between the two. Often you find yourself catching your shoe on the inside of the brake pedal - very disconcerting when you want to stop quickly.

Overall, the Cherokee just doesn't feel very composed at all: it corners poorly, the engine is noisy, the steering lacks feel, it's short of grunt and the automatic transmission feels laboured. All this is such a crying shame because there's no doubt that this is a supreme performer on the rough stuff.