Going & Stopping
Want a thrilling driving experience? This Jeep doesn't have one, but that's OK; you don't need to peel out at traffic lights if you're driving a Compass. What you need to know is that at highway speeds, the Compass doesn't waver. With some heavy boxes in the back and my wife in the passenger seat I was doing more than 80 without noticing it on the highway (this one was well-paved).
Now here's where we have to talk about the CVT. The three-lettered transmission option might be a mystery to car buyers, but it shouldn't be. Just think of it as an advanced automatic transmission that transitions between gears very smoothly — so smoothly that most people wind up missing the jolts a standard automatic delivers when shifting from one gear to the next. The CVT is also supposed to aid in fuel economy. I was very disappointed, though, with the 23/26 mpg city/highway of the Compass. Even with all-wheel drive, it barely contends with a much more outdated Subaru Impreza. It might compare to those compact SUVs we mentioned before, like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, but it doesn't come close to compact hatchbacks like the Mazda3 and Toyota Matrix.
The 172-horsepower engine was pretty hum-drum and nowhere near as exciting as the same setup in the Caliber. It was driving at highway speeds that made me enjoy the Compass as a competent commuter, not the launches from stoplights.
Braking wasn't nearly as acceptable; during one real-life emergency braking maneuver there was significant shudder from the brakes that had me a bit tense. Brake feel in day-to-day driving, however, was solid.
See also:
After Starting
The idle speed will automatically decrease as the engine warms up. ...
Answer Or Reject An- Incoming Call — Call Currently In Progress
If a call is currently in progress and you have another
incoming call, you will hear the same network tones for
call waiting that you normally hear when using your
mobile phone. Press the butto ...
Compass Variance
Compass Variance is the difference between Magnetic
North and Geographic North. To compensate for the
differences, the variance should be set for the zone where
the vehicle is driven, per the zo ...