A Design That's Rugged, Yet Refined

The 2011 Grand Cherokee pulls off the challenging feat of possessing a clear design connection with its predecessor while looking completely new and modern. It's clearly a Grand Cherokee, but it has a sleekness that its predecessor lacked. The old Grand Cherokee's design was blocky, but the new model looks like it was shaped by a wind tunnel. In keeping with its looks, the new design cuts through the air better, with a 0.37 drag coefficient compared with the old model's 0.41.

The SUV is about 2 inches longer, 3 inches wider and one-half inch taller than the 2010 model, but its wheelbase has grown by 5.3 inches to 114.8 inches overall, resulting in more backseat legroom. Mark Allen, Jeep's head of design, said current Grand Cherokee owners made it clear they didn't want the SUV to get too big with its redesign, and it's evident that Jeep listened. (To see a side-by-side comparison of the 2010 and 2011 Grand Cherokee, click here.)

    See also:

    Temperature Controls
    • Driver Temperature Control Rotate this control to regulate the temperature of the air inside the passenger compartment for the left front seat occupant. Rotating the dial left into the ...

    EVIC Units Selection (Units In Display)
    Displays the units used for the Outside Temperature, Average Fuel Economy, Distance to Empty and Tire Pressure features. Press and release the SELECT button to toggle units between U.S. and METR ...

    Manual Operation
    This system offers a full complement of manual override features, which consist of Blower Preferred Automatic, Mode Preferred Automatic, or Blower and Mode Preferred Automatic. This means the op ...