EXTERIOR

At first sight, I thought the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee was a Porsche Cayenne. With a second glance, I noticed the distinctive front grille and realized that this was indeed a Grand Cherokee. It just looked better than ever. The softened exterior lines, sparkly chrome trim and large wheels housed under conspicuous fenders work together for a "wow" factor that I've never previously gotten from a Jeep. The 2011 redesign makes the Grand Cherokee look more like a crossover than an SUV, and crossover looks good on this Jeep.

Because of this redesign my children had an easier time getting in and out of the Grand Cherokee. It sits lower to the ground than a traditional SUV. Another bonus was the doors weren't unusually heavy, which worked well with the children.

I don't want to get too girly here, but the Blackberry Pearl paint color of my test car is worth mentioning. In a word: gorgeous. It was a deep, dark greenish-blue that resembled the deepest depths of the ocean (as I imagine them).

My test car had the optional 5.7-liter V-8 engine ($1,495), which includes a slick pair of rear exhaust tips with it. This engine produces 360 horsepower and moved the SUV around easily. The standard engine is a 3.6-liter V-6 that delivers 290 hp. The Grand Cherokee Limited I tested had all-wheel drive, but it's also available in rear-wheel drive.

With the addition of the larger 5.7-liter engine and all-wheel drive, fuel economy in my test car was a less-than-impressive EPA-estimated 13/19 mpg city/highway using regular gas. With rear-wheel drive, the V-8 engine gets 14/20 mpg. When equipped with the standard V-6 and all-wheel drive, the Grand Cherokee gets 16/22 mpg. It gets 1 mpg better on the highway with the V-6 and rear-wheel drive.

    See also:

    Operation Instructions - Auxiliary Mode
    The auxiliary (AUX) jack is an audio input jack which allows the user to plug in a portable device such as an MP3 player or cassette player and utilize the vehicle’s audio system to amplify the ...

    Answer Or Reject An Incoming Call — No Call Currently In Progress
    When you receive a call on your mobile phone, the Uconnect™ Phone will interrupt the vehicle audio system, if on, and will ask if you would like to answer the call. Press the button to accept ...

    Halogen Headlamps – If Equipped
    1. Open the hood. 2. Turn the low or high beam bulb one–quarter turn counterclockwise to remove from housing. 3. Disconnect the electrical connector and replace the bulb. CAUTION! Do not to ...