2019 Jeep Cherokee

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Lights, Lights, Lights—Yeah!

First, though, a moment for the new look. While the Cherokee’s nose job is technically a simple restyling, it’s the kind of change that rights a wrong, accompanied by a sense of relief to finally see it corrected. The Cherokee’s new LED headlamps are standard, and while the grille’s seven slots are still chamfered, they’re blunter and stronger-looking. New front bumpers are noticeably different on all but the Trailhawk models, which still brandish their signature red tow hooks, smile-shaped graphic treatment, and serious approach angle—now 29.9 degrees—only now the foglights occupy real estate formerly assigned to the headlamps.

There were fewer wrongs to right inside Jeep’s mid-sizer, but sharper bezels surrounding various dash and door components, along with the new fourth-generation Uconnect infotainment system’s more sophisticated graphics, help to up the Cherokee’s game in a side-by-side comparison with a Ford Escape or a Chevrolet Equinox. Which is to say you won’t mistake it for a luxury model. The Latitude Plus trim, for instance, brings “leather/cloth/vinyl” upholstery to a cabin color scheme said to be inspired by Iceland; it’s pleasant enough to the eye in black with light blue-gray stitching, but the leather is indistinguishable from the vinyl—and not because the vinyl is so upscale.

We didn’t test Jeep’s claim that two golf bags now lay comfortably on the floor in the widened cargo area, but we find it entirely believable. When the available ParkSense parallel and perpendicular parking-assist system is activated, it depicts a 1941 Willys graphic on either side of the open space. Jeep customers eat that stuff up.

New Turbo 2.0-liter Engine: No Character, Elusive Advantages

We drove two Cherokees, both in the popular Latitude Plus trim level, one with the proven 3.2-liter V-6—a rarity in this segment—and the other with the new twin-scroll turbocharged 2.0-liter four. (The carryover base engine is a SOHC 2.4-liter that makes 180 horsepower and 170 lb-ft.) Both vehicles were equipped with Jeep’s Active Drive I all-wheel-drive system and 17-inch wheels and tires. The turbo 2.0-liter trails the V-6 by one horsepower (270 hp at 5250 rpm, versus 271 hp at 6500) but out-torques the bigger naturally aspirated six by 56 lb-ft (295 versus 239). Official EPA fuel-economy estimates are pending, but Jeep claims that the turbo 2.0-liter (a $500 option above the V-6, available in all but the base Latitude models) consumes less fuel. As it turns out, Jeep says 2.0-liter-equipped Trailhawk models weigh 10 pounds more than V-6-powered Trailhawks, which in turn weigh 100 pounds less than last year’s version.

Jeep claims that the 2.0-liter performs better than the V-6—a claim that its huge torque advantage and shorter final-drive ratio tend to support—but we can’t confirm that until we get one to our test track. Based on its internal testing, Jeep asserts that the turbo four will hold an 0.5-second advantage over the six from zero to 60 mph; the best time we’ve recorded was 6.9 seconds in a V-6 Cherokee Limited 4×4. The turbo engine’s general lack of character, occasionally laggy response, and slight towing disadvantage (4000 pounds versus 4500 for the V-6) mean that whatever performance and fuel-economy advantages the turbo four has over the six had better be considerable.