Jeep Grand Cherokee: not much has changed, has it?
Nope – this is the mildest of mid-life refreshes, isn’t it? Jeep has massaged the engines, shopped extensively at the gadget superstore and polished up the exterior design, but you’d be hard pressed to notice the new 2008 model-year Grand Cherokee. It’s due in showrooms next winter, with a choice of five engines in the US: 3.7 V6 and three V8 options, stretching from 4.7 to 6.1 litres. In Europe, however, more than 90 percent of buyers plump for the Merc-sourced 3.0-litre common-rail diesel. Other innovations include the option of TV screens built into the backs of the front seats and a 20-gigabyte hard drive to store music, photos and even voice memos. For off-road and towing fans, a new hill descent control and trailer sway control will be useful new boons. How to spot the new Grand Cherokee? Well, look for a longer grille, revised circular headlights and repositioned foglamps. Inside, new plusher materials adorn the dashboard and the instruments are changed, too. In time-honoured makeover fashion, even the cupholders are ‘new and improved’, according to the press blurb.