2011 Grand Cherokee Reviews

2011 Grand Cherokee

The 2011 Grand Cherokee breaks the silence and leads a handful of fresh vehicles into showrooms. Jeep's other icon

The styling is purely Jeep, though, as designers played it safe when sculpting the sheet metal. Fog lights and stainless steel window trim are standard on all trims (called Laredo E, Laredo X, Limited, and Overland). There are still some extras as you climb the trim ladder - body-color fascias, larger wheels, and chrome mirrors and handles - but Jeep has accomplished its goal of making the lowest priced trim just as attractive as the top-end trim.

Inside, the Grand Cherokee surprised us with exceptional quietness. Options include a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, navigation, a power lift gate, and a panoramic sunroof.

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been completely redesigned.
Americans love comeback stories. Conveniently, the previous Grand Cherokee had this covered. Overall, Jeep has done well here. The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a five-passenger midsize SUV that comes in Laredo, Limited and Overland trims. Standard equipment includes 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, fog lamps, cruise control, keyless ignition, dual-zone air-conditioning, a power driver seat, a tilt-and-telescoping leather-wrapped steering wheel and a six-speaker audio system with satellite radio, an auxiliary audio jack and a CD player.

The Limited gets all the Laredo's optional equipment plus 18-inch wheels, bi-xenon headlights, rear parking sensors, automatic wipers, auto-dimming exterior mirrors, a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, driver memory functions, heated front and rear seats and a leather-wrapped shift knob. The Luxury Group II gets you a power tailgate, power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, heated steering wheel and ventilated front seats. Big 20-inch wheels are also optional.

The Off-Road Adventure II package includes all the above items plus an air suspension, towing equipment (available as a separate package), an electronic limited-slip differential and the Quadra-Drive II 4WD system. The Limited and Overland can be equipped with a rear-seat entertainment system with Sirius Backseat TV. Every 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee comes standard with Chrysler's new 3.6-liter V6 good for 290 hp and 260 pound-feet of torque. A five-speed automatic transmission is standard. Fuel economy with four-wheel drive is an estimated 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway. Properly equipped, the JGC can tow 7,400 pounds.

Rear-wheel drive is standard; three different four-wheel-drive systems are optional. The Laredo comes standard with Quadra-Track I, which essentially functions as all-wheel drive.

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee comes standard with four-wheel antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front side airbags, side curtain airbags and active front head restraints. In the government's new, more strenuous crash testing for 2011, the Grand Cherokee earned an overall rating of four stars out of a possible five, with four stars for overall frontal crash protection and five stars for overall side crash protection.

Get behind the wheel and you'll immediately notice that the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee drives considerably better than before. The entry-level 2011 Grand Cherokee 4x2 lists from $30,995 -- $495 less than the outgoing model.

New front and rear independent suspension systems deliver better on-road handling and comfort, the company claims. The vehicle's 114.8-inch wheelbase is 5.3 inches longer than the model it replaces and contributes to an overall vehicle length that is 1.8 inches longer than the prior model. For added passenger comfort, rear seats recline 12 degrees. An available fold-flat front-passenger seat provides even more cargo storage room. Seventeen-inch wheels are standard and deliver off-road capability, while optional 18-inch and 20-inch wheels can be ordered.

Standard safety features include Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Electronic Roll Mitigation (ERM), four-wheel Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) with rough-road detection, and the four-wheel Brake Traction Control System (BTCS).