2010 Jeep Liberty Sport

[Jimmyb]

Cher·o·kee-itis: A disease that infects the minds, hearts and wallets of Jeep buyers who cannot accept that there was, is, or ever could be a replacement for the Cherokee, sometimes referred to as the XJ.


Yes, we just made that up, but the fictitious symptoms of Cherokeeitis do afflict a great number of SUV aficionados. After all, the original Jeep XJ was, if not the very first mid-size SUV on the market, the definitive sport utility vehicle from 1984 straight through to 2001.

Interestingly enough, Cherokeeitis seems to infect Jeep's engineers, designers and product planners as well. To wit, nearly every Jeep developed since the final XJ rolled off the line at the company's Toledo-based factories has been designed to conjure up images of the 1984 Cherokee. Such is the case with the Patriot, Grand Cherokee and the mostly forgotten Commander. Only the iconic Wrangler and hitherto unloved Compass have strayed from the XJ.

It's also true of the current Jeep Liberty, which was last restyled in 2008 to look less like a four-door Wrangler and more like the butch Cherokee it was designed to replace. Nobody ever said supplanting an icon would be easy. But just how successful was that mid-life makeover, and is the Liberty worthy of consideration for those in the market for a mid-size SUV?

Before getting into exactly what the Jeep Liberty is, it would be helpful to spend a few moments considering what it is not: a crossover. We will not be saying things like 'smooth,' 'buttery,' 'refined' and especially not 'carlike' (whatever that means) when describing the Liberty. Those adjectives may apply to the vast majority of so-called utility vehicles available today, but the Liberty stands apart, for better or for worse, as an honest-to-Bear-Grylls SUV.

Or rather, for better and for worse.

First, The Better. The Jeep Liberty needs no fancy computer-controlled techno-wizardry to travel off the beaten path. All the essentials for off-road treks are present and accounted for: a torque-rich powerplant, low-range gearing, sturdy suspension with plenty of ground clearance (7.8 inches) and, of course, shift-on-the-fly Command-Trac II part-time four-wheel drive. We used the Liberty to ascend some rather unfriendly terrain in the mountainous deserts of Arizona, and it passed each successive test with ease. If you live in an area where the weather consistently throws a wrench in your plans, consider the Selec-Trac II full-time four-wheel-drive system. Naturally, it's Trail Rated, to use Jeep's marketing parlance.






For the record, that last paragraph could have been written almost verbatim a decade ago in reference to the old-guard Jeep Cherokee XJ. Taken in that context, you may think we're knocking the Liberty for being laden with old technology. In fact, we mean just the opposite; the Liberty features all tried-and-true bits built right in to tackle the fabled Rubicon Trail.

Or, you know, that one particularly nasty speed bump on the way to little Jimmy's Kindergarten class.

It's been so long since the classic sport utility vehicle was a marketplace darling that we feel the need to remind you that most of them will have absolutely zero need for all of this off-road hardware. That said, if your own personal needs do include as much time spent off roads as on, you could certainly do much worse than a proper SUV like the Liberty.

But is the Jeep Liberty the kind of SUV you take home to Mom and Dad? Well, no... not really. It's time to consider The Worse. We'll be blunt: the 3.7-liter V6 and four-speed automatic combination isn't merely uncompetitive, it's just plain unacceptable. Worse yet, there are no other options. If you want a Jeep Liberty, this is your only drivetrain choice.






You'll have to make due with 210 horsepower, delivered at 5,200 rpm. The numbers themselves don't sound that bad... anything over 200 horses should be plenty for the daily grind, right? Sadly, it seems Chrysler managed to corral the 210 sickliest, overworked and over-the-hill ponies this side of True Grit. In part-throttle situations, you won't really notice a lack of power; problem is, a progressively stronger application of the throttle seems to have no affect at all on your overall rate of forward progress. You do, however, create quite a racket in the process.

Perhaps these 210 ponies would be better served by a more modern automatic transmission. Four forward ratios may have cut mustard when the original Macintosh came out, but today, that's really two shy of a full stable. Not only is acceleration and highway travel compromised by the gearbox, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates the Liberty will achieve just 15 miles per gallon in the city and 21 on the highway. We averaged 16 combined in our week with the brute, which, for a vehicle this size, is dismal. Eschewing four-wheel drive will earn you one additional mile per gallon in each test, but then what would be the point?