 Wrangler and Patriot Still Suck in Side-Impact Tests |
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released the results of their small SUV side-impact tests. Not surprisingly, the Wrangler and Patriot scored terrible.
The 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan was the clear "standout" in the test, earning the IIHS's "Top Safety Pick" award along with the 2009 Ford Escape, 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander, and 2008 Nissan Rogue.
Just how bad was the Wrangler's performance? It actually got worse from the 2008 test:
The Institute's frontal offset crash test, which began in 1995, drove major design changes in vehicles to do a better job of protecting people in the most common kind of serious crash. In the mid-1990s, few vehicles earned the top rating of good in the frontal test. Now nearly every vehicle is rated good for frontal protection. Since the Institute began its side tests in 2003, manufacturers have been following the same path, changing their vehicles to improve protection in serious side impacts.
An exception is the 2-door 2008 Jeep Wrangler, which was tested without its optional side airbags. The previous version of the Wrangler, in which side airbags weren't available, earned a rating of marginal for protection in side crashes, and the new model performed even worse, earning the lowest rating of poor. A new problem was that the driver door opened during the impact. This didn't significantly affect the movement of the dummy during the test, but an open door in a crash could lead to partial or complete ejection of occupants.
"Most vehicles are being improved," Lund says. "We've rarely seen a vehicle go in the wrong direction and get a worse rating after it has been redesigned."
The Wrangler and Chevrolet Equinox, also a 2008 model, are the only 2 vehicles tested this time around without standard side airbags. The Jeep Patriot does have standard curtain airbags, but additional torso airbags designed to protect an occupant's chest and abdomen are optional.
When side airbags are optional, the Institute's policy is to test without the option because this is how most of the vehicles will be sold. A manufacturer may request another test with the optional airbags if the automaker reimburses the Institute for the cost of the vehicle. General Motors didn't request a second test of the Equinox, also sold as the Pontiac Torrent. After completing tests of this group of vehicles, the Institute learned that curtain airbags will be standard in the 2009 Equinox. This vehicle will be tested later this year.
"Since they didn't ask us to test the 2008 Equinox with its optional side airbags, we have to assume it means GM didn't expect it to perform much better, even with the option," Lund points out.
Chrysler didn't request another test of the Wrangler with the optional side airbags, but this automaker did request a second test of the Jeep Patriot with optional torso airbags. When tested with the standard curtain airbags only, the Patriot earned the second lowest rating of marginal. While the curtains did a good job of keeping the driver and rear passenger dummies' heads from being struck by the barrier or hard structures inside the vehicle, forces on the driver dummy indicated that rib fractures and internal organ injuries would be likely in a real-world crash of this severity. In the second side test of the Patriot with the optional seat-mounted torso airbags, this vehicle's rating improved to good.
If you can stomach it, here's some video as well.
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 New Grand Cherokee Plant Hints at Hybrids? |
When the news hit last week that Chrysler was investing $1.8 billion in its Jefferson North facility in Detroit where the Grand Cherokee is assembled, there weren't a whole lot of details. The juiciest tidbit was that the Grand Cherokee would be car-based. We just heard something a bit more interesting...
Edmunds Inside Line is reporting now that a hybrid might be in store for the Grand Cherokee by 2011:
Supplier sources told Inside Line that the investment focuses heavily on the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, in two-row and three-row configurations. The new Grand Cherokee will be powered by the new Phoenix engine, a V6 that is likely to be either a 3.3-liter or a 3.5-liter. The new Grand Cherokee will be engineered with "more space for hybrid components," a source said. There was talk about "Dodge spin-offs" to be built at Jefferson North, but one source said those "talks have quieted down."
As you can see, the article mentions 2- and 3-row configuration for the Grand Cherokee - this appears to be yet another indication that the Commander (also assembled at Jefferson North) is not long for this world.
 University of Michigan Rates Jeep Dead Last in Consumer Satisfaction |
If you're an optimist, you're thinking that there's no where to go but up. The American Consumer Satisfaction Index, in conjunction with the University of Michigan released its rankings for vehicle manufacturers and the Jeep Brand came in last place behind every other major automobile manufacturer for vehicles sold in the United States.
The Jeep brand scored 76 out of 100, which is actually up 1.3 points over 2007. Since the rankings were started in 1995, the Jeep brand has actually decreased 2.6 points.
Consumer satisfaction has never been a strong point with the Jeep brand, I think it is mainly due to the fact that many of the Jeep models are quite noisy at highway speeds, and the vast majority of Jeep owners never take their vehicles off-road.
You can check out the raw scores - you'll have to scroll a bit to get to the "
Automobiles & Light Vehicles" section.
Time Magazine also has a nice write-up about the rankings.
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Video: Jeep Grand Cherokee Backflip |
I normally don't post off-roading videos, but since this one is short, funny, sad, and nobody got hurt, I figured it was worth a shot. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more stuff like this - I certainly come across enough of it!
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Video: Australia's Newest Jeep Addition |
Ausjeepoffroad.com is Australia's biggest online Jeep community and in an effort to get even bigger, they have launched what they are calling "Webwheeling TV".
This is a monthly webisode covers trips around Australia in Jeeps, garage talk, technical tips and updates on the Ausjeep webiste.
Episode one has been available to views for nearly 2 weeks now and has grabbed a heap of views.
WEBISODE #1: 'The Pilot'
August 2008 webisode will feature some high speed footage of wheeling in Perth Western Australia, the 'In your Garage' segment looking at Wooders Garage with Dorzun, BJC's recent jaunt to Mt Mee in Queensland and find out why you need to run low pressures in your tyres with Pezz.
Winners also announced for the Jeep Jacket giveaway so check out Jeff's RoundUp to see if you have won the Jacket or a Corecrew DVD. The 15 minute Webisode is separated into two parts so make sure you watch them both.
Part 1.1
Part 2.1
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All-New Grand Cherokee in 2010, Chrysler Spending $1.8 Billion to Upgrade Plant |
KBCI is reporting that Chrysler Vice Chairman Tom Lasorda just announced that Chrysler will be spending $1.8 billion to upgrade the Jefferson North Assembly (current home of the Grand Cherokee) in preparation for an all-new car-based SUV.
Most of the articles I've read about this story this morning are vague about the vehicle to be produced, but I did manage to find one source (a French site, apparently) that says it will be a new car-based Grand Cherokee! From easyBourse.com:
LaSorda said the new vehicles will retain the Grand Cherokee name and will hit dealer showrooms in 2010.
From the KBCI article:
LaSorda said the money will go for tooling and a flexible body shop at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant. That plant now makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Speaking at a weeklong industry meeting organized by the Center for Automotive Research, LaSorda said the investment will add 285,000 square feet to the plant and keep more than 400 jobs in Michigan.
The new vehicle will be more fuel-efficient than the truck-based Cherokee and will be equipped with the company's new Phoenix line of fuel-efficient engines.
LaSorda said the factory should be retooled by the end of next year and will start cranking out the new vehicles early in 2010.
He said the investment will include energy-efficient lighting and the ability to use solid waste and paint sludge as an energy source.
More info to come as the facts come out...
UPDATE (8/14/08): Chrysler has posted a press release. More details about the upgrades, no additional details about the vehicles to be manufactred. Read it in full after the jump...
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Video: Additional Grand Cherokee "Opera" Videos |
I'm not going to even pretend that I understand these next two videos I just found on YouTube's thejeepchannel.
The first video is the same as the one I posted last month, but the next two feature two of the same actors from the first commercial.
I'm not sure what Chrysler it going for with these, maybe somebody can explain it to me...
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Video: Wrangler Featured in Chrysler's Weekly News Video |
The recent awards earned by the Jeep Wrangler made Chrysler's highlight reel a couple of weeks ago.
The piece discusses the fact that the Wrangler recently was named "Best Overall 4-Wheel Drive Vehicle" by Four Wheeler Magazine.
 Pics of Updated Interiors for 2009 Compass and Patriot |
With all the complaining about the cheap interiors in current models of the Compass and Patriot, it's not really any surprise that they'll get an upgrade for 2009.
Carscoop (via Allpar - registration required) got their hands on some information and photos of the updated interiors. From their writeup:
Few will disagree with us when we say that the majority of Chrysler LLC's vehicles are a huge disappointment in terms of interior design and quality and choice of materials inside the cabin. Heck, even Chrysler admitted it by announcing earlier this year that it will revise the interiors of several of its cars. And indeed it will as these leaked images of the 2009 Jeep Patriot & Compass from the 2009 Mopar Accessory brochure prove.
While there's no way of knowing whether Chrysler replaced the fridge-like plastics in the compact crossovers' interiors, the pictures do show that the American carmaker has completely redesigned the upper part of the dashboard.
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Patriot Named Least Expensive SUV to Own |
The Jeep Patriot was recently named the "least expensive SUV to own" by Edmunds.com. The ranking takes into account not only purchase cost, but also fuel efficiency, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation - among other factors.
From the press release:
Chrysler LLC's Jeep(R) brand has a solution for sport-utility vehicle (SUV) customers seeking relief from high gas prices and economic uncertainty -- the Jeep Patriot. A study by Edmunds.com reveals that the Jeep Patriot is the least expensive SUV to own at 48.6 cents per mile.
"In difficult periods like this, it is vital that we continue to evolve our products to exceed customers' needs and Jeep Patriot does just that," said Robert Hegbloom, Senior Manager - Jeep Brand Marketing. "By providing great fuel economy, performance, handling and flexibility, all at an affordable price, the Jeep Patriot is a tremendous value."
The number one ranking is based on Edmunds.com's True Cost to Own data, which incorporates projected model-specific average vehicle ownership costs consisting of depreciation, financing, taxes, fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance and repairs. The data accounts for total vehicle costs over a five-year period.
"Even though gas prices are high, some consumers are still in search of a sport-utility vehicle to meet their needs," said Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis, Edmunds.com. "For those consumers, vehicles like the Jeep Patriot are relative bargains in their segment."
