SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


Techno review: 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 3,0 CRD

Pics by author

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday July 4, 2012

Built for city streets and rocky trails

The engine:  Joining the 3,6 and 5,8-litre petrol engines in the present lineup, is a new 2987 cc diesel from VM Motori, an Italian engine factory founded in 1947. GM and Chrysler’s new alliance partners, Fiat, now jointly own the company. The engine is a 60-degree V6 designed for either transverse or fore and aft application.

Aluminium cylinder heads feature chain-driven, double overhead camshafts actuating a total of twenty-four valves. Individual central, 1800-bar, direct piezo injectors built into the heads, feed each cylinder. A Garrett VGT 2056 turbocharger with air-to-air intercooler is used. The engine is Euro5 compliant and intended for use with low-sulphur diesel. Units imported into South Africa have the diesel particulate filter removed so that owners can use high-sulphur fuel if no 50-ppm diesel is available.

The transmission: This is Chrysler’s W5A580, electronically controlled five-speed automatic with manual override facility. It is coupled to an MP3023 active fulltime four-wheel drive transfer case with electronically controlled clutch pack and variable torque split. Selec-Terrain Control enables choice of six drive modes - sand and mud, sport, auto, snow, rock and 4Lo. The test unit was fitted with Quadra-Drive II, an electronic limited-slip differential that detects tyre slip and distributes torque to wheels with traction. In some cases, the vehicle will anticipate low grip conditions and adjust proactively in order to limit or eliminate slip.

The body is of steel uniframe construction, 4822 mm long on a 2915 mm wheelbase, 1943 mm wide and 1764 mm high. Suspension is fully independent front and rear with Quadra-Lift air assistance courtesy of the previous tie-up with Mercedes-Benz. It offers five ride heights – normal, two levels of lift for off-road use, a loading height so passengers with little legs can scramble aboard and one for getting down and dirty on the freeway. Buyers have a choice of LTD and Overland equipment packages, with the main difference being the type of differential offered.

Safety and security features: These include electronic stability control, roll mitigation, ABS with rough-road detection, four-wheel brake traction control, seat-belt pretensioners, trailer-sway control, reverse park assistance with camera, and remote start. Other standard safety features include six air bags and active head restraints that deploy in the event of a rear collision. A blind-spot detection system notifies the driver of vehicles in blind spots with illuminated icons on side-view mirrors and an audible chime. Adaptive cruise control decreases the vehicle’s pre-set speed when closing in on another vehicle or when one pulls into the same lane. Forward collision warning detects rapidly approaching vehicles and alerts the driver.

The experience: Warmed and ventilated front seats with electrically controlled adjustments that include lumbar support, back seats warmed so the future generation can enjoy their games and movies on the built in screens comfortably, sumptuous leather with front chairs embossed with the “Overland” logo, air conditioning piped to the rear where accommodations are sufficient for those of average build and tasteful upholstery and trim, make the Grand Cherokee a very comfortable place to be. The rear hatch door opens with a double click of a button on the key to reveal a 1030 litre cargo area that expands to 1930 litres with the seatbacks folded flat. A button on the doorframe powers it back down.

Drive time music is taken care of with an Alpine radio and audio system that includes CD player, hard disc drive storage as part of the satnav package and the usual USB and auxiliary inputs. There is even a sliding and tilting sunroof. As expected, it was quite at home out in its natural habitat of rough dirt roads and rocky trails.  Performance from the 3,0-litre common rail diesel engine was excellent, although I felt that the automatic transmission was feeling its age a bit if compared with some of the modern options out there.

Summing up, this Grand Cherokee has all the space, power and toys one could possibly need, at a price that should make its competitors take note and possibly sharpen their pencils too.

The numbers:
Price: R649 990
Engine: 2987 cc, DOHC, 24-valve, V6 turbodiesel
Power: 177 kW at 4000 rpm
Torque: 550 Nm between 1800 and 2800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,2 seconds
Maximum speed: 202 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 10,7 l/100 km
Tank: 93 litres
Fuel: 50-ppm diesel recommended
Max. towing mass (braked): 3500 kg
Ground clearance: 205 mm normal, 270 mm fully raised
Approach/departure/rampover angles: 25/23/18 degrees
Max. wading depth: 508 mm
Warranty and Maintenance: 3 years/100 000 km

To see our review of the 2014 Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD click here



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.