Oh Say Can You SeeThis is what a Jeep should look like! As good as the Jeep Compass
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| Though the urban Compass targets a new audience, this interpretation doesn't work as well as it did in the sketches. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada) |
looked in the early sketches and then, souped up pre-production tuner influenced duds, it lost much of its appeal as an anti-Jeep (in my eyes at least) when it showed up at Detroit with slinky chrome wheels (as opposed to the black and satin 19-inchers from the previous concept) and a droopy, sad-sack face with pin-prick fog lamps pushed down into bumpers that look like nothing so much as jowls; not to mention it isn't Trail Rated--if it's not gonna' be Trail Rated it should at least be Street Rated. It's a great idea for the Jeep brand to branch out and give people reasonable (read: city-slicker) options, but with the Caliber picking up the slack at the very lowest end of the price bracket for Chrysler Group, I personally think the end product should have maintained a more aggressive identity and kept the Compass looking street-race ready. Caliber, Compass, and now Patriot all share the same super platform engineered in collaboration with Mitsubishi, and despite Chrysler Group displaying great mastery of brand engineering with the LX cars (300, Charger, Magnum... Challenger?), it seems like Compass has lost its direction (not to mention design focus). All in all, too much crossover, not enough street.
The
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| The Patriot, on the other hand... now, that's what I call a Jeep. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada) |
Patriot, on the other hand, looks all Jeep and is proportionally closer to the Cherokees of yore than the ungainly Commander, but they all follow the two-box (and I do mean box, that's not just a fancy design term in this case) theme with upright vertical pillars, only the A-pillar showing a bit of rake. The seven slot grille and round headlights give a healthy nod to the Jeep brand image, and the matte metal-look bumper inserts recall military nuts-and-bolts Jeeps while somehow appearing stylish and slightly uptown. The sides aren't sheer panels, as the wheel wells are embellished with a bit of Liberty-esque flare.
In the Jeep 'family', the Patriot slots in under the Liberty, but it
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| Freedom-Drive II with skidplates, four wheel drive and low-gear means that you can actually get to places like these. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada) |
remains slightly above the road-going Compass, or at least at the upper reaches of Compass equipment. It will give entry-level shoppers a second option to the Compass, with rugged good looks and the option to make it equally rugged off-road. Unlike the Compass, Patriot can be made into a Trail-Rated off-roader with the big Freedom-Drive II off-road package. Now that's Patriotic! Freedom-Drive II means full skid plates and automatic four-wheel drive with a locking low-range gear for bulling your way through God's country. The Off-Road package also adds 17-inch all-terrain OWL tires and aluminum wheels, a full-size spare tire, air-filtration system, tow hooks, fog lamps and seat height adjuster, so you can look down on everyone else stuck in the mud.
Of
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| Lesser models still get the same 172-hp engine, but start out with 5-spd manual instead of CVT. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada) |
course, the Patriot starts off with socialists-need-only-apply front-wheel drive (self-explanatory, I hope) before bumping up to Freedom-Drive I, which includes the same automatic four-wheel drive with a less extreme differential, meant to handle mostly snow piles at the side of the road or dirt tracks at the construction site. Not to be forgotten, all models get standard brake traction control, stability control (ESP), electronic roll mitigation, and anti-lock brakes with brake assist. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this car-based SUV, with its independent front suspension and CVT gearbox, will be able to handle the rough stuff.
