One of the casualties of restructuring is often the media relations budget and Chrysler/Jeep is no different. The budget for a media fleet was reduced significantly and many journalists were left without products to review. Fortunately for me, Saskatoon has a dealer body second to none and they volunteered to let me test (abuse??) one of their Jeep Patriots with the North Package.
Thankfully, I didn’t break it and I found that it lived up to the Jeep reputation quite well. If you haven’t been in a Jeep for a few years, the company split their line up by relegating the serious off road Jeeps to the option sheet. The official designation for off road is “Trail Rated”. My test unit wasn’t trail rated, but I managed to get it out bouncing over a few easy trails anyways.
Interior
My bouncing over the trails was done in a pretty decent amount of comfort. The cloth covered bucket seats held me well in place over the rough stuff and didn’t feel like the sides were pinching in when on the road. Side bolsters on the seat back and cushion were well shaped so that getting in and out 20 times a day was no big deal. The most surprising thing about front seat was that they were fully manually adjustable. Levers were easy to reach with the doors closed and had fine enough adjustments that just about anyone should be able to get comfortable in short order.
Instrumentation
Instruments were laid out with the tach and speedometer front and centre with fuel level and engine temp out on the periphery. The steering wheel was just the right diameter with good grip, but it seemed a bit small when compared to the instrument cluster. As I was driving, a small portion of the tach was hidden behind the wheel. This is just a personal driving preference because I could adjust the steering column so that I could see the whole instrument cluster. The trouble is, it just didn’t suit me. Besides, with the CVT transmission, I didn’t really use the tach that much any ways.
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| Outside the traditional slab sided Jeep is still recognizable, but time has rounded the edges and it makes the Jeep look more refined. (Photo: Charles Renny/Auto123.com) |
Thankfully, I didn’t break it and I found that it lived up to the Jeep reputation quite well. If you haven’t been in a Jeep for a few years, the company split their line up by relegating the serious off road Jeeps to the option sheet. The official designation for off road is “Trail Rated”. My test unit wasn’t trail rated, but I managed to get it out bouncing over a few easy trails anyways.
Interior
My bouncing over the trails was done in a pretty decent amount of comfort. The cloth covered bucket seats held me well in place over the rough stuff and didn’t feel like the sides were pinching in when on the road. Side bolsters on the seat back and cushion were well shaped so that getting in and out 20 times a day was no big deal. The most surprising thing about front seat was that they were fully manually adjustable. Levers were easy to reach with the doors closed and had fine enough adjustments that just about anyone should be able to get comfortable in short order.
Instrumentation
Instruments were laid out with the tach and speedometer front and centre with fuel level and engine temp out on the periphery. The steering wheel was just the right diameter with good grip, but it seemed a bit small when compared to the instrument cluster. As I was driving, a small portion of the tach was hidden behind the wheel. This is just a personal driving preference because I could adjust the steering column so that I could see the whole instrument cluster. The trouble is, it just didn’t suit me. Besides, with the CVT transmission, I didn’t really use the tach that much any ways.
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| Cargo space, when you first look at it, seems small. This is a bit of an illusion since once you remove the privacy cover, you can stack about four hockey bags in the back. (Photo: Charles Renny/Auto123.com) |