The Liberty stops well too, thanks to a large disc at each wheel, and in the case of my tester, antilock brakes. They look great framed in the
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| The Liberty's standard 16-inch wheels, or optional 17-inchers as shown on the CRD Limited, add extra rubber combined for above average stopping duties, or when needed to avoid an accident. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
standard 16-inch wheels, or optional 17-inchers, the extra rubber doing pulling its weight for stopping duties too, or when needed to avoid an accident. Something that became apparent on my test drive was just how much quieter the 2005 Liberty was compared to the outgoing model, even when powered by the diesel. Jeep has reportedly worked hard to debugging the compact SUV, reducing noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels in the engine bay and throughout the body.
For doing what most people buy SUVs for, hauling people and stuff, the Liberty is quite good. The second row of seats folds almost completely flat, opening up an especially large cargo area. It's not necessarily longer or wider than its rivals, but it's quite a bit taller,
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| From the rear, it's easy to see the muscular fender swells of the 2005 model. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
making it handy for doing guy things like hauling the gas barbecue to the beach or transporting that big screen TV home from the electronics shop. Access to the rear is enhanced by an intelligently designed swinging door, that not only pops up the rear glass automatically when opened, but is hinged on the driver's side, meaning that if you're loading something from the sidewalk when parallel parked, you don't have to get out on a busy street and risk death to load the vehicle. While it sounds amazing that any automaker would force their customers to endure such danger, all those that feature side swinging doors that hale from Britain or Japan, do just that, Land Rover and Lexus included. The most bizarre thing is that GMC made the same mistake with its new Envoy XUV, a vehicle that will never be sold in right-hand drive markets. What were they thinking?
