#firestome

Who will you be? A hero? Villain? You decide.

THE LEAGUE has receded to the shadows with every t h r e a t made still hanging heavy in the air, waiting to be executed by the order of the new leadership no one knows….

PROJECT CADMUS, with the blessing of the league, has started the second phase of their plans - a plan to taint the metahumans to the public eye and paint them as a menace and reveal them as the true abominations they really are.

Text and Pics By Michael Hozjan

The Jeep brand is associated more with off-roading than any other nameplate and even yours truly feels more confident taking a “Jeep” off the beaten path than most other vehicles, even if that path is the south 40 on my farm. So it should come as no surprise that the resurrected Cherokee, has sold over 130,000 units since its debut in 2013.  Even my life long friend and ex business partner surrendered his CRV and rushed to the nearest Jeep dealer to plunk down his deposit on the first gen Cherokee Limited. And who could blame him, in a sea of cookie cutter mid-size sport utes, the Cherokee is handsome and clearly stands alone.

The closest my friend gets to taking his Cherokee off the pavement is when he drives down my gravel road, and I suspect that most Cherokee owners will never see much more either. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look the part. Enter the Trailhawk, taking the boulevardier out of the equation, at least style wise. The Cherokee buyer now has eight trim levels to choose from starting with the front-wheel-drive Sport trim at $27,021.  Yes that’s right kiddies the Cherokee is offered in front drive only! Matter of fact the Trailhawk and a more optioned Trailhawk Elite are the only two of the eight trim levels NOT offered in front wheel drive.  The Trailhawk’s entry price is $35,054 for the V6 powered version.

The Trailhawk got a lot of admiring looks at this year’s Mopar show in Valleyfield, QC

For its sixth year the Cherokee got a well-needed refresh. Jeep’s trademark seven bar grille has been squared off, giving it tougher, more aggressive look, further distinguishing it from the competition. Flanking the grill are bi-LED headlamps and LED fog lamps. The new Jeep has shed some weight to aid in fuel consumption, including a lighter power tailgate.

Adding to Trailhawk’s rugged image is a higher ride height for increased ground clearance. Should you decide to go off the beaten path there are skid plates fore and aft.

Thankfully not too much has changed in the Cherokee’s cabin. The leather seats are comfortable and supportive. My buddy’s six year old leather seats show no signs of wear, a testament to Jeep’s quality materials. My tester came with the heated/ventilated power buckets embroidered with the Trailhawk logo…in case I forgot what I was driving. The accented red stitching on the Trailhawk’s dash and seats are a nice touch. Unlike some higher priced competitors, there are plenty of soft-touch materials. Out back the cargo bay has been widened three inches. I squeezed in a cut down version of my show tent for the annual Mopar show in Valleyfield, Quebec. Thanks to the wider bay I was able to now get my tables to fit. Still, the Cherokee’s 54.7 cu.ft. of useable cargo capacity falls short of many of its competitors.

 Regular readers know that I admire FCA’s Uconnect infotainment system and the Cherokee continues in the tradition for ease of use with a larger 7-inch screen (the 8.4 inch is standard on the Trailhawk). I wish other manufacturers would take FCA’s lead and uncomplicate their systems.

There are two USB ports up front along with a power outlet. Back seat passengers get twin USB ports as well as a 115-volt household three-prong outlet.

My firecracker red came with the optional dual pane sun roof ($1,595), the 9-speaker Alpine sound system with trunk-mounted subwoofer ($450), the towing package added another $595 to the final tally. Also added was the upgraded infotainment system with nav, xm radio, 4G LTE Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth compatibility ($920). A very appreciated item was the full-size spare, thank you FCA.

Yeas kiddies, that’s a full-size spare!

Unlike with some other manufacturers, the blind spot monitoring with rear cross path assist and rear park assist is an $895 option and if you ask me it’s nice to see that I’m not being forced to pay for it if I don’t need it.

Under the hood the Cherokee offers three engine options; the old standbys, the base 180 horse, 2.4L Tigershark four cylinder and optional 271 horse, 3.2L Pentastar V6 remain. New to the lineup is a 270 horsepower 2.0L turbocharged in line four cylinder that pumps out an impressive 295 lb.ft. of torque. (Stay tuned for more on this mill)  The 2.0L is rated to pull 4,000 lbs. vs. the 2.4’s 2,000 pound capacity and the V6’s 4,500 lbs. Depending on trim model the Cherokee also offers you three different three different 4 x 4 systems. The Trailhawk came with the Active Drive II, which has two speed transfer unit with a low mode that locks the front and rear axle for negotiating out of the deep stuff.   Regardless of engine choice, the sole transmission is the 9-speed automatic. And even though I managed to eak out a very respectable 8.2L of the good stuff for every 100 clicks, I still wish we had the option of a manual transmission. Come on guys it’s supposed to be an off-roader!  

I was completely surprised with the Trailhawk’s road manners, unlike some SUVs that get clumsy when you add an off road package the Trailhawk kept its composure on highway maneuvers just as well as its sibling. The Firestone tires too proved to be quite for an off-road tire.

Having a truck in the driveway that I can take into the field to check on the crops and then turn around and head out for a night on the town and not feel out of place, and get me there safely, well what more can you ask for. Yes the cargo bay is on the small side despite its expansion for my use, but what it looses in cargo space it gains in comfort.    

 Price as tested: $41,240*