If you are a high-performance buyer, then the Grand Che{{{Cherokee must beat the top of your list, because its optional V8 makes 220 horsepower and
generates 300 pound-feet of torque, both class-leading numbers. The V8
in our test truck was a genuine tiger, ripping across intersections, pulling
snowy grades and performing highway passing maneuvers with ease and quickness
we weren't expecting. It is also rated to pull a 6500-pound trailer.
And if you don't need as much grunt as all that, we can recommend the
4.0-liter inline-six as one of the great SUV engines, with 185 hp and 220
lbs.-ft. of torque for hauling up to 5000 pounds of trailer, with an improvement
in mpg rating from 13/17 city/highway for the V8 to 15/20 for the six,
quite a lot in percentage terms.
We have been off-road many times with the 4.0 in the Grand and other
Jeep models, and it never let us down.
While the shift is on to rack-and-pinion steering in the sport-utility
world, the Grand Cherokee still uses recirculating-ball steering, and it
is a bit mushy and indefinite compared to other systems, though entirely
acceptable. It works with leading-arm coil-spring front suspension and