When Jeep updated the its fourth-generation Grand Cherokee for the 2014 model year, it made many of the little tweaks and

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

changes we’ve come to expect from a mid-cycle refresh. There’s a new front fascia with a body-coloured grille surround, smaller headlights, and reshaped fog lights. At the back, the taillights have been redesigned and the chrome strip between them has been removed, while at the corners there are new wheel designs. With its metallic red paint, polished chrome wheels and bold grille my Summit trimmed test truck certainly turned heads.

More significantly, Jeep also made a couple of notable mechanical updates for 2014, with a new eight-speed automatic transmission and a newly available 3.0-litre direct-injected turbodiesel engine. This isn’t the first time the Grand Cherokee has been offered with a diesel in North America – the third-generation version got an available Mercedes-Benz-sourced diesel from 2007 until that model was replaced in 2010. It’s also not the first time the new diesel engine – a 3.0-litre

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

turbodiesel from Fiat-owned VM Motori Centro – has been available in the Grand Cherokee. The Europeans, you see, have had access to this powerplant since the fourth-generation Grand Cherokee launched for the 2011 model year.

Lucky Europeans is all I can say, because the diesel-powered Grand Cherokee offers plenty to like and not much at all to dislike. The Italian-sourced turbodiesel generates a respectable 240 horsepower and a truly awesome 420 lb-ft of torque, and is perfectly suited to the Grand Cherokee. The abundant torque comes on strong right off idle, making the engine feel as lively around town as the available V8 and giving the Grand Cherokee a whopping 3,265-kg towing capacity. In typical diesel fashion, the new engine is also remarkably efficient, offering fuel economy some 50 percent better than with the V8. Official city/highway ratings for the EcoDiesel are 9.8 / 7.0 L/100km versus 15.6 / 9.9 for the 5.7-litre V8, and my

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

test vehicle was showing about an 11 L/100km long-term average. I worsened the average a little thanks to a lot of city driving and a trip up a snowy mountain road, but nevertheless still managed 12.4 L/100km, which is pretty good considering the size of the Grand Cherokee and the driving conditions I subjected it to. On the highway, with its 93-litre fuel tank, the Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel offers a driving range of up to 1,300 km.

Diesels of yore have had a reputation for noisy operation and smelly exhaust, but the modern clean diesel in the 2014 Grand Cherokee lays these bugbears to rest. At idle there is a muted compression-ignition clatter from the engine, but overall it’s no more intrusive than the V8’s rumble. Once you’re underway, acoustic glass and plenty of interior sound deadening mean that you really don’t hear the diesel at all. As for the exhaust, the EcoDiesel uses downstream urea emissions treatment,

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

and therefore produces little in the way of emissions and no noticeable smell at all.

So what’s not to like about the diesel? Well, the urea emissions treatment does require a 30-litre urea tank that needs to be topped up every 16,000 km or so (usually done at the dealer during regular servicing, at a cost of about $1.85 per litre for the urea), and although the ceramic glow plugs warm up incredibly quickly, the slight delay between pressing the "Start" button and the engine actually cranking over can be a little disconcerting. That’s about it, really.

The rest of the Jeep Grand Cherokee follows the same pattern as the EcoDiesel engine: much to like, not much to dislike. The new eight-speed transmission shifts imperceptibly smoothly and is well matched to the diesel, keeping the torque on tap. It also comes with standard paddle shifters. Running down a long, twisty mountain

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

road, the intelligent transmission programming allowed for earlier downshifts to provide decent engine braking, making the descent both more relaxing and easier on the brakes. All Canadian-market Grand Cherokees get Jeep’s capable Quadra-Trac I four-wheel drive system, with optional Quadra-Trac II or Quadra-Drive II systems that add low-range gearing, hill-descent control and other features for some serious off-road chops.

The on-pavement ride is remarkably refined and well composed for such a big off-road capable machine. The steering is accurate, and although the chassis does allow a certain amount of body lean, overall the handling feels competent and assured. My test vehicle was equipped with Jeep’s Quadra-Lift Air Suspension system, which allows you to lower the ride height for loading or raise it for improved off-road clearance, and additionally

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

automatically angles the vehicle forward at speed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency.

Inside, Jeep has pulled out all the stops to create a genuinely luxurious ambience for five passengers, especially in my test vehicle’s Summit trim. The heated and vented front seats in the Summit are leather upholstered, of course, and there’s a stitched leather dash with a matching leather-look infotainment screen background. Entertainment is provided via a 19-speaker, 825-watt UConnect-enabled Harmon/Kardon audio system with Bluetooth, satellite radio and an 8.4-inch touchscreen (I should note here that I found the voice prompting and dial-by-number interface to be particularly intuitive and well-executed). The A-pillars are cloth-wrapped in microsuede, and there are padded door uppers and beautiful open-pore wood trim. Rigid plastic is used for the door lowers, but it’s good-looking stuff.

Back

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

seat passengers get as much of an open-sky experience as the front-seat passengers thanks to a panoramic sunroof, and rear seat heaters ensure cold-weather comfort all around. Other features in Summit trim include automatic dual-zone climate control, fog lights, HID headlights, LED taillights, keyless entry, pushbutton start, a power liftgate, enhanced adaptive cruise control, park assist, blind spot and cross-traffic alert, and forward collision warning with automatic braking.

I actually found the collision warning system a tad oversensitive in the city, because on a couple of occasions as I swung around a left-turning vehicle ahead, the system thought I was in risk of collision and applied the brakes. The front parking sensors also set off a false alarm when they got blanketed with wet snow while driving up a mountain road. Rounding out my list of nitpicks, I’m not keen on Jeep’s twist-operated wiper

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

control because you need to take your hand off the steering wheel to operate it, and it’s fiddly, so it can be a pain here in the land of ever-variable coastal drizzle.

Price-wise, the Jeep Grand Cherokee starts at $41,960 (including the $1,695 destination fee) for the base Laredo trim with the V6 engine, and ranges up to $65,405 (destination in) for Summit trim with the V6, and $65,490 (destination in) for the performance-oriented SRT trim, complete with Jeep’s 6.4-litre Hemi V8. The EcoDiesel is available only in the higher Overland and Summit trims, and adds $4,995 to the vehicle price. With an additional $195 paint charge and $225 remote CD player my test vehicle priced out at $69,555.

Whether the fuel economy savings alone are enough to justify the $4,995 additional

Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press

cost of the EcoDiesel is perhaps up for debate, and will partly depend on your driving style and how many miles you put on your vehicle. What’s less debatable are the solid advantages offered by the diesel in terms of low-end performance, towing capacity and driving range.

Certainly from a competitive point of view the newly available EcoDiesel allows the Jeep Grand Cherokee to compete on an even footing with diesel-powered rivals such as the Audi Q7 TDI, BMW X5 xDrive35d, Mercedes-Benz ML 350 BlueTec, and Volkswagen Touareg TDI.

Regardless of which engine you select, the Grand Cherokee stands out as an impressive, capable and well-equipped contender.

©(Copyright Canadian Auto Press)