Research 2

   
NEW CARS FOR 2010

I drove The $38,785 Grand Cherokee Laredo 4X4 from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I did explore a few out of the way places where green mountain thrust skyward and condors soar, where the ocean laps sand soft enough to trap wimpier SUVs, and where the pinyon pines and the purple nightshades hide ravenous ticks who like to crawl up a car photographer's leg while he's composing a shot.
And that's the point of buying a Grand Cherokee. To see places and meet bugs you can't in other vehicles

The 2011 Grand Cherokee started development five years ago at Daimler Chrysler , continued during Cerberus ownership, and was finished under fiat management.

The new GC's dash has a nearly seamless skin, attractive hooded saucers for gauges, and comely, chrome-accented air vents. The interior is made largely of soft touch materials, and the various pieces interlock with precision. The switches and column stalks move with heft and make soft landings.

Trip and fuel economy data flow from high resolution screens between the gauges and on the console, where a multicolor radio display serves as a place keeper for the optional Garmin navigation system.

It had cast aluminum lower control arms up front, the multi link rear suspension,large disk brakes at all four corners, and the generally refined calibration of the rack and pinion steering and the plush ride.

The GC's options list includes a leather wrapped dash board and steering wheel, genuine wood, height adjusting air springs (available as a package on the Laredo, the Limited, and the super deluxe Overland), and three versions of four-wheel drive. Prices can reach the mid-40s on the flagship Overland with the HemiV-8.

The four-wheel-drive Laredo X, there's also a thriftier Laredo E, starting at $30,995 with rear drive-had the simplest of the four-wheel drive trains: Quadra-Trac I, permanently engaged four-wheel drive with a fixed 50/50 torque split and brake-based traction control governing its open differentials.

The 3.6-liter "Pentastar" V-6 is all-new and checks most of the current technology boxes: aluminum construction, 24 valves, roller rockers, and phasing on all four cams. With a five-speed automatic transmission behind it, the engine is a smooth motivator to 60 mph, yours in 8.4 seconds with a spirited exhaust snarl to accompany it.

The Laredo's all-wheel drive train undoubtedly bit into fuel economy, but it ran quietly at expressway speeds and with no obvious drag on the V-6's 290 horse power. And it supplied solid traction on the Oceano Dunes State Vihecular Recreation Area near Pismo Beach. Pismo takes its name from the Chumash Indian word pismu, or tar.

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              96-97Kuia, Lan. "NEW CARS FOR 2011." Sports Car Sept. 2010: 96-97. Web.