Jeep Cherokee Sport

Jeep sales in Australia are going gangbusters; as mentioned in a previous post, Jeep's advertising campaigns are proving very effective. The Cherokee being the company's best seller.
On test here, is the base model Cherokee Sport. Some will bemoan that the new styling isn't rugged looking enough, but I didn't mind the new softer front grille treatment.
It's quite a big car and there's plenty of room for heads and legs inside.
The cloth covered seats are large and comfortable, and finding  the right driving position is easy thanks to a tilt and telescoping steering wheel and height adjustable (manually) front seats.

For just over 33K you get an electronic park brake, gas struts for the bonnet, folding and heated wing mirrors, (with puddle lights,) reversing camera, rear ventilation outlets for back seat passengers, a console with two handy separate compartments and a couple of 12 volt outlets for accessories. 
The cheapest Cherokee misses out on some of the niceties you might have been expecting.
For example there's no leather bound steering wheel,auto climate control, auto headlight or wiper function, heated seats or satellite navigation ( You do however score a compass displayed in the central information screen.) Interior temperature settings are indicated by a small arrow moving up or down between a tiny blue or red mark on the upper corner of the screen. You don't get any numbers displayed to tell you what the temperature actually is, like on most other cars.

The rear luggage area is pleasingly large and a full sized spare wheel is included.
There are plenty of storage cubbies  in the doors and one on the top of the dashboard as well, although I wouldn't recommend putting anything like a cd in there on a 44 degree Australian summer's day....it would be destroyed. 
Jeep still doesn't fit a footrest on the transmission tunnel for the driver's left foot and that's a major comfort oversight. Your foot is left flapping around at an awkward, uncomfortable angle in the footwell.

The two wheel drive only Cherokee Sport has five seats and will most likely be mainly used as urban transport, but it's still rugged enough for those occasional off road holiday forays.
On the road, the Sport is quite comfortable, the ride is average for the class and visibility is good except for a blind spot in the C pillar, thanks to a thick black surround on the tailgate window glass.

The 2.4 litre petrol four cylinder engine is quite gutsy with reasonable torque, that eagerly launches the car when given a good prod of the accelerator. It has 136 kw and 229 nm.
The Cherokee is quiet on the move and at highway speeds there's little wind or road noise. The Sport lives up to its name by tackling most corners without drama.. in fact it's very car -like in the way it drives. 
Jeep's new 9 speed gearbox works well and usually seemed to find the right ratio at the appropriate time. although occasionally it would hold a lower gear too long before changing up on light throttle, for no apparent reason. Gears can be manually selected on the console.. there are no steering wheel paddles.

 It rained for most of my week with the Cherokee Sport and a couple of issues arose. There was always condensation in all the headlight lenses, indicating a sealing issue.
The smart looking headlights are particularly poor on high or low beam. A dull glow barely showed up the road ahead in the suburbs and struggled to project any reasonable distance on high beam. I was constantly checking the switch to make sure they were even on; in fact turning them off at night (momentarily) in suburbia, made very little difference to the visibility up front. Aftermarket up-specced globes are sorely needed here.

If your expectations aren't too high and you like the way the Cherokee Sport looks and drives, there's no reason for it not to be included on your shopping list, but remember you get what you pay for.
Peter Sellen