New Car Review of the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Sport Utility Vehicle
Description: Sport Utility Vehicle
Base MSRP Range: $27,410-$39,425
Invoice Price Range: $25,175-$35,903
The five-door flagship sport utility vehicle trimmed in Overland edition is the most powerful and surefooted vehicle in Jeep's motor pool. Grand Cherokee represents the original sport utility vehicle and traces back decades in Jeep history with innovations like the Quadra-Trac automatic full-time 4WD system from 1973 and the first unibody four-door sport utility vehicle of 1984.
It emerged in 1999 from Jeep's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit riding on a new chassis and wrapped in a sleek shell concealing the luxurious cabin plus high-tech mechanical systems that continue to set the capability curve for sport utility vehicleperformance.
Handy innovations for Grand Cherokee range from rain-sensitive front windshield wipers to a tire pressure monitoring system, available curtain-style air bags and adjustable accelerator and brake pedals. Actually, Grand Cherokee has an expanded lineup of models in 2004 with rear-wheel-drive (RWD) traction or 4WD available for all models.
Base edition Laredo uses as its standard engine a 4.0-liter in-line-six rated for 195 hp and tied to a four-speed automatic transmission for RWD or 4WD with Jeep's Selec-Trac mechanism, which has a full-time transfer case with low-range gearing, or the new Quadra-Trac I single-speed transfer case.
Grand Cherokee Limited can be outfitted with the straight-six plant or a single-cam 4.7-liter V8 good for 235 hp. The V8 teams with an automatic five-speed transmission. Limited is available in RWD or 4WD with Selec-Trac or the permanently-engaged Quadra-Drive 4WD system which operates in concert with Vari-Lok axles to draw on the Quadra-Trac II hydro-mechanical speed-sensing differentials.
Grand Cherokee Overland edition comes only one way -- with first-class amenities and big muscle from a high-output version of the 4.7-liter Jeep V8 that cranks to 265 hp. It also stocks the Quadra-Drive 4WD system.
Grand Cherokee's new Special Edition borrows exterior design cues from the Limited with a monochromatic treatment, while the 4WD Special Edition gets an Infinity audio system with 10-disc CD changer plus Quadra-Drive. A combination stereo system with 10-disc CD deck and DVD-based navigation system with in-dash color video monitor is a new option for Grand Cherokee.
