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By MURRAY
HUBBARD
19 October 2009
Jeep Australia has launched a refreshed Patriot in Australia.
Stocks of the vehicle are becoming available again as the Chrysler
settles into a new era. The American marque’s bankruptcy issues
and takeover by Fiat in July 2009 are well documented. Chrysler's
future was held in abeyance, manufacture of the Patriot suffered
– along with some other models - causing a shortage of stock.
"We could have been selling 100 to 130 a month, but instead
could only sell what we could get, about 30 to 40 a month,"
said Chrysler Australia managing director Gerry Jenkins. "Now
we have supply again we are looking to build the numbers up to
about 150 a month," he said.
Patriot is an important vehicle for Jeep which needs to compete in
the booming compact SUV market. Jeep Patriot gets an all-new
interior that adds comfort and versatility. Jeep borrowed the
circular theme from sibling Cherokee. The previous overcomplicated
interior of Patriot has been ditched in favour of a simpler, more
modern design, including an all-new contemporary dashboard. It now
features a monotone dark grey interior with new centre stack,
instrument panel, door trim panels and centre console with a split
lid for extra storage space. Patriot's armrests are now padded,
adding to passenger comfort.
Engine compartment and interior floor insulation have both been
improved to reduce road and engine noise intrusion. Jeep claims a
five per cent reduction in decibel levels inside the cabin. The
NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) has also been improved with
better insulation and an upgraded exhaust for a quieter ride.
Other changes to Patriot include carpeting of the cargo floor,
which is reversible, allowing wet gear to be stored if needed.
Patriot comes standard with electronic stability program.
Patriot's mechanicals remain untouched, but marketing and sales
general manager, Brad Fitsimmons confirmed the diesel Patriot is
no longer available, with no plans at present to replace it. That
engine was only available with a manual transmission and wasn’t
popular with Australian buyers.
Patriot comes with a 2.4-litre petrol engine linked to either a
five-speed manual or automatic CVT (continuously variable
transmission) that has virtual pseudo six-speed manual changer.
The engine puts out 125 kW of power at 6000 rpm and 220 Nm of
torque at 4500 rpm. Official fuel consumption from the manual
variant is 8.4 litres/100 km, that rises to 9.1 litres/100 km with
the CVT. Emissions from the manual variant are 200 g/km, and 216
g/km from the CVT.
Patriot uses Jeep's Freedom-Drive 4WD system. In normal driving
conditions torque is directed through the front wheels until loss
of traction is detected. Within one wheel rotation the system can
engage the rear wheels in a 50/50 torque split to give all wheel
drive in slippery on or off-road conditions.
In addition, drivers can lock the system in all-wheel drive with
the flick of a switch if they know they are entering slippery
conditions. For off-road conditions the system is able to detect
which wheels are having trouble gaining traction and divert torque
to a single wheel, if needed, that does have grip. “This is no
Wrangler, but it is clearly a Jeep,” said Mr Fitsimmons.
Jeep re-launched Patriot in north east Victoria near Alexandra in
a combination of highway, bush-track and off-road conditions. The
wet weather ensured all roads were slippery, some tracks to the
point of being more like an ice rink than a trafficable byways.
These at times treacherous conditions could not have been better
to test the all wheel drive systems aboard Patriot which passed
the test with flying colours. One particular track saw both
Patriot and Wrangler vehicles sliding laterally at slow speeds
with not a bend in sight. A feather to the right pedal saw the
vehicle's straighten and highlighted the asset all wheel drive
brings to cars that encounter conditions like these from time to
time. It was no place for two-wheel drive.
We later had the opportunity to test Patriot's off-road ability,
in particular entry and exit angles as well as ramp-over. Once
again the vehicle performed well in the type of ‘soft' terrain a
Patriot owner might be likely to visit.
Our only complaint is Patriot has no engine braking for steep
descents and is in dire need of some form of hill descent control
if Jeep is to market the vehicle as having off-road ability.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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