[tomtex]

There's, some less than positive, commits about the 2014 Cherokee on this forum. If I bury the jeep Cherokee, it will be for its ability to go off road . I think its main competition in its class, will be from Subarus.
By looking at the equipment list and spec's for both type how would you compare the off road ability of each type?

For ref: www.offroadsubarus .com
www.offroadingsubarus.com

Remarks , The jeep Cherokee is not in the dealers lots yet .so maybe it should be compared to the older compass, patriot and liberity

 

[Jeepnut]

I love the froidian slip of "If I bury the Jeep Cherokee" because thats exactly what should happen to it. If they had called it Renegade I could have almost supported it. Back to your question. Based on comments from Chrysler if you spring for the Trailhawk version it should be moderately capable in light offroad situations. Subarus are not offroad biased by any means despite what thier marketing says. So if thats the selling point for you by all means pick the Cherokee.

 

[GasAxe]

Can't judge the Cherokee for it's off roading chops until we see it. If it's great off road, wonderful, but it's still butt ugly.

Compare a Compass to a Subaru Forester and they are both fine all weather cars. My personal opinion is that the Compass will get you farther off road where you can break something, where the Subaru is content to be honest and say it's just an ON-road vehicle.

 

[MoparNorm]

Ditto to both answers, who in the world thinks the Subaru is an off road car???
That is a real stretch. Subaru's are good all weather pavement cars, nothing more.
The only Subaru that was halfway acceptable as an off road car, was the very first year wagon in the mid 1970's...and it had many other issues that made it a disposable car.

 

[tomtex]

Ditto to both answers, who in the world thinks the Subaru is an off road car???
That is a real stretch. Subaru's are good all weather pavement cars, nothing more.
The only Subaru that was halfway acceptable as an off road car, was the very first year wagon in the mid 1970's...and it had many other issues that made it a disposable car.

If you look at both subarua off road forums, you will see that a lot of customers do, and out Cherokee should be priced around the same?

 

[SouthPawXJ]

I somehow don't see a Subaru as capable of this:

More of this here: http://www.expeditionswest.com/equipment/reviews/patriot/index.htm

Granted, this was a professional driver. However, I just don't see a Subaru capable of handling this.

I love the froidian slip of "If I bury the Jeep Cherokee" because thats exactly what should happen to it. If they had called it Renegade I could have almost supported it. Back to your question. Based on comments from Chrysler if you spring for the Trailhawk version it should be moderately capable in light offroad situations. Subarus are not offroad biased by any means despite what thier marketing says. So if thats the selling point for you by all means pick the Cherokee.

Where have they said that the Trailhawk would be moderately capable in light off-road situations? I must've missed that...

 

[Stratuscaster]

The bigger issue here is that the definition of "off-road" can very a HUGE amount between individuals.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

 

[unclejjg]

I somehow don't see a Subaru as capable of this:

More of this here: http://www.expeditionswest.com/equipment/reviews/patriot/index.htm

Granted, this was a professional driver. However, I just don't see a Subaru capable of handling this.



Where have they said that the Trailhawk would be moderately capable in light off-road situations? I must've missed that...

Getting hung up on a rock whilst headed downhill?

I don't know, I think a Forester isn't too far off from the Patriot really. Especially the newest model. They have there own version of being able to send power left to right, and they have a "lock" mode. They have about 9" of clearance. How much difference is there really? No "low range" from the CVT? Does anybody know the range of ratio on Subaru's CVT vs. the one Jeep uses?

 

[SouthPawXJ]

Getting hung up on a rock whilst headed downhill?

I don't know, I think a Forester isn't too far off from the Patriot really. Especially the newest model. They have there own version of being able to send power left to right, and they have a "lock" mode. They have about 9" of clearance. How much difference is there really? No "low range" from the CVT? Does anybody know the range of ratio on Subaru's CVT vs. the one Jeep uses?

I don't believe he's "hung up" so much as traversing it. The thing I hate about IFS/IRS used by lower-end CUVs is that the wheels leave contact with the dirt a lot more often it seems compared to a Wrangler or other solid axle vehicle. However, the right traction control setup can get you through it. I'm not saying I want one, but the Patriot seems more capable than a Subaru.

 

[BASONE88]

Is this Cherokee aimed at Subaru or other "cute utes" such as the Escape, Rav 4, Sante Fe, etc...?

 

[suzq044]

Ditto to both answers, who in the world thinks the Subaru is an off road car???
That is a real stretch. Subaru's are good all weather pavement cars, nothing more.
The only Subaru that was halfway acceptable as an off road car, was the very first year wagon in the mid 1970's...and it had many other issues that made it a disposable car.

Sometimes, I think it depends on the skill of the driver, too, Norm. I know you're skilled, but .. just because they aren't popular off-road doesn't mean they can't do it with the right tires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFwPXEeJ3aI

^ Definitely not a vehicle built for off-road; despite having a v8. And I know that's not exactly the toughest location to drive through, but the point is.. who's stopping a Subaru driver from doing something different?

I mean; it really depends on your own personal definition of off-road. I know you don't do rock-crawling, you've said it before; but i forgot what you called it. I know most people, if they EVER actually use their Jeeps for more than the occasional beach-drive or snow-summit (no pun intended), it'll be rare. I mean, the "true Jeepers" are those who will continue to build their own Jeeps, as they see fit; with modified XJ's WJ's CJ's and SJ's; where they can beat up the truck and not worry about it.

Alot of people, even Jeepers' just want a Jeep to tow their project (or off-road-only) Jeep's. It's, I think, why many people liked the Commander; and why many more people like the WK2. They have that project almost done and they're much more willing to beat the bleep out of it than do the same to their new Jeep, "trail rated" or not.

 

[MoparNorm]

If you look at both subarua off road forums, you will see that a lot of customers do, and out Cherokee should be priced around the same?

I don't need to read forums, I lived it.
Now you're making me tell on myself, one of my non- Mopar vehicles was the second Subaru wagon in the USA.
I drive that thing all over CA, AZ, CO and worked it over in every scenario. Subaru, is not what it's cracked up to be.its not bad, but it's no Jeep.
That picture of the Subaru is simply driving over a ditch, the Crown Vic can do that....

 

[barracudafett]

one year for vacation out west we took our 96 Grand Caravan on a trail through Moab, the trail did say high clearance vehicles only. we made it just fine

 

[Stratuscaster]

Is this Cherokee aimed at Subaru or other "cute utes" such as the Escape, Rav 4, Sante Fe, etc...?

I would put it against Subaru's Outback, not the Forester. Maybe the Tribeca, too - it's more of an "SUV" while the Outback is more "wagon."

I would also put it against the Escape, the RAV4, the Tuscon, the Sportage, and the CR-V, among others...

 

[tomtex]

I think all you need to do is go to youtube, and type-in off road patriot,liberty or compass and watch them, and then type in subaru off road-and compare them to the jeeps.

 

[Mark Hall_78689]

The comparison with Subaru is actually quite telling. I think the choice of the name: Cherokee might actually be a detriment because obviously it's not what one thinks of when you hear the Cherokee name. A better name? How about: the Jeep Eagle? Because that's what it really is, a successor to the line of four wheel drive cars that AMC made. Eagles were really the first "crossover vehicles," they were ground breaking for their time and if AMC would have had the money to remake itself into an "American Subaru" company they might have survived and avoided the terrible entanglement with Renault. Of course that is way too many "ifs." I do think if it was marketed as the Jeep Eagle you wouldn't be hearing all the outrage and controversy.

 

[blerille]

I think Subaru's are what they are cracked up to be, good all weather vehicles for "active" people. I imagine the new Cherokee will be more off-road capable than a Forester, but what does that say? Maybe Jeep is loafing because no other vehicle in Cherokee's class has any off-road capability, so its easy to say it is the most capable? The Forester isn't marketed as an off-road vehicle. I think Subaru is pretty honest with the way they have represented their cars. I own a Subaru now, and its time to replace it. I was hoping to be impressed by the Liberty replacement, but instead I find it to be an unappealing poseur

 

[CDJSalesPro]

I was hoping to be impressed by the Liberty replacement, but instead I find it to be an unappealing poseur

This is the most ridicules thread yet......."For the love of GOD!!!" NOBODY has driven it yet....lol

 

[edvan]

Just a little anecdote. On LI where I live, we had a recent snow storm, about 18 inches. That morning, before the roads were cleared. our next door neighbor with her jeep liberty had no problem backing out and doing her chores.

Much later, after the bob cats had done a terrific job of clearing the roads in our condo development, the wife and I had to move our cars to allow the bobcats to finish the work. My wife has a new Forester. We pretty much dug her out, but she had a real problem getting the Forester out. She was not happy. Ironically, I had less trouble with my 2008 RWD Chrysler 300C with 62000 miles on the tires.