Funny they should mention power. The 3.6 is now ancient compared to other models with turbos. I have been waiting for a test just like this. And the test has made up my mind. We could only afford a Laredo, but was concerned about the low power of the 3.6. If they offered a Hemi as an option regardless of cost I'd take it.

 

This is very true, BUT, the 3.6 has an advantage those competitors' engines don't: reliability. No forced induction, no direct injection, just a simple design relative to what else is out there and it's been used in everything they've made for a decade. It's trustworthy.

The 3.6 shined in the current, regular Grand Cherokee. But yet leaves me wanting in my Gladiator. I briefly had a 3.6 Durango loaner and i guess it was OK - nether good enough or bad enough to leave an impression.

Engine development needs to catch up with the competition.

My first Gladiator was a 3.6L model with the Max Tow package. I hauled at maximum payload and towed at maximum trailer weight with it and I was very pleased. It achieved better MPG working than a V8, and it handled the hills of Kentucky extremely well, using gears 5-8 almost 100% of the time. It didn't leave me wanting at all. Fantastic power.

And, service intervals could be done for $25 in my driveway in literally 5 minutes.

I love the Pentastar engine. It's always been great to me and it's reliable and easy to maintain.

 

The 3.6 shined in the current, regular Grand Cherokee. But yet leaves me wanting in my Gladiator. I briefly had a 3.6 Durango loaner and i guess it was OK - nether good enough or bad enough to leave an impression.

Engine development needs to catch up with the competition.

 

Wait til they add a battery and the upcoming hybrid tf 8 tranny, power on demand right now..with v6 economy and a some more.

 

I see FCA took a page out of Ford's book with the interior materials. The Explorer's interior is full of cheap, hard plastic. The Summit is more akin to the Lincoln Aviator. Not a good look for the Overland regardless.



That's the problem...always waiting...

But the gov't will not give you that choice. They are taking the choices away from you.

Of course, FCA would have loved to put the Hemi into the Gladiator and every trim of Durango because it would sell more....but then they would have to pay Tesla more credits.

The hand of gov't erases choice.....it does not provide it.

Meh FCA had plenty of options. Ford figured out a way to provide high output powertrains via turbos and hybrid power. The gov't in this case incentivized manufacturers to pivot and FCA chose to resist for as long as possible.

 

I am dismayed that the Overland interior is so much cheaper than the Summit. Giving an Overland hard plastics is Daimler thinking. I hope we do not see problems from FCA margin-squeezing efforts.

The Pentastar was due to be replaced. The T6 is vaporware.

I fear the PHEV will use the 2.0T.

 

The T6 being vaporware makes me sad. I wanted that to be a reality so badly. I am also hoping we are not seeing a new round of painful cost cutting. We all got to see how that worked out before. I am looking forward to the smaller, 2 row version in hopes that it keeps similar off road capabilities to the current model. Fingers crossed.

 

Well the Explorer still sells well...even with an interior that has been panned by every auto reviewer...so I'm betting it will sell well against the competition...especially higher trims.
The PHEV 2.0L seems to have the right numbers power wise and I hear it performs well in the Wrangler...and with all the BMW/Merc having 4 bangers in them, maybe the public is now OK with that as a powerplant?

 

Well the Explorer still sells well...even with an interior that has been panned by every auto reviewer...so I'm betting it will sell well against the competition...especially higher trims.
The PHEV 2.0L seems to have the right numbers power wise and I hear it performs well in the Wrangler...and with all the BMW/Merc having 4 bangers in them, maybe the public is now OK with that as a powerplant?

Jeep 2.0T - 270hp/ 295 lb-ft
Ford 2.3T - 300hp / 310 lb-ft

 

More to the point on the JGC-L's competition.

 

I get the reliability, but a slant six was reliable too, and you couldn't keep putting in something that the competition is smoking your butt in a direct comparison. Hence a V8 became optional in an A body, and you weren't forced to buy a top line model to get it.

 

I can accept cheap plastics on the Laredo trim, but not on the Overland trim.

I thought we are going for Jeep having "premium and luxury" appeal?

 

How about a 2.4T with 325 HP and 350 ft lbs of torque. Now if we just had that.

 

I think at that power point I'd rather have a small displacement turbo 6. running on 87 octane.

 

That dude reviewing the Explorer is annoying. Aldo shared that video with me when we were first looking at the Explorer. When he started stuffing Oreos in his mouth I wanted to slap the taste out of his mouth. He nitpicks for stupid things, and I haven’t noticed any of the “issues“ he complains about. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of most reviewers as I feel they nitpick stuff that really isn’t an issue to most people, and often their personalities get in the way of the review.

Edit: I should say that the review is for a 2020, and we have a 2021. There were tons of recalls for the 20, and so far I don’t think any for the 21, so maybe they’ve had time to get their heads out of their posterior exhaust ports.

We have the turbo 4 in our XLT, and I have zero complaints. Would it be nice to have more power? Sure, who wouldn’t turn down more power? The interior is nice, the panels line up, nothing squeaks or rattles, and the Active X seating material is much nicer IMO than the cheap cloth found in the Durango SXT that I test drove. The Durango wasn’t a bad vehicle, the Explorer was just better.

As far as the 3.6, I haven’t been overly impressed with it in any vehicle I’ve driven, though a test drive doesn’t really give you the full story. I didn’t feel it was any better or worse than the turbo 4 in the Explorer, but once again I didn’t have it for that long. By comparison though, I am very familiar with the 3.7L V6 in my Mustang, and I do prefer it to the turbo 4…but the difference in vehicle weights, ride height, suspension, etc probably make a difference there. Put that V6 in the Explorer and I don’t know if I’d feel the same. The V6 does sound better too.

 

That dude reviewing the Explorer is annoying. Aldo shared that video with me when we were first looking at the Explorer. When he started stuffing Oreos in his mouth I wanted to slap the taste out of his mouth. He nitpicks for stupid things, and I haven’t noticed any of the “issues“ he complains about. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of most reviewers as I feel they nitpick stuff that really isn’t an issue to most people, and often their personalities get in the way of the review.

We have the turbo 4 in our XLT, and I have zero complaints. Would it be nice to have more power? Sure, who wouldn’t turn down more power? The interior is nice, the panels line up, nothing squeaks or rattles, and the Active X seating material is much nicer IMO than the cheap cloth found in the Durango SXT that I test drove. The Durango wasn’t a bad vehicle, the Explorer was just better.

As far as the 3.6, I haven’t been overly impressed with it in any vehicle I’ve driven, though a test drive doesn’t really give you the full story. I didn’t feel it was any better or worse than the turbo 4 in the Explorer, but once again I didn’t have it for that long. By comparison though, I am very familiar with the 3.7L V6 in my Mustang, and I do prefer it to the turbo 4…but the difference in vehicle weights, ride height, suspension, etc probably make a difference there. Put that V6 in the Explorer and I don’t know if I’d feel the same. The V6 does sound better too.

I think he's one of the best reviewers out there...but everyone has there own spin on things and what might bug them or not. Keep in mind he's reviewing the Top Dog trim there with the HP 3.5L, so one would expect things to be worked out and not in BETA mode as that one seemed to be with the trans tuning.
Clearly the turbo 4 would have a different tune and seems that tune is fine.

I rent a lot of cars in my line of work and I've always found the 3.6L an excellent engine in the 300/Charger or Chally. It even works fine in the JGC though I always like it on "sport" mode. Get great mileage and has an excellent engine note when pushed hard. Too bad Ford doesn't allow the 3.3L V6 that's available in the police version as I hear that engine runs very well in the explorer.

 

The Pentastar engine really isn't a good truck engine because it's sadly lacking in the one area trucks and bigger SUVs need, torque. Now, they could easily address this, but this isn't their way. Look towards a mid cycle refresh before that's addressed.

 

I had the Pentastar in my '14 Ram crew cab. It was ok in city driving. Get it out on the interstate in the mountains of VA and NC and it was awful. Nothing but constant rough shifting and the speed control couldn't safely maintain the set speed. FCA bought back that truck in 1/16. My '16 Ram Hemi on those same roads is a 180, plus it gets the same gas mileage as the 3.6 because it is hardly working.
My '19 Charger AWD with the 3.6 is a different beast. Smooth shifts and way better performance. The Ram is too heavy for that engine as it is currently configured.

 

Torque can be addressed either with a more serious electric-motor assist or retuning.

We never did get the fully upgraded Pentastar engines that were planned. Might be the upgrades weren't deemed worth the extra expense, or maybe they dropped it for the GME T6, or...

They have a lot of people still working in Auburn Hills. Makes me wonder what they're working on.

 

I am not happy with the 3.6. Had a 2012 GC. Blew blue smoke. 2017 Durango 3.6 needed new roller rockers at 4000 miles. Now my 2020 Durango has a front cover timing cover leak by alternator. Appointment next week at 7300 miles.

 

I'm sure in certain areas of redundancy, there will be costs cut. But it will take them at least two years to unscrew all of it and make whatever is best work. This multinational auto company has the same issues others do. People on different continents want different things. So what works in Europe most likely won't work here without adaptation. PSA side needs to study its own history, when they bought Chrysler Europe in 78. Chrysler wasn't large enough to run a completely separate unit that had zero in common with it's NA operations. And they didn't understand Europe car buyers either very well. Their cars were always ho hum and mostly old and behind the times. The Horizon was well received, just in time for them to pull the plug over there.

 

EU is being driven by compliance to gov't mandates.

EU plotting ban on internal combustion engine as of 2025: industry – EURACTIV.com

While they will not ban ICE by 2025, they will increase the rules and regulations to choke ICE off completely.

So, Tavares moving to transform the products sold in the EU into BEVs quickly is for the purposes of compliance and survival because you can see most other large manufacturers in the EU making the same changes.

Several EU cities have already announced that ICE vehicles will not be allowed into their cities after a certain date.

63% of those living in EU cities want an end to ICE by 2030.

63% of Europeans Living in Cities Support EU Ban on Petrol & Diesel Car Sales after 2030 | CleanTechnica

This is not a time to play around with more ICE development for the EU market and Tavares rightly sees that.

 

That also gives him 8 years to see where the market goes. I doubt very seriously that these are cast in stone.

 

The Biden Admin is seriously considering following the EU with BEV mandates and regulations to make ICE so expensive that it will be reserved for the wealthiest only.

There is strong support for similar mandates:

12 States Call On President Biden To Phase Out ICE Vehicles By 2035 (fordauthority.com)

 

I don't call 12 our of 50 states strong support..that's not anywhere close to a majority...12/50= 24%. NOT what I call strong support..LOL!

 

Considering how long we hold onto our vehicles, it probably won’t affect me much either way. Hopefully I’ll be retired and living near the beach long before 2035, and happily driving around in my old beater Jeep (or something similar). If its electric, fine. If not, I doubt gas will be extinct by then either.

 

Considering how long we hold onto our vehicles, it probably won’t affect me much either way.

All the more reason for me to keep my 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT w/Hemi. It has 276K+ miles and is a teenager (15 years old). It does need some attention, but nothing urgent (yet). The Hemi still purrs or should I say roars when I stomp on the pedal. They can have the Hemi when they pry the keys are out of my cold dead fingers. ☠☠

I'm not saying we won't ever consider an EV, BEV, or PHEV, but I can tell you the chances of actually purchasing one are between slim and none.

Guess I better get a Challenger ScatPack while can.............

 

This is also why we need to spend money on and upgrade our infrastructure. It’s not just cars that will be powered by electricity…but homes, electronic devices, businesses, etc. If we want nice things, we need to be able to support them…no matter where the juice comes from or how it’s made.

 

Tax payers shouldn't upgrade, purchase or build anything. We should let entrepreneurs and the such build what is needed and make a living from it. Why does the govt need to do anything? It'll cost the govt hundreds of billions when business and entrepreneurs could do it for a lot less and make a good living. Govt. needs to stay out of business.

 

I’ve driven the Pentastar extensively with the 6 spd in the Wrangler (son’s), I’ve driven a few Gladiators (8 spd auto) looked at the new Grands…and decided to keep my 07 Hemi Grand for now. When the time comes I might look for a WK2 Hemi. The V6 is nice for a V6 but the Hemi has over 100 more ft lbs of torque. A 5,000+ lb vehicle needs torque.

 

I’ve driven the Pentastar extensively with the 6 spd in the Wrangler (son’s), I’ve driven a few Gladiators (8 spd auto) looked at the new Grands…and decided to keep my 07 Hemi Grand for now. When the time comes I might look for a WK2 Hemi. The V6 is nice for a V6 but the Hemi has over 100 more ft lbs of torque. A 5,000+ lb vehicle needs torque.

True, but this is where electrification is in its zone. Turn the truck into an electric generator that runs electric motors. The batteries and electric motor remove most of the need for high torque engines, and the engines can run in a more optimized range - both for power and polution controls - or not at all. Kind of like a diesel-electric train. Maybe that's part of the plan for the GME T6.

 

An interesting review given all the hub bub about testing for sqeaks n rattles.

 

I wonder if there's anything to the squeaks and rattles? We went and looked at a maroon Altitude today. I'm going to talk to the salesperson tomorrow.