New Jeep Grand Chicory

Oct 12, 2004 36 Replies

Yeah, it's got a Hemi in it. Fine and dandy. Problem is, it's UGGGGGLEE! Looks like one of the rejected designs for the new/current Dodge Durango. Taillights are the stupid kind and look like the design that almost went on the Chevrolet Equinox until someone at Chevrolet said "Clear taillights! No! Dude! We TOTALLY have to do clear taillights!"



Ptewph.


lol was that really at a car show Bill?

The ones I've seen on the road have made me think that perhaps they're trying to recapture some of the XJ Cherokee's fans. To me it looks boxier, and the lines are cleaner and straighter, more reminiscent of the XJ than the WJ. This is so especially when viewed from behind.

The wrap-around taillights suck, I agree. OTOH, I like the round headlamps and how they integrate the shape into the leading edge of the hood.

Boo! on the V6 replacing the I6; SUV engines ought to have low-end grunt. That I6 was an institution, and it deserved to be updated rather than discarded.

--Geoff

And they're all red. No amber turn blinker. Suddenly it's 1991...

Agreed. I'm sure Car and Driver will cream their jeans about the "silky-smooth V6" being better than the "agricultural-sounding pushrod inline 6 it replaces".

BMW manage to make great I6s, no reason why DC shouldnt.

Dave Milne Scotland

I have never cared for those clear lights. Looks awefull.

No 2002, One thing I would love to change on my Dak is my non-amber turn signals....

Hmmpf!!!

I challenge them to get it to run smoother than a well tuned slant six.

How it runs isn't the issue for the bananaheads in the motoring press. Does it sound like a Honda? If yes, praise. If no, make dumb jokes and then laugh.

The marketeer idiots continue to claim "Americans prefer red turn signals".

Pick your badness! Do you want the "brake, tail and turn signal functions all lumped into one lamp, which can give only one signal at a time, and if it fails, you lose all functions on that side" badness? Or do you want the "Brake lamp and turn signal are two separate lamps, but they're right next to each other, and both red, so the drivers behind you have to figure out just what-all your vehicle's assortment of bright/dim/on/off/steady/flashing red lights is trying to convey...once they get close enough to see that there are in fact _two_ "duelling" reds right next to each other" badness?

It's so hard to choose...I just can't pick which kind of badness I prefer. I'd say "Just put on a separate amber blinker like the whole rest of the world has required since 1963", but that wouldn't work because "Americans prefer red turn signals".

Must be why Chevrolet and GMC didn't sell any of their trucks and Suburbans between '00 and '03 -- they had amber rear blinkers.

Yes, funny how GM went from a V-6 back to an I6. Looks like GM got it right vs. Chrysler this time.

Matt

Ah darn. I forgot about the Honda pacemakers they use which resonate at a Honda's idle frequency.

- Budd

It's not great, but looks wise, it blows the Durango away, looks wise. The Dakota too, sadly.

BDK

Geoff proclaimed:

It looks more like a ZJ to me than a WJ.... if a bunch of Mitsupussy designers got drunk and tried to draw a ZJ you'd pretty much get the new Grand.

Daniel J. Stern proclaimed:

I think they are still trying to dry their shorts from testing the factory streetrod version of the Hemi Grand.

Yeah, shame about what they're wrapping around it.

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