Patriot Reviews Begin Rolling In

The reviews are starting to roll in for the 2008 Jeep Patriot. CarConnection.com posted a fairly good review over the weekend.

Here's a snippet or two:

In fact, the Patriot straddles the line between soft-roader and full SUV. The reality is that less than one in ten sport-ute owners will ever steer onto anything rougher than a gravel road. So for them, there's the basic version of the Patriot, Dubbed Freedom Drive 1, available in either 4x2 or 4x4 configuration and starting at an extremely competitive $14,985 (which includes destination charges).

For those who want something markedly more rugged, there's the official, trail-rated package, which boosts ground clearance by an inch, and adds such niceties as a tougher rear suspension, low-range transmission, skid plates, electronic stability program with hill-descent control, and a heavy-duty cooling system. This so-called Freedom Drive 2 package bumps the base price up to $19,175.

Continued...

Our biggest complaint was with the continuously variable transmission under extreme acceleration. Heading up steep hills, the engine would race to redline and hold there as vehicle speed caught up. This "motor boating" is a phenomenon common to CVT design, but with the Patriot powertrain, the result was an unpleasantly brash and raucous roar from under the hood. Under less aggressive driving, both engines were acceptably smooth and reasonably quiet.

The Patriot is pleasantly smooth and nimble in both on and off-road configurations. The added ride height of Freedom Drive 2 is barely noticeable in anything but the most aggressive driving conditions. Unless you like the more jellybean-like styling of the Compass, we find it hard to explain what the attraction would be to that soft-roader.

Who knows how the Jeep Patriot will fare with the hardcore Jeepers, but one thing is for sure...Its purely Jeep and the enthusiats everywhere will want to get their hands all over one.