[arudlang]

I wonder if the PCM is protecting the engine from full-throttle passing because of how low the miles are? I have no evidence for that but barring the driver not properly applying his right-foot I can't imagine what would cause a poor passing experience like that. Our 2020 V6 is an absolute bullet that blows the doors off cars around here on a two-lane pass. 21k miles on ours now, we didn't exactly baby it out of the gate and I don't recall any artificially limited power output in its early days...

Those of you taking months-to-years to discover basic features of the car really need to take the time to read your owner's manual. The owner's manual covers all these apparently "hidden in plain sight" features some of you are surprised to discover and it also clarifies the car's behavior in a lot of those odd scenarios as well.

At risk of being rude I would say to the OP that you seem like a nice person but I think you are representative of the overall reason cars are getting obnoxiously automated and I personally hate it. I abhor this concept that people can't be responsible for something as simple as remembering whether they shut their car off, or perhaps my personal favorite showing up on other brand cars; this idea of a "rear occupancy reminder feature", aka "Hey idiot you forgot you left your child in the backseat!"

Indeed these modern "features" like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, self-braking, engine-still-running and rear-occupancy reminders, whatever... all these things are indicative that as a society we are idiots who are getting dumber and dumber every year. I find it very disappointing that people are becoming more and more incapable of being responsible for themselves and the vehicle under their control and the increased reliance on technology to fill the gap of our collective stupidity is only going to allow us to dig ourselves into a deeper and deeper hole.

Anyone ever see the movie Idiocracy? We are well on our way. It's only a matter of time until someone starts putting Powerthirst (Gatorade) into their engine because "its got electrolytes."

I'm sorry for being curt but I have no sympathy for the notion that the car should be responsible for you rather than the other way around when it comes to core functions like shutting the engine off or locking the doors. I would encourage you to strive to be a more diligent owner/operator of your vehicle. I'm not saying I am perfect by any means, we're all only human and bound to make mistakes but we can't continue on this track of relying on technology to wipe all our @rses or we are going to end up in a really bad spot within one or two more generations.

I think you will adjust and learn some new behaviors and good habits as you spend more time with your new car and I think you will be very happy with it overall, there are just some slight differences to get used to with push-button start operation.

I thought some of these Jeeps had an autolock feature that could lock itself automatically when you/the fob walk away? Is that not a setting in the Uconnect menu? I wouldn't know, we buy ours with as few of those nanny features as possible and I turn off everything that I can, on our older model I've defeated many extra nanny features with the help of third party software and tools but some are ingrained too deep in the vehicle to root out. Ever since that actor guy managed to run himself over and kill himself with his own Jeep its been hell just to crack open the door while parking to check distance to a curb or peak around the side of the car... computer slams the e-brake on instantly. I really truly hate these nanny features. I don't hate the people themselves who come to over-rely on them but I worry for our overall future and what it says about us that we have come to "need" these things...

Apologies again for my rude tone, I really think its an overall societal problem, not any of you individually. Its evident that you are all intelligent, above-average people based on your good typing skills and proper grammar (although the computers can now handle that too for us automatically these days...). Mostly I know we are all smart cookies because we choose to drive Jeeps 😁

 

[Tyler-98-W68]

There is nothing in the PCM that watches mileage and reduces power based on mileage, nothing of the sort

 

[1coopgt61]

I wonder if the PCM is protecting the engine from full-throttle passing because of how low the miles are? I have no evidence for that but barring the driver not properly applying his right-foot I can't imagine what would cause a poor passing experience like that. Our 2020 V6 is an absolute bullet that blows the doors off cars around here on a two-lane pass. 21k miles on ours now, we didn't exactly baby it out of the gate and I don't recall any artificially limited power output in its early days...

Those of you taking months-to-years to discover basic features of the car really need to take the time to read your owner's manual. The owner's manual covers all these apparently "hidden in plain sight" features some of you are surprised to discover and it also clarifies the car's behavior in a lot of those odd scenarios as well.

At risk of being rude I would say to the OP that you seem like a nice person but I think you are representative of the overall reason cars are getting obnoxiously automated and I personally hate it. I abhor this concept that people can't be responsible for something as simple as remembering whether they shut their car off, or perhaps my personal favorite showing up on other brand cars; this idea of a "rear occupancy reminder feature", aka "Hey idiot you forgot you left your child in the backseat!"

Indeed these modern "features" like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, self-braking, engine-still-running and rear-occupancy reminders, whatever... all these things are indicative that as a society we are idiots who are getting dumber and dumber every year. I find it very disappointing that people are becoming more and more incapable of being responsible for themselves and the vehicle under their control and the increased reliance on technology to fill the gap of our collective stupidity is only going to allow us to dig ourselves into a deeper and deeper hole.

Anyone ever see the movie Idiocracy? We are well on our way. It's only a matter of time until someone starts putting Powerthirst (Gatorade) into their engine because "its got electrolytes."

I'm sorry for being curt but I have no sympathy for the notion that the car should be responsible for you rather than the other way around when it comes to core functions like shutting the engine off or locking the doors. I would encourage you to strive to be a more diligent owner/operator of your vehicle. I'm not saying I am perfect by any means, we're all only human and bound to make mistakes but we can't continue on this track of relying on technology to wipe all our @rses or we are going to end up in a really bad spot within one or two more generations.

I think you will adjust and learn some new behaviors and good habits as you spend more time with your new car and I think you will be very happy with it overall, there are just some slight differences to get used to with push-button start operation.

I thought some of these Jeeps had an autolock feature that could lock itself automatically when you/the fob walk away? Is that not a setting in the Uconnect menu? I wouldn't know, we buy ours with as few of those nanny features as possible and I turn off everything that I can, on our older model I've defeated many extra nanny features with the help of third party software and tools but some are ingrained too deep in the vehicle to root out. Ever since that actor guy managed to run himself over and kill himself with his own Jeep its been hell just to crack open the door while parking to check distance to a curb or peak around the side of the car... computer slams the e-brake on instantly. I really truly hate these nanny features. I don't hate the people themselves who come to over-rely on them but I worry for our overall future and what it says about us that we have come to "need" these things...

Apologies again for my rude tone, I really think its an overall societal problem, not any of you individually. Its evident that you are all intelligent, above-average people based on your good typing skills and proper grammar (although the computers can now handle that too for us automatically these days...). Mostly I know we are all smart cookies because we choose to drive Jeeps 😁

The energy drink thing has all ready been done. Back about 2008 some fool put Nos energy drink in the gas tank of his Suzuki GSXR. Then he couldn't figure out why his motorcycle stopped running . He thought the NOS energy drink was NOS brand NO2 .There is a good portion of society that needs protection from them selves.

 

[Lindy]

Ever since that actor guy managed to run himself over and kill himself with his own Jeep its been hell just to crack open the door while parking to check distance to a curb or peak around the side of the car... computer slams the e-brake on instantly.

Yeah, I hate that 'safety' feature with a passion....it provokes profanities from me every time.

 

[mazzoni24]

... it definitely has it’s weaknesses.

I’ve had my Cherokee for just over 2 weeks and 1900,km/1180 miles now. Mine is a 2021 white Trailhawk Elite with the 3.2L v6. It’s been nice to drive, has a great interior and is really solid off-road. But today I found some frustrating things:

1. Fuel economy: I took my Cherokee off road today and it handled like a champ... until I got to the gas station. I filled up just before heading off road. After that fill-up I travelled a total of 87km/54 miles – most of that off-road – before filling up again. The tank took 23.689L/6.458gal – nearly ½ tank! . That works out to 27.23L/100km, or 8.64 miles per US gallon!? What the...??? I get it that off-roading isn’t going to give me highway mileage, but 27.23L/100km / 8.64 miles per US gallon? I was mostly in 4-low, not riding it hard, moving slow, a lot of uphill then a lot of downhill. I don’t get anywhere near that kind of fuel economy on my worst day in my 1995 GMC Safari 4.3L V6 work van carrying its own weight in tools and materials, often up long steep hills due to the local terrain on our north shore. Has anyone else experienced this kind of abysmal fuel economy off-roading? I can’t imagine how a long trip would even be possible at 8.64 miles/gal. For my math I used Simply Auto, an app I’ve used for years to track my fuel economy on my vehicles. The Cherokee and my previous 2019 Escape were both generous in calculating their fuel economy. The app calculates based on actual mileage and amount of fuel added since last fill-up, so it is more accurate than the vehicle’s estimate. Even the Cherokee’s estimate was 25L/100km or 9.41 miles per US gallon.

2. No engine-running notification when leaving the vehicle: One thing I liked about my 2019 Escape was if I got out of the vehicle and closed the door with the engine running it would give me 2 quick honks to let me know. The Cherokee says nothing. I realize I should just know to turn it off, but I’m a long-term key-in-the-ignition guy, and I don’t always remember to push that button before getting out. At home that’s no issue because it’s quiet there and I can hear the engine when I get out if I left it running. But if I’m in a loud area I may not hear the engine. That happened today – I ate a whole meal in a restaurant and came out to the Cherokee and I thought I’d left the headlights on. So I turned them from ‘On’ to ‘Auto’ and walked to a nearby coffee shop to get a coffee. On my way back I saw that the taillights were on. What the Firetruck? Finally I realized that the engine was still running. Yes, silly me, but would it hurt to give some indication that I’ve left the engine on when I leave the car? This brings me to the third item...

3. Potential security issue: If I leave the engine running and don’t lock the door, someone can easily drive away. The car does not need the fob inside for someone to shift into gear and leave. I tested this to make sure: I started the Cherokee, got out and put the fob far away, then got back into the Cherokee and drove around the block. The Cherokee was happy to let me shift into gear and go wherever I wanted to take it. Chrysler’s been building these for 7 years, and this has not occurred to anyone there? Don’t they have spies at Ford? Shouldn’t it be a no-brainer that no one should be able to drive away without a fob? Yes, I should remember to press the button to turn the engine off. Yes I should remember to lock the doors. But sometimes I don’t. If everyone did everything perfectly all of the time, newer vehicle wouldn’t have so many things in place to compensate, like lane departure warnings, blind spot warnings, lane keep assist, automatic braking, etc. Why not some notification (horn honk?) that I’ve left the vehicle running when I get out of the car? And why not prevent the car from being put in gear if there is no fob in the vehicle. There is, however, a nice little message on the screen to any would-be car thief saying “Fob not in car. Press okay to cancel this message” Why not also add “Now shift into drive and enjoy your new stolen vehicle.”?

4. Passing power: I do like the Pentastar v6 for the most part until I need to pass (also see item #1 above). I’ve tried passing twice on 2-lane highways in the past week, beginning my pass with the oncoming car just a dot on the highway way off in the distance. I was not at all comfortable with how close those oncoming vehicles got on those two occassions by the time I was able to complete each pass. In fact, on the first occasion the oncoming vehicle began to slow down and pull over to the shoulder as my Cherokee crept past the car I was passing. It seems that this v6 not a terribly strong engine beyond 80km/50miles per hour. Perhaps passing is a thing of the past for me with the Cherokee? My 2.0L 2019 Escape would easily zip by those considering it their sacred duty take the term ‘speed LIMIT’ seriously, and who consider the number on the sign to be the absolute MAXUMUM speed at which they should travel. With the Cherokee, it seems that if I want to pass, that way-off yonder on-coming vehicle better be a bicycle or farm tractor. Is it just me or is this just the nature of this vehicle and engine? Am I now doomed to never pass safely on a 2-lane highway for as long as I own my Cherokee?

5. Minor issue, but while I’m griping: The accessory gauges in the Off Road Pages are not working correctly. The Trans Temp and Oil Temp gauges seem to be buggy, with the bar missing on one and the numbers missing on the other. Anyone else notice this?

Beyond all this the ride is nice, still love the vented seats and the vehicle feels solid with no rattles or creaks. Today was my worst day with the Cherokee, but at least it wasn’t due to any functionality issues.

Thoughts? Comments?

... it definitely has it’s weaknesses.

I’ve had my Cherokee for just over 2 weeks and 1900,km/1180 miles now. Mine is a 2021 white Trailhawk Elite with the 3.2L v6. It’s been nice to drive, has a great interior and is really solid off-road. But today I found some frustrating things:

1. Fuel economy: I took my Cherokee off road today and it handled like a champ... until I got to the gas station. I filled up just before heading off road. After that fill-up I travelled a total of 87km/54 miles – most of that off-road – before filling up again. The tank took 23.689L/6.458gal – nearly ½ tank! . That works out to 27.23L/100km, or 8.64 miles per US gallon!? What the...??? I get it that off-roading isn’t going to give me highway mileage, but 27.23L/100km / 8.64 miles per US gallon? I was mostly in 4-low, not riding it hard, moving slow, a lot of uphill then a lot of downhill. I don’t get anywhere near that kind of fuel economy on my worst day in my 1995 GMC Safari 4.3L V6 work van carrying its own weight in tools and materials, often up long steep hills due to the local terrain on our north shore. Has anyone else experienced this kind of abysmal fuel economy off-roading? I can’t imagine how a long trip would even be possible at 8.64 miles/gal. For my math I used Simply Auto, an app I’ve used for years to track my fuel economy on my vehicles. The Cherokee and my previous 2019 Escape were both generous in calculating their fuel economy. The app calculates based on actual mileage and amount of fuel added since last fill-up, so it is more accurate than the vehicle’s estimate. Even the Cherokee’s estimate was 25L/100km or 9.41 miles per US gallon.

2. No engine-running notification when leaving the vehicle: One thing I liked about my 2019 Escape was if I got out of the vehicle and closed the door with the engine running it would give me 2 quick honks to let me know. The Cherokee says nothing. I realize I should just know to turn it off, but I’m a long-term key-in-the-ignition guy, and I don’t always remember to push that button before getting out. At home that’s no issue because it’s quiet there and I can hear the engine when I get out if I left it running. But if I’m in a loud area I may not hear the engine. That happened today – I ate a whole meal in a restaurant and came out to the Cherokee and I thought I’d left the headlights on. So I turned them from ‘On’ to ‘Auto’ and walked to a nearby coffee shop to get a coffee. On my way back I saw that the taillights were on. What the Firetruck? Finally I realized that the engine was still running. Yes, silly me, but would it hurt to give some indication that I’ve left the engine on when I leave the car? This brings me to the third item...

3. Potential security issue: If I leave the engine running and don’t lock the door, someone can easily drive away. The car does not need the fob inside for someone to shift into gear and leave. I tested this to make sure: I started the Cherokee, got out and put the fob far away, then got back into the Cherokee and drove around the block. The Cherokee was happy to let me shift into gear and go wherever I wanted to take it. Chrysler’s been building these for 7 years, and this has not occurred to anyone there? Don’t they have spies at Ford? Shouldn’t it be a no-brainer that no one should be able to drive away without a fob? Yes, I should remember to press the button to turn the engine off. Yes I should remember to lock the doors. But sometimes I don’t. If everyone did everything perfectly all of the time, newer vehicle wouldn’t have so many things in place to compensate, like lane departure warnings, blind spot warnings, lane keep assist, automatic braking, etc. Why not some notification (horn honk?) that I’ve left the vehicle running when I get out of the car? And why not prevent the car from being put in gear if there is no fob in the vehicle. There is, however, a nice little message on the screen to any would-be car thief saying “Fob not in car. Press okay to cancel this message” Why not also add “Now shift into drive and enjoy your new stolen vehicle.”?

4. Passing power: I do like the Pentastar v6 for the most part until I need to pass (also see item #1 above). I’ve tried passing twice on 2-lane highways in the past week, beginning my pass with the oncoming car just a dot on the highway way off in the distance. I was not at all comfortable with how close those oncoming vehicles got on those two occassions by the time I was able to complete each pass. In fact, on the first occasion the oncoming vehicle began to slow down and pull over to the shoulder as my Cherokee crept past the car I was passing. It seems that this v6 not a terribly strong engine beyond 80km/50miles per hour. Perhaps passing is a thing of the past for me with the Cherokee? My 2.0L 2019 Escape would easily zip by those considering it their sacred duty take the term ‘speed LIMIT’ seriously, and who consider the number on the sign to be the absolute MAXUMUM speed at which they should travel. With the Cherokee, it seems that if I want to pass, that way-off yonder on-coming vehicle better be a bicycle or farm tractor. Is it just me or is this just the nature of this vehicle and engine? Am I now doomed to never pass safely on a 2-lane highway for as long as I own my Cherokee?

5. Minor issue, but while I’m griping: The accessory gauges in the Off Road Pages are not working correctly. The Trans Temp and Oil Temp gauges seem to be buggy, with the bar missing on one and the numbers missing on the other. Anyone else notice this?

Beyond all this the ride is nice, still love the vented seats and the vehicle feels solid with no rattles or creaks. Today was my worst day with the Cherokee, but at least it wasn’t due to any functionality issues.

Thoughts? Comments?

to khan Adda
In regards to engine running after leaving car...You have auto headlights ,if you leave them on "auto" all the time and go to your settings and set the headlights off feature to "0", when you shut car off the headlights and taillights will go off right away. that way you know the car is not running . So if its daylight or night when you walk around car if theres no lights its not running..I have a 2019 Overland and it works great..

 

[j3r3myCs]

... it definitely has it’s weaknesses.

I’ve had my Cherokee for just over 2 weeks and 1900,km/1180 miles now. Mine is a 2021 white Trailhawk Elite with the 3.2L v6. It’s been nice to drive, has a great interior and is really solid off-road. But today I found some frustrating things:

1. Fuel economy: I took my Cherokee off road today and it handled like a champ... until I got to the gas station. I filled up just before heading off road. After that fill-up I travelled a total of 87km/54 miles – most of that off-road – before filling up again. The tank took 23.689L/6.458gal – nearly ½ tank! . That works out to 27.23L/100km, or 8.64 miles per US gallon!? What the...??? I get it that off-roading isn’t going to give me highway mileage, but 27.23L/100km / 8.64 miles per US gallon? I was mostly in 4-low, not riding it hard, moving slow, a lot of uphill then a lot of downhill. I don’t get anywhere near that kind of fuel economy on my worst day in my 1995 GMC Safari 4.3L V6 work van carrying its own weight in tools and materials, often up long steep hills due to the local terrain on our north shore. Has anyone else experienced this kind of abysmal fuel economy off-roading? I can’t imagine how a long trip would even be possible at 8.64 miles/gal. For my math I used Simply Auto, an app I’ve used for years to track my fuel economy on my vehicles. The Cherokee and my previous 2019 Escape were both generous in calculating their fuel economy. The app calculates based on actual mileage and amount of fuel added since last fill-up, so it is more accurate than the vehicle’s estimate. Even the Cherokee’s estimate was 25L/100km or 9.41 miles per US gallon.

2. No engine-running notification when leaving the vehicle: One thing I liked about my 2019 Escape was if I got out of the vehicle and closed the door with the engine running it would give me 2 quick honks to let me know. The Cherokee says nothing. I realize I should just know to turn it off, but I’m a long-term key-in-the-ignition guy, and I don’t always remember to push that button before getting out. At home that’s no issue because it’s quiet there and I can hear the engine when I get out if I left it running. But if I’m in a loud area I may not hear the engine. That happened today – I ate a whole meal in a restaurant and came out to the Cherokee and I thought I’d left the headlights on. So I turned them from ‘On’ to ‘Auto’ and walked to a nearby coffee shop to get a coffee. On my way back I saw that the taillights were on. What the Firetruck? Finally I realized that the engine was still running. Yes, silly me, but would it hurt to give some indication that I’ve left the engine on when I leave the car? This brings me to the third item...

3. Potential security issue: If I leave the engine running and don’t lock the door, someone can easily drive away. The car does not need the fob inside for someone to shift into gear and leave. I tested this to make sure: I started the Cherokee, got out and put the fob far away, then got back into the Cherokee and drove around the block. The Cherokee was happy to let me shift into gear and go wherever I wanted to take it. Chrysler’s been building these for 7 years, and this has not occurred to anyone there? Don’t they have spies at Ford? Shouldn’t it be a no-brainer that no one should be able to drive away without a fob? Yes, I should remember to press the button to turn the engine off. Yes I should remember to lock the doors. But sometimes I don’t. If everyone did everything perfectly all of the time, newer vehicle wouldn’t have so many things in place to compensate, like lane departure warnings, blind spot warnings, lane keep assist, automatic braking, etc. Why not some notification (horn honk?) that I’ve left the vehicle running when I get out of the car? And why not prevent the car from being put in gear if there is no fob in the vehicle. There is, however, a nice little message on the screen to any would-be car thief saying “Fob not in car. Press okay to cancel this message” Why not also add “Now shift into drive and enjoy your new stolen vehicle.”?

4. Passing power: I do like the Pentastar v6 for the most part until I need to pass (also see item #1 above). I’ve tried passing twice on 2-lane highways in the past week, beginning my pass with the oncoming car just a dot on the highway way off in the distance. I was not at all comfortable with how close those oncoming vehicles got on those two occassions by the time I was able to complete each pass. In fact, on the first occasion the oncoming vehicle began to slow down and pull over to the shoulder as my Cherokee crept past the car I was passing. It seems that this v6 not a terribly strong engine beyond 80km/50miles per hour. Perhaps passing is a thing of the past for me with the Cherokee? My 2.0L 2019 Escape would easily zip by those considering it their sacred duty take the term ‘speed LIMIT’ seriously, and who consider the number on the sign to be the absolute MAXUMUM speed at which they should travel. With the Cherokee, it seems that if I want to pass, that way-off yonder on-coming vehicle better be a bicycle or farm tractor. Is it just me or is this just the nature of this vehicle and engine? Am I now doomed to never pass safely on a 2-lane highway for as long as I own my Cherokee?

5. Minor issue, but while I’m griping: The accessory gauges in the Off Road Pages are not working correctly. The Trans Temp and Oil Temp gauges seem to be buggy, with the bar missing on one and the numbers missing on the other. Anyone else notice this?

Beyond all this the ride is nice, still love the vented seats and the vehicle feels solid with no rattles or creaks. Today was my worst day with the Cherokee, but at least it wasn’t due to any functionality issues.

Thoughts? Comments?

Usually there is a chime when you open the door if you leave your lights on with the ignition off or on, and on mine at least there is an image of the front of a KL with words beneath it that says “Lights on.” If your ignition is in the run position with your engine on there is usually also a chime, the chime disappears when the ignition is in the off position.
When it comes to passing, it’s typical of the 9 speed to have its moment when it is downshifting as it uses a couple of dog clutches from 7-8 and 4-5 I believe (I’m not 100% sure), but it definitely doesn’t prevent me from passing or cause any loss of power. There’s very good information on YouTube as to how this transmission works and there’s even demonstrations of dismantled ones. If I’m not paying attention I can get into the triple digits easily (whoops). In other words, passing is a breeze. The 2019+ MY has AutoStick, so use that to your advantage if you will!
I can’t really speak on the gas mileage part (mine is equipped with the 2.0T), but usually it will go up after the break-in period. That’s sad though, my ‘84 Dodge W150 with a 318 averages better gas mileage than you are currently getting.
Good luck and hopefully you get the quirks and “irks” sorted out!

 

[ChuckB]

... it definitely has it’s weaknesses.

I’ve had my Cherokee for just over 2 weeks and 1900,km/1180 miles now. Mine is a 2021 white Trailhawk Elite with the 3.2L v6. It’s been nice to drive, has a great interior and is really solid off-road. But today I found some frustrating things:

1. Fuel economy: I took my Cherokee off road today and it handled like a champ... until I got to the gas station. I filled up just before heading off road. After that fill-up I travelled a total of 87km/54 miles – most of that off-road – before filling up again. The tank took 23.689L/6.458gal – nearly ½ tank! . That works out to 27.23L/100km, or 8.64 miles per US gallon!? What the...??? I get it that off-roading isn’t going to give me highway mileage, but 27.23L/100km / 8.64 miles per US gallon? I was mostly in 4-low, not riding it hard, moving slow, a lot of uphill then a lot of downhill. I don’t get anywhere near that kind of fuel economy on my worst day in my 1995 GMC Safari 4.3L V6 work van carrying its own weight in tools and materials, often up long steep hills due to the local terrain on our north shore. Has anyone else experienced this kind of abysmal fuel economy off-roading? I can’t imagine how a long trip would even be possible at 8.64 miles/gal. For my math I used Simply Auto, an app I’ve used for years to track my fuel economy on my vehicles. The Cherokee and my previous 2019 Escape were both generous in calculating their fuel economy. The app calculates based on actual mileage and amount of fuel added since last fill-up, so it is more accurate than the vehicle’s estimate. Even the Cherokee’s estimate was 25L/100km or 9.41 miles per US gallon.

2. No engine-running notification when leaving the vehicle: One thing I liked about my 2019 Escape was if I got out of the vehicle and closed the door with the engine running it would give me 2 quick honks to let me know. The Cherokee says nothing. I realize I should just know to turn it off, but I’m a long-term key-in-the-ignition guy, and I don’t always remember to push that button before getting out. At home that’s no issue because it’s quiet there and I can hear the engine when I get out if I left it running. But if I’m in a loud area I may not hear the engine. That happened today – I ate a whole meal in a restaurant and came out to the Cherokee and I thought I’d left the headlights on. So I turned them from ‘On’ to ‘Auto’ and walked to a nearby coffee shop to get a coffee. On my way back I saw that the taillights were on. What the Firetruck? Finally I realized that the engine was still running. Yes, silly me, but would it hurt to give some indication that I’ve left the engine on when I leave the car? This brings me to the third item...

3. Potential security issue: If I leave the engine running and don’t lock the door, someone can easily drive away. The car does not need the fob inside for someone to shift into gear and leave. I tested this to make sure: I started the Cherokee, got out and put the fob far away, then got back into the Cherokee and drove around the block. The Cherokee was happy to let me shift into gear and go wherever I wanted to take it. Chrysler’s been building these for 7 years, and this has not occurred to anyone there? Don’t they have spies at Ford? Shouldn’t it be a no-brainer that no one should be able to drive away without a fob? Yes, I should remember to press the button to turn the engine off. Yes I should remember to lock the doors. But sometimes I don’t. If everyone did everything perfectly all of the time, newer vehicle wouldn’t have so many things in place to compensate, like lane departure warnings, blind spot warnings, lane keep assist, automatic braking, etc. Why not some notification (horn honk?) that I’ve left the vehicle running when I get out of the car? And why not prevent the car from being put in gear if there is no fob in the vehicle. There is, however, a nice little message on the screen to any would-be car thief saying “Fob not in car. Press okay to cancel this message” Why not also add “Now shift into drive and enjoy your new stolen vehicle.”?

4. Passing power: I do like the Pentastar v6 for the most part until I need to pass (also see item #1 above). I’ve tried passing twice on 2-lane highways in the past week, beginning my pass with the oncoming car just a dot on the highway way off in the distance. I was not at all comfortable with how close those oncoming vehicles got on those two occassions by the time I was able to complete each pass. In fact, on the first occasion the oncoming vehicle began to slow down and pull over to the shoulder as my Cherokee crept past the car I was passing. It seems that this v6 not a terribly strong engine beyond 80km/50miles per hour. Perhaps passing is a thing of the past for me with the Cherokee? My 2.0L 2019 Escape would easily zip by those considering it their sacred duty take the term ‘speed LIMIT’ seriously, and who consider the number on the sign to be the absolute MAXUMUM speed at which they should travel. With the Cherokee, it seems that if I want to pass, that way-off yonder on-coming vehicle better be a bicycle or farm tractor. Is it just me or is this just the nature of this vehicle and engine? Am I now doomed to never pass safely on a 2-lane highway for as long as I own my Cherokee?

5. Minor issue, but while I’m griping: The accessory gauges in the Off Road Pages are not working correctly. The Trans Temp and Oil Temp gauges seem to be buggy, with the bar missing on one and the numbers missing on the other. Anyone else notice this?

Beyond all this the ride is nice, still love the vented seats and the vehicle feels solid with no rattles or creaks. Today was my worst day with the Cherokee, but at least it wasn’t due to any functionality issues.

Thoughts? Comments?

The only help I can give you is my 2019 Overland Cherokee has the 2.0 turbo. No problem passing or power issues at all. As for the off road mpg, I noticed a small decrease in it but I was kinda light footing it. It is kinda new.

 

[Bellingham Trailhawk]

I've never had trouble passing on a two lane highway or freeway (even when tight gap and coming out from behind someone doing 45mph in a 70 where traffics moving 75mph to 80mph. I have a 2019 TH/E 3.2, I just mash it it kicks down several gears and away I fly. I've never felt wanting for power, even passing in mountain passes.

 

[travelingsages]

I have a 2015 Trailhawk V6 and it really scoots! I can go from 55 mph to 85 or more while passing a car. I have to be careful not to go too fast. No tuner either, just stock.

 

[jimc]

I have a 2018 Overland 3.2 with AD II and it accelerates reasonably well for passing. If I'm planning ahead for a tight pass I'll switch to sport mode so it downshifts faster, in auto it feels like it can be a good 2-3 seconds while it thinks about downshifting when you push the pedal.

Lots of people speed up when you're passing and since the Jeep's acceleration is pretty average it can really extend the time/distance to pass.

 

[jimc]

As for off-road mileage, I haven't gone too far in 4-low but I've done 20+ miles doing 15-25 on rough dirt roads and didn't notice any significant increase in fuel consumption. The car's calculated fuel mileage may drop from the 20 or so it gets on the road to 18 or so on a slow dirt road in the mountains.

 

[JeepGuy911]

Sell it. Research and buy a vehicle that suits your expectations and habits.

 

[Bellingham Trailhawk]

I don't have extensive experience in 4 low millage but I find it's plenty competent is plain Auto setting. I've done a chunk of 4 wheeling, and in auto with sparing 4low usage I average like 12-13 mpg and that's going up and down steep grades as pretty low speeds.

 

[Khan Adda]

I don't have extensive experience in 4 low millage but I find it's plenty competent is plain Auto setting. I've done a chunk of 4 wheeling, and in auto with sparing 4low usage I average like 12-13 mpg and that's going up and down steep grades as pretty low speeds.

Good to hear the fuel economy that someone else has experienced off-road.

I was really watching the mileage today and the engine really does suck back the fuel while going uphill in 4 low. I was using the Auto setting most of the time too, though there were plenty of times when I was in Rock or Mud &Sand. I only locked the rear diff on the harder spots. The grade I was on averaged was often about 11-degrees, give or take. The mileage was worse the slower I went, which tells me that I may not want to leave the Cherokee idling too long after a remote start. I like the feature of being able to view actual fuel economy right on the instrument cluster - there were times when I was getting something like 3.5mpg. It all evened out nicely once back on pavement though. I've never had technology that allowed me to see live fuel consumption before and I now suspect that the heavy fuel consumption may just be the cost of admission for off-roading.

I've never had trouble passing on a two lane highway or freeway (even when tight gap and coming out from behind someone doing 45mph in a 70 where traffics moving 75mph to 80mph. I have a 2019 TH/E 3.2, I just mash it it kicks down several gears and away I fly. I've never felt wanting for power, even passing in mountain passes.

I have a 2015 Trailhawk V6 and it really scoots! I can go from 55 mph to 85 or more while passing a car. I have to be careful not to go too fast. No tuner either, just stock.

Revisiting the issue of passing power: I was playing around with acceleration today and noticed that 80kph/50mph the tach is at about 4,000rpm. With the engine at that rpm the tranny gears down to 3rd gear when the pedal is floored. 3rd is not quite strong enough at that rpm, making it a weak point to accelerate from for passing. It made no difference if I was in Auto or Sport when I floored it at this speed - acceleration was still sluggish. I found that if I slow to 75kph/46.6mph, the rpm is low enough to allow the tranny to shift to 2nd gear, raising the engine rpm and giving much stronger acceleration to launch into a pass. The momentum from beginning the pass in 2nd makes the shift into 3rd during the pass much more effective. Alternatively, if I speed up to 90kph/56mph, the rpm is about 4,500, which makes the shift down to 3rd gear more effective and again makes for a stronger launch into a pass. I didn't write the numbers down so I'll do a little more experimenting to confirm the speeds and engine rpm, noted above, that seem to get the best acceleration for passing. I consider this an important issue because at least one of my earlier passes was a little dangerous when acceleration seemed slower than expected. The engine does seem to be strong, but some of the tranny gearing/engine rpm combinations at certain speeds (I've really noticed it at 80kph/50mph) makes for flat spots that don't t make the most of the engine's power.

I really enjoyed my day off-road today - I wish there had been more daylight. The Cherokee is making me grateful that my Bronco Sport order was cancelled. I realize now that while the Bronco Sport may have some strong capabilities, and may be able to keep up off-road with the more street oriented Cherokees (no street-oriented Cherokee bashing intended), without a 4-low it's not really in the same league with a Trailhawk. For what I want to do Trailhawk is my best option . I was really impressed with where the Trailhawk could go today - with ease! 4-low made large pot-holes, drainage trenches, loose gravel, and up/down steep, loose grades effortless. One downside today was that it was raining and muddy, so getting in and out to check my lines on the tricky spots meant not being able to avoid getting some dirt on my nice fancy interior. Another downside is that I'm now wondering how much more I would enjoy the Cherokee with an additional 2-inches of lift.

 

[skwormin]

Good to hear the fuel economy that someone else has experienced off-road.

I was really watching the mileage today and the engine really does suck back the fuel while going uphill in 4 low. I was using the Auto setting most of the time too, though there were plenty of times when I was in Rock or Mud &Sand. I only locked the rear diff on the harder spots. The grade I was on averaged was often about 11-degrees, give or take. The mileage was worse the slower I went, which tells me that I may not want to leave the Cherokee idling too long after a remote start. I like the feature of being able to view actual fuel economy right on the instrument cluster - there were times when I was getting something like 3.5mpg. It all evened out nicely once back on pavement though. I've never had technology that allowed me to see live fuel consumption before and I now suspect that the heavy fuel consumption may just be the cost of admission for off-roading.






Revisiting the issue of passing power: I was playing around with acceleration today and noticed that 80kph/50mph the tach is at about 4,000rpm. With the engine at that rpm the tranny gears down to 3rd gear when the pedal is floored. 3rd is not quite strong enough at that rpm, making it a weak point to accelerate from for passing. It made no difference if I was in Auto or Sport when I floored it at this speed - acceleration was still sluggish. I found that if I slow to 75kph/46.6mph, the rpm is low enough to allow the tranny to shift to 2nd gear, raising the engine rpm and giving much stronger acceleration to launch into a pass. The momentum from beginning the pass in 2nd makes the shift into 3rd during the pass much more effective. Alternatively, if I speed up to 90kph/56mph, the rpm is about 4,500, which makes the shift down to 3rd gear more effective and again makes for a stronger launch into a pass. I didn't write the numbers down so I'll do a little more experimenting to confirm the speeds and engine rpm, noted above, that seem to get the best acceleration for passing. I consider this an important issue because at least one of my earlier passes was a little dangerous when acceleration seemed slower than expected. The engine does seem to be strong, but some of the tranny gearing/engine rpm combinations at certain speeds (I've really noticed it at 80kph/50mph) makes for flat spots that don't t make the most of the engine's power.

I really enjoyed my day off-road today - I wish there had been more daylight. The Cherokee is making me grateful that my Bronco Sport order was cancelled. I realize now that while the Bronco Sport may have some strong capabilities, and may be able to keep up off-road with the more street oriented Cherokees (no street-oriented Cherokee bashing intended), without a 4-low it's not really in the same league with a Trailhawk. For what I want to do Trailhawk is my best option . I was really impressed with where the Trailhawk could go today - with ease! 4-low made large pot-holes, drainage trenches, loose gravel, and up/down steep, loose grades effortless. One downside today was that it was raining and muddy, so getting in and out to check my lines on the tricky spots meant not being able to avoid getting some dirt on my nice fancy interior. Another downside is that I'm now wondering how much more I would enjoy the Cherokee with an additional 2-inches of lift.

get some weather tech floor mats for the mud. they are the best.

I've got the turbo and it gets ok gas mileage off road. I took my ski rack off last month and was getting up to 26 AVG highway. I did a long slow section in 4 low and rock mode this week and it didn't seem to overly consume gas. I had about a half tank after driving there and back to the mountains (about 1 hour each way on road, and 1 hour off road in 4 low) now the computer is reading 22MPG average.

the trailhawk is super capable. way more than a bronco sport as you noted. I got rock sliders and haven't even really considered needing a lift yet. any scrapes or dings are totally harmless for this stuff. I've taken my car to some pretty rough spots.

the turbo is way better for me for what I want, but I trade off with premium gas so ya... it's fast as f**k though

 

[Khan Adda]

get some weather tech floor mats for the mud. they are the best.

I've got the turbo and it gets ok gas mileage off road. I took my ski rack off last month and was getting up to 26 AVG highway. I did a long slow section in 4 low and rock mode this week and it didn't seem to overly consume gas. I had about a half tank after driving there and back to the mountains (about 1 hour each way on road, and 1 hour off road in 4 low) now the computer is reading 22MPG average.

the trailhawk is super capable. way more than a bronco sport as you noted. I got rock sliders and haven't even really considered needing a lift yet. any scrapes or dings are totally harmless for this stuff. I've taken my car to some pretty rough spots.

the turbo is way better for me for what I want, but I trade off with premium gas so ya... it's fast as f**k though

I'll definitely look into the Weather Tech floor mats.

The high fuel consumption is not as noticeable on a short jaunt off-road, but I was out for about 6 hours yesterday, crawling most of the time, so I traveled about 130km/81miles. I kept an eye on the live fuel consumption gauge and noticed that my fuel economy was about the same as when I accelerate from a stop or slow speed, which is when the most fuel is used. Once at cruising speed, fuel consumption greatly drops. Going up a hill on loose, bumpy gravel in 4-low using 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd gear, I do not reach anywhere near cruising speed so I stay well in the acceleration fuel-economy range as long as the terrain is uphill and rugged. The long ride to the logging road from fill-up and then back for fill-up tends to balance this a little, but as I watched the gauge my fuel economy was as low as 3.5mpg while I was off road, which is not much different than the fuel economy during that intitial push on the gas when the light turns green.

My worst day I got 27.23L/100km /8.63mpg over 87km/54miles. Yesterday I did a bit better at 19.15L/100km / 12.18mpg over 152km/94.4miles. This did include about 20km/15.4miles of pavement to and from the logging roads between fill-ups in each case.

Being my first Jeep, and first 4x4 with any tech to show my fuel economy, I initially thought there was something wrong. As I watch how the fuel consumption gauge reads I'm getting used to the idea that this is just how it is for this kind of driving, probably with any gas vehicle build for off-road and doing off-road things.

I had a 2.0L Turbo in my 2019 Escape and it was strong and economical though, like you said, it needs higher octane to use its highest horsepower. I did love the 2.0L, which was one of the appeals of the Bronco Sport, but no 4-low is a deal breaker for me now. I've also grown pretty fond of the rear locker.

I'm thinking of a lift because there are a lot of rocks sticking out on these logging roads, and to have to go around fewer of them. Plus, I had to shovel out a few spots to not top-center my Cherokee (I don't have a full set of recovery gear yet, so I have to choose my trails with that in mind). I'll have to weigh the trade-offs before I consider a lift.

Rock sliders are also on my mind though (I was concerned at a couple of spots yesterday, but choosing the right lines got me through unscathed), Which sliders did you get, and did you install them yourself or have it done at a shop?

I'm considering ordering the Mopar sliders and having them installed at a dealer. McFly just got a new 2021 Trailhawk and got his rock sliders as part of his factory order. They look great:

McFly's new Trailhawk

I'm looking for a way to seal the point where the slider metal comes in contact with the door-jamb painted surface. I'm thinking a strip of EPDM rubber sandwiched between the slider and the jamb. This would provide two benefits: 1. Provides a seal against moisture and abrasives such as dust or mud that might get between the two surfaces, 2. Provides padding between the two metal surfaces so any movement caused by vehicle flexing on or off road won't cause the rock slider (and any grit getting behind it) to wear away at the door-jamb paint and possibly cause premature rusting. I'll put up pix if I wind up going with the sliders and installing an EPDM strip for padding . Might be a spring project.

 

[charris]

I often see complaints about TH gas mileage. You can control it somewhat by how you drive. Good Mileage Report

 

[skwormin]

I'll definitely look into the Weather Tech floor mats.

The high fuel consumption is not as noticeable on a short jaunt off-road, but I was out for about 6 hours yesterday, crawling most of the time, so I traveled about 130km/81miles. I kept an eye on the live fuel consumption gauge and noticed that my fuel economy was about the same as when I accelerate from a stop or slow speed, which is when the most fuel is used. Once at cruising speed, fuel consumption greatly drops. Going up a hill on loose, bumpy gravel in 4-low using 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd gear, I do not reach anywhere near cruising speed so I stay well in the acceleration fuel-economy range as long as the terrain is uphill and rugged. The long ride to the logging road from fill-up and then back for fill-up tends to balance this a little, but as I watched the gauge my fuel economy was as low as 3.5mpg while I was off road, which is not much different than the fuel economy during that intitial push on the gas when the light turns green.

My worst day I got 27.23L/100km /8.63mpg over 87km/54miles. Yesterday I did a bit better at 19.15L/100km / 12.18mpg over 152km/94.4miles. This did include about 20km/15.4miles of pavement to and from the logging roads between fill-ups in each case.

Being my first Jeep, and first 4x4 with any tech to show my fuel economy, I initially thought there was something wrong. As I watch how the fuel consumption gauge reads I'm getting used to the idea that this is just how it is for this kind of driving, probably with any gas vehicle build for off-road and doing off-road things.

I had a 2.0L Turbo in my 2019 Escape and it was strong and economical though, like you said, it needs higher octane to use its highest horsepower. I did love the 2.0L, which was one of the appeals of the Bronco Sport, but no 4-low is a deal breaker for me now. I've also grown pretty fond of the rear locker.

I'm thinking of a lift because there are a lot of rocks sticking out on these logging roads, and to have to go around fewer of them. Plus, I had to shovel out a few spots to not top-center my Cherokee (I don't have a full set of recovery gear yet, so I have to choose my trails with that in mind). I'll have to weigh the trade-offs before I consider a lift.

Rock sliders are also on my mind though (I was concerned at a couple of spots yesterday, but choosing the right lines got me through unscathed), Which sliders did you get, and did you install them yourself or have it done at a shop?

I'm considering ordering the Mopar sliders and having them installed at a dealer. McFly just got a new 2021 Trailhawk and got his rock sliders as part of his factory order. They look great:

McFly's new Trailhawk

I'm looking for a way to seal the point where the slider metal comes in contact with the door-jamb painted surface. I'm thinking a strip of EPDM rubber sandwiched between the slider and the jamb. This would provide two benefits: 1. Provides a seal against moisture and abrasives such as dust or mud that might get between the two surfaces, 2. Provides padding between the two metal surfaces so any movement caused by vehicle flexing on or off road won't cause the rock slider (and any grit getting behind it) to wear away at the door-jamb paint and possibly cause premature rusting. I'll put up pix if I wind up going with the sliders and installing an EPDM strip for padding . Might be a spring project.

I got the Mopar sliders and had them installed at my dealer, the same dealer I bought the Jeep from. Very easy. lots of added confidence now over the rocks. I've hit some things, scraped, and heard loud noises but no damage so far (besides cosmetic scrapes underneath). They handle the high rockies well.