Sport Road Trip, 417 mile range!

2939 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by TedB, Jan 20, 2016

DLWoregon

Discussion Starter · Jun 14, 2015 (Edited)

With only 1,100 miles on the new Cherokee it took its first trip up I-5 to Portland from Medford, and back, this weekend. I was traveling very light. Here is some feedback from that trip.

417 miles on one tank of gas, with about a gallon left in the tank. That kind of range is very nice!

Averaged about 28 mpg.

9th gear seems to be used at little bit more as the engine gets broken in. I still only see the Jeep use 9th on a slight down grade, while at 70mph+.

Several up and down grades of 1000'+ elevation change. I switched to manual shifting and attempted to stay in 5th gear, but got down shifted to 4th, automatically, a few times, which rev'd the engine, more than I'd like. It seems to me like I need the gearing to be a little lower, so 9th could be used much more often and 5th could be used for going hill almost exclusively. The lower 1st gear, this would produce, would improve off-road and uphill loaded standing starts too, which are OK now, but lower would be just that much better.

I plan on looking into some, bolt on, engine performance mods that might help the little 2.4L out. I have added a tow hitch and plan on adding rock rails, and maybe a few other things to the Jeep's weight too.

Anyone out there do any mods to the 2.4L yet?

I'd give the Jeep a B+ for that trip. It needs a few power/gearing tweaks, in order to get an A.

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Array

· #2 · Jun 14, 2015

Good report. Thanks.

Mine is the V6 with factory tow so it's running with the lower final drive ratio which is in line with your thoughts.

BTW, the ERS (Electronic Range Select) limits the top gear but the transmission can shift anyway it needs to below that ceiling you set with the shifter and is displayed on the EVIC. It is not a true 'manual' shift.

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NScherry

· #3 · Jun 14, 2015

I find my 2.4 seems to improve it's overall performance and shifting characteristics as the miles add up. I'm at 3400 miles right now.

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Array

· #4 · Jun 14, 2015

NScherry said:
I find my 2.4 seems to improve it's overall performance and shifting characteristics as the miles add up. I'm at 3400 miles right now.

I think your performance has improved because you've got is so shiny and slick there is virtually no wind resistance now.
:smile:

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NScherry

· #5 · Jun 15, 2015

Array said:
I think your performance has improved because you've got is so shiny and slick there is virtually no wind resistance now.
:smile:

Can't disagree with that, LOL. I spent five hours detailing a friend's Wrangler today.:frown:

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DLWoregon

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 15, 2015

Thanks

Array said:
Good report. Thanks.

Mine is the V6 with factory tow so it's running with the lower final drive ratio which is in line with your thoughts.

BTW, the ERS (Electronic Range Select) limits the top gear but the transmission can shift anyway it needs to below that ceiling you set with the shifter and is displayed on the EVIC. It is not a true 'manual' shift.

Thanks, I was noticing that. I'd have it in 5th, but when I'd press on the gas, as the RPM dropped, it'd shift down to 4th, on its own. Prevents you from lugging the engine and putting it under too high of a load, I suppose. I think it was jumping up over 4K rpm in 4th, which isn't bad but I'm just getting used to what it does. For the last several years I've driven I4 rigs, two Subarus, a Kia Rio and a PT Cruiser and the Jeep seems like it has more power than they did, which isn't saying much, but they're OK for me.

I don't know how the 2.4L holds up to pulling a hill at 4-5K RPM. Like I said, I'm just getting used to a new rig. I would like it to use 9th gear more. It seems to be getting there as the miles pile up. Maybe the engineers limit the use of 9th, for the first X # of miles, to help prevent overloading a new engine.

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DLWoregon

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 15, 2015

9th?

NScherry said:
I find my 2.4 seems to improve it's overall performance and shifting characteristics as the miles add up. I'm at 3400 miles right now.

Is your's using 9th more? Mine hangs around 2000 rpm @ 75 mph in 8th. Drops to around 1500 rpm, when it does shift into 9th. 1500 rpm, seems pretty dang low to be cruising at.

I'm really putting the thing under a microscope, but I think the 9 speed is pretty dang cool, so I watch it close to see what it's doing.

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JKL

· #8 · Nov 11, 2015

DLWoregon said:
With only 1,100 miles on the new Cherokee it took its first trip up I-5 to Portland from Medford, and back, this weekend. I was traveling very light. Here is some feedback from that trip.

417 miles on one tank of gas, with about a gallon left in the tank. That kind of range is very nice!

Averaged about 28 mpg.

9th gear seems to be used at little bit more as the engine gets broken in. I still only see the Jeep use 9th on a slight down grade, while at 70mph+.

Several up and down grades of 1000'+ elevation change. I switched to manual shifting and attempted to stay in 5th gear, but got down shifted to 4th, automatically, a few times, which rev'd the engine, more than I'd like. It seems to me like I need the gearing to be a little lower, so 9th could be used much more often and 5th could be used for going hill almost exclusively. The lower 1st gear, this would produce, would improve off-road and uphill loaded standing starts too, which are OK now, but lower would be just that much better.

I plan on looking into some, bolt on, engine performance mods that might help the little 2.4L out. I have added a tow hitch and plan on adding rock rails, and maybe a few other things to the Jeep's weight too.

Anyone out there do any mods to the 2.4L yet?

I'd give the Jeep a B+ for that trip. It needs a few power/gearing tweaks, in order to get an A.

16,000kms and counting, the 2.4 is smooth and getting stronger, or do it seems. I came from a Chevy vortex v6 with 190 hp though quite a bit more torque. But 184 hp does not feel anemic to me. In Sport mode, it's as quick off the line as I need it to be, even pull a 1300lb trailer.

No mods to the motor. Not yet anyway, I'm not convinced of performance gains. I have added some heavy stuff (4x4 for one thing, Rocky Road Outfitters roof rack and rails, meatier AT tires though what I assume, are lighter aftermarket alloy wheels, and the motor handles it all. mileage has taken a bit of a hit, but I find, on the highway, doing the hyper mileage thing, I can get it down to 8 or 7 l/100km
I agree on gearing, launch gears are fine and smooth but there's that 4-5 searching going on when you're heading up steep hills. It wants to do 70km/hour or 100km/hour but anything in between its hunting for the best gear.

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Mudman1

· #9 · Nov 12, 2015

28 is nice! I average 17.

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sameri

· #10 · Jan 10, 2016

MPG on the long road trips? I'm at 3500miles now thinking of a trip to Florida anyone know what kind of MPG I will get in the 4cyl 4x4 Tigershark ?

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biggee72

· #11 · Jan 10, 2016

Such a small tank in these things. My GC used to get 556 miles to the tank avg.

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Champagne InHand

· #12 · Jan 20, 2016

biggee72 said:
Such a small tank in these things. My GC used to get 556 miles to the tank avg.

I had the Pentastar V6 and could travel from the bottom of Lake Ontario past Richmond, VA before needing to pull over to fill up the gas tank. Roughly missing that extra 10 gallon capacity but the WK2 V6 was very moody. On the highway it got 22-23 mpg but in town it could go lower than 15 mpg if you had to accelerate onto highways as the 2 speed in the 5 speed gear box was so lethargic. That was my only imposing with the bigger Grand Cherokee. You definitely sat up higher and had all the creature comforts but the heated system in the TH is much better and quicker heating than the WK2. However the HVAC system in the TH is a bit strange. The feet can be cold while the rest if the cabin is very warm. The dual climate system in the WK2 was fine but I was on my 3rdHVAC blower as the design had bad roller bearings and something Jeep/MOPAR had failed to address for customer with extreme cold and high Summer humidity. I won't miss that.

I hope to get some RockyRoad rock bars. They look very nice as well as being practical when in dirt roads that an have sharp jutting limestone sticking up now and again.

What shall we have? An '82 Margaux! Is it any good? Good....?, It will make you believe in God!

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TedB

· #13 · Jan 20, 2016

The small tank on the Trailhawk was a nuisance, especially as we could rarely average over 23.5 mpg on a trip, 300 miles on a fill. The Wrangler's big tank is a blessing. Even at 19.5 mpg we can get close to 400 miles between fills, and I don't begrudge the added fuel cost. Why did they put such a small tank on the KL? - Ted

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