Jeeps a Leader when the going gets tough

A Good time was had by all when we took the Cherokee to a powwow near Bamburgh on the beautiful Northumberland coast.

Id Borrowed a Jeep Cherokee to tow a caravan on a temporary holiday site at Budle Bay, organised by the Camping and Caravan club. Thanks to the weather, the people, and the jeep, it was a great few days.

We heard from others on the site that the last time they were on this field several caravans had to be removed by tractor becasuse of the wet conditions.

This time everything went fine and any problems were quickly sorted and efficiently sorted out by the stewards. Its not know as the “Friendly Club” for nothing.

We were parked a few metres from the cliff edge on a bit of an incline. Fantastic views of the bay across to Holy Island, especially backlit by wonderful sunsets.

It could have been spoiled if we’d been stuck there. But the Jeep with the ability to select two or four wheel drive and on or off road crawler gears was never going to be beaten here.

I was even ready to sep in to rescue stranded rigs, but the conditions were good do my services were’nt required. Pity, in a way.

In recent years the 4×4 has gone from being a good idea to public enemy number one.

The things seemed to ease a bit when people started to realise that though they were big but not always bad.

They had all been cast as gas-guzzlers, even those which in reality were greener than some luxury limos. And the macho bull bars have all gone. What use were they anyway?

Ive just been driving a true 4×4 in every sense of the word. The name Jeep has come to represnt a whole automotive sector, and it has a rich history as the oldest off-road vehicle in the world.

It was the first light off road vehicle of the US Army and the Allies during the second World War. Recently, many manufacturers have toned down their cars, some making crossovers that looked a bit rugged but didnt even have four wheel drive.

Mine was an automatic diesel – theres only one engine the 2.8 litre diesel – but you have a choice of manual or automatic transmission.

Id really only recommend you to buy one of these cars if you are going to use it for the purpose for which it was designed. It’s a workhorse. Not a fashion accessory.

People who live in isolated country areas risk getting snow-bound or anyone who needs to go off-road, whether for leisure or work, will be completely at home with the Jeep Cherokee.

There’s lots of room. I always pile up the bedding, food, wellies, toys, clothes, tools, everything for a caravan holiday into the back of the tow vehicle.

Because there were three of us on board we could drop down the 60/40 split rear seat and load it all in. None of the passengers were uncomfortable for the journey. A Split tailgate which opens the top rear window section only via the keyfob meant I could gain access to items without risk of them tumbling out by fully opening the tailgage.

The Cherokee actually performed much better off road than on tarmac. Without a caravan on the back it was fine, saild along at acceptable motorway sopeeds no trouble at all.

On a run down to alnwick for the International Music festival without the van stretches I was happy that the kickdown had enough oomph to get past a slow moving caravan on those single carriageway stretches.

When towing, however it pitched quite a bit, especially on poor road surfaces.

In the fields it was a different story. Large inclines, worrying steep descents and deep ruts were no trouble at all as you can select hill descent control and hill start assist to tackle virtually unbelievable banks, up or down.

Ive driven a lot of off road vehicles in my time, some over extremely challenging terrain and others submitted on laughably easy courses. But I can confirm that the Cherokee is easily one of the est when the going gets tough.

On-road running, the Cherokee is surprisingly quick in acceleration 0-62 in 10.5 seconds and top speed is a credible 111mph.

Fuel consumption from the 2.8 litre engine is not so good though just 31.4mpg combined and CO2 emissions are 242g/km.

The Jeep Cherokee 2.8CRD Limited is £24,300 for the manual and an extra £1,000 for the auto.

JEEP CHEROKEE 2.8 CRD
Engine: 2.8 Litre diesel
Power: 174bhp
0-62: 10.5 seconds
Top Speed: 111mph
OTR Price: £25,300