Road Test
First Drive: 2007 Jeep Compass
Jeep navigates the entry-level market
It seems like there used to be only one Jeep. Now there are dozens. What's a brand to do?
With the introduction of the 2007 Jeep Compass, Jeep will accomplish one of two things. The legendary American brand will either build a true entry-level (cheap to buy) Jeep, or make us all sad by hawking the company's heritage to gain quick sales.
The first FWD-based Jeep
The Compass targets the entry-level compact-SUV market with Jeep's first front-wheel-drive-based chassis. Our worries began here...a FWD Jeep? Well, at least it's priced right: under $16 grand for the front-wheel-drive Sport model, and $17,585 with destination charges for the four-wheel-drive Compass Sport.
Know this: Jeep could have taken a big step off a steep cliff with the Compass. Look at the situation: The Compass is a sister vehicle to the Dodge Caliber and Mitsubishi Outlander. Smell that? Something already stinks of badge engineering. But keep reading.
Compass competition
Further escalating concerns, Jeep pits the Compass against cargo ships full of cute-utes like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Suzuki Grand Vitara. Domestic competitors include the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner twins and the
Freedom Drive I earns its position in the Jeep line by providing a locking differential of sorts. This one is called an electronically controlled coupling (ECC). Send it the right electric command and power flows to the rear driveshafts all the time, with a torque split that still varies, but ranges between 40-60 percent front/60-40 percent rear. To lock the ECC, reach down to the console and lift a chromed T-handle. Mission accomplished. The ability to lock the ECC differentiates the Compass' running gear from the all-wheel-drive Caliber and just about every other entry-level competitor. Only the Toyota RAV4 offers a similar locking feature.
Compass on-road and off
This locking feature is significant. Wanting to run two-tracks or logging roads...no worries. Not even the soft sand dunes along Oregon's Pacific Coast stopped the little Jeep. However, in this true off-road situation, the Compass' bevy of safe-handling nannies (including ABS, traction control and electronic roll mitigation) needed neutering. Wheelspin in sand is gonna happen. To shut down the electronic safety aids, simply press and hold the Electronic Stability Control button on the center stack for a full 4 seconds. Then, it's as simple as point and shoot.
Along with proving the Compass' off-road capabilities, the off-roading also highlighted the powertrain's most prominent fault: There's simply not enough power — and the CVT contributed to the Jeep's feeling pokey. Rowing the gears ourselves with the five-speed manual transmission helped, but you should still expect 0-60-mph times in the 10-11-second range.
On the variety of roads we sampled, the body proved rigid. Generous amounts of lightweight high-strength steel used in the structure allowed the Compass to stay composed and tight, even on heavily rutted washboard roads. Nothing rattled or shook itself loose, and the way we were encouraged to drive, we gave it our best shot.
It certainly didn't hurt that Jeep engineers calibrated the Compass' MacPherson strut-front/multilink-rear independent suspension using Jeep's time-tested durability cycles...tests that are significantly different — tougher — from those used by Dodge and Mitsu.
The Compass inside
From inside, the Compass provides a modern-looking interior that is competent, but not terribly original. Interesting features include a shifter that comes out at an angle from the center stack, somewhat like the previous-generation Honda Civic Si. Everything is where it should be, but there's nothing monumentally advanced in the overall execution. Interior room is plentiful, especially in the rear seat — the 2 inches freed up under the raised front seats gives the Compass one of the most generous rear legroom measurements in the class.
Three features we liked inside the Caliber— the iPod holder in the center armrest (above a 115-volt AC outlet), the snap-in/snap-out flashlight in the cargo area and the fold-down speakers recessed into the rear hatch — are also on this Jeep. Open the hatch, flip down the stereo speakers to aim out toward your picnic or volleyball game, and crank it up. Very clever stuff.
Our compass says...
Given the Jeep stylists' penchant for putting compasslike styling cues on the Compass, we were a bit surprised to not find a traditional-looking compass inside. Granted, an electronic compass is included in the driver information center, but it just would have been so cool to have a nice spherical compass or steam gauge somewhere in the instrument panel.
After a thorough day of workouts in the dunes, the 2007 Jeep Compass proved that it's not a badge-engineered Dodge Caliber or a Mitsubishi Outlander knockoff. If anything, it has the off-road guts to help get people hooked on playing beyond the pavement. And at its price point, who would want only a cute-ute when they could have the real thing?
With the introduction of the 2007 Jeep Compass, Jeep will accomplish one of two things. The legendary American brand will either build a true entry-level (cheap to buy) Jeep, or make us all sad by hawking the company's heritage to gain quick sales.
The first FWD-based Jeep
The Compass targets the entry-level compact-SUV market with Jeep's first front-wheel-drive-based chassis. Our worries began here...a FWD Jeep? Well, at least it's priced right: under $16 grand for the front-wheel-drive Sport model, and $17,585 with destination charges for the four-wheel-drive Compass Sport.
Know this: Jeep could have taken a big step off a steep cliff with the Compass. Look at the situation: The Compass is a sister vehicle to the Dodge Caliber and Mitsubishi Outlander. Smell that? Something already stinks of badge engineering. But keep reading.
Compass competition
Further escalating concerns, Jeep pits the Compass against cargo ships full of cute-utes like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Suzuki Grand Vitara. Domestic competitors include the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner twins and the
Freedom Drive I earns its position in the Jeep line by providing a locking differential of sorts. This one is called an electronically controlled coupling (ECC). Send it the right electric command and power flows to the rear driveshafts all the time, with a torque split that still varies, but ranges between 40-60 percent front/60-40 percent rear. To lock the ECC, reach down to the console and lift a chromed T-handle. Mission accomplished. The ability to lock the ECC differentiates the Compass' running gear from the all-wheel-drive Caliber and just about every other entry-level competitor. Only the Toyota RAV4 offers a similar locking feature.
Compass on-road and off
This locking feature is significant. Wanting to run two-tracks or logging roads...no worries. Not even the soft sand dunes along Oregon's Pacific Coast stopped the little Jeep. However, in this true off-road situation, the Compass' bevy of safe-handling nannies (including ABS, traction control and electronic roll mitigation) needed neutering. Wheelspin in sand is gonna happen. To shut down the electronic safety aids, simply press and hold the Electronic Stability Control button on the center stack for a full 4 seconds. Then, it's as simple as point and shoot.
Along with proving the Compass' off-road capabilities, the off-roading also highlighted the powertrain's most prominent fault: There's simply not enough power — and the CVT contributed to the Jeep's feeling pokey. Rowing the gears ourselves with the five-speed manual transmission helped, but you should still expect 0-60-mph times in the 10-11-second range.
On the variety of roads we sampled, the body proved rigid. Generous amounts of lightweight high-strength steel used in the structure allowed the Compass to stay composed and tight, even on heavily rutted washboard roads. Nothing rattled or shook itself loose, and the way we were encouraged to drive, we gave it our best shot.
It certainly didn't hurt that Jeep engineers calibrated the Compass' MacPherson strut-front/multilink-rear independent suspension using Jeep's time-tested durability cycles...tests that are significantly different — tougher — from those used by Dodge and Mitsu.
The Compass inside
From inside, the Compass provides a modern-looking interior that is competent, but not terribly original. Interesting features include a shifter that comes out at an angle from the center stack, somewhat like the previous-generation Honda Civic Si. Everything is where it should be, but there's nothing monumentally advanced in the overall execution. Interior room is plentiful, especially in the rear seat — the 2 inches freed up under the raised front seats gives the Compass one of the most generous rear legroom measurements in the class.
Three features we liked inside the Caliber— the iPod holder in the center armrest (above a 115-volt AC outlet), the snap-in/snap-out flashlight in the cargo area and the fold-down speakers recessed into the rear hatch — are also on this Jeep. Open the hatch, flip down the stereo speakers to aim out toward your picnic or volleyball game, and crank it up. Very clever stuff.
Our compass says...
Given the Jeep stylists' penchant for putting compasslike styling cues on the Compass, we were a bit surprised to not find a traditional-looking compass inside. Granted, an electronic compass is included in the driver information center, but it just would have been so cool to have a nice spherical compass or steam gauge somewhere in the instrument panel.
After a thorough day of workouts in the dunes, the 2007 Jeep Compass proved that it's not a badge-engineered Dodge Caliber or a Mitsubishi Outlander knockoff. If anything, it has the off-road guts to help get people hooked on playing beyond the pavement. And at its price point, who would want only a cute-ute when they could have the real thing?
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