2008 Jeep® Grand Cherokee CRD 4x4 Limited

Text By Frank Ledwell
Photos by Richard Tinnell

Since 1992, the Jeep® Grand Cherokee has been a staple of the Jeep lineup and a worthy, and often times underrated, off-highway vehicle for family-sized adventures. Designed and engineered to conquer every day-to-day driving scenario, the Grand Cherokee continues to excel against its competitors in a market crowded with pretenders. 

JPFreek Adventure Magazine recently tested the all-new 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Limited with 3.0 Liter CRD Turbo engine platform and Quadra-Drive II 4x4 system. The setting? Cooper Tires Tire & Vehicle Test Center (CTTVTC) in Pearsall, Texas, a 1,000 acre facility located in the heart of the Texas hill country that’s basically an amusement park for test vehicles.

About the new 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee

For 2008, Jeep has added two new engine platforms to its Grand Cherokee lineup:  A 3.0L CRD Turbo engine, as well as a 4.7L V-8 engine with increased horsepower, torque, and fuel economy from its predecessor. 

In addition, the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee features a number of enhanced styling cues that begin from the inside and work their way to the exterior, including: 

• HID (high-intensity discharge) headlamps,

• ParkView® rear back-up camera,

• ParkSense® rear park assist system,

• iPod connectivity,

• MyGig multimedia infotainment system that can store up to 100 hours of music in your 

   Dashboard,

• Tire Pressure Monitoring System with display, and

• Numerous safety features for on-road and off-highway application.

The interior of the vehicle certainly commands attention and aesthetically rivals most competitors, even those priced 1.5 times as much or higher (the sticker on our test vehicle was approximately $45k nearly fully-loaded). With that being said, the “chrome” along the edges of the “wood grain” throughout the interior is nice but it’s not real; it’s plastic. That’s fine for a base model Grand Cherokee but for the 4x4 Limited, we were a little disappointed with the materials.  

The seats are definitely the most comfortable we’ve ever sat in on a Jeep vehicle. Lumbar support in all the right spots, along with high quality leather and optional seat warmers, made for such a comfortable ride that we almost had to be pulled from the vehicle upon returning it to Chrysler. Of course, that also may have had something to do with the very cool MyGig multimedia infotainment system, capable of holding enough music to last for an entire week-long family excursion. 

One design cue we weren’t impressed with is the windshield. It is sloped at a pretty extreme angle making the sun visors almost without purpose. We’re sure the exterior design cues tried to compensate for the vehicle’s boxy aerodynamics and appearance; however, the sloped windshield virtually eliminates the purpose of sun visors. Fortunately, the seats raise and lower to accommodate a person’s height. 

Part I:  On-Road Performance and Handling

The CTTVTC was the stage for all of our on-road and off-highway testing. The on-road portion of our test included paved evaluation on a 2 mile oval track with wet and dry traction 60-0mph stop distances, as well as ¼ mile and 0-60mph timing. In addition, a 1.3 mile dry handling circuit was used to evaluate cornering and maneuverability. 

With a curb weight hovering around 4,725 lbs, the expectation was that our 60-0mph stop distance testing would be comparable to that of stopping an elephant in full sprint. To our chagrin, the vehicle Brake Assist and Brake Traction Control systems worked pretty well with average stop distances of 145 feet on dry pavement and 160 feet in wet conditions. This is certainly not something a Porsche 911 Turbo would be proud of, but for a vehicle in this class we were quite satisfied. 

From there, we tested the vehicles acceleration in the ¼ mile and consistently saw times in the 17.1 seconds range at an average speed of 83.2mph. In our 0-60mph testing, the vehicle saw average times of 9.13 seconds. Again, this may not sound impressive, but for a vehicle weighing nearly 2.5 tons we were happier than a kid in a Willy Wonka factory. 

Next up was the 1.3 mile dry handling circuit. The 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 4x4 Limited is surprisingly nimble for, again, a vehicle in this weight class. Slalom was a bit sluggish at 60mph with a tad bit of understeer. Cornering and maneuverability was also a bit sluggish but helped by gas-charged, twin-tubed coil over shock absorbers in the front and rear that helped add stability. Braking came through quite nicely with 12.9” vented discs up front and 12.6” discs with single-piston pin-slider calipers in the rear, both with ABS.

 

Engine

Impressive is putting it lightly when talking about the feel and power of the 3.0L CRD Turbo engine. Built in Berlin by Mercedes Benz, this particular diesel platform is the best we’ve ever seen and arguably the greatest diesel platform available on the market…ever. The engine feels, sounds, and drives like its Hemi big brother. Featuring an all-aluminum block with a compression ratio of 18:1, the 3.0L CRD Turbo engine boasts a plentiful 215hp @ 3,800rpm and a neck-jerking 376 lb-ft of torque @ a mere 1,600-2,800rpm.

On top of this, the 3.0L CRD Turbo not only runs on diesel fuel, which has less CO2 emission than regular fuel, but it can also run on bio-diesel. For those not familiar with bio-diesel and bio-fuels, we’re basically talking about an energy source that’s created from leftover waste product from vegetable cooking oil in French fries to Algae from the ocean. The simplicity of the fuel source is amazing! To top it off, the vehicle saw consistent mixed on-road and off-highway fuel economy of 20 miles per gallon. Did we mention the vehicle weighs almost 2.5 tons? Pretty awesome fuel economy given the weight and vehicle class.

Part II:  Off-Highway Capability

The CTTVTC is really quite amazing. The off-highway areas were actually created to be “re-creations” of famed areas in the United States. An area known as the Rock Garden was actually designed by Mark A. Smith, founder of Jeep Jamboree USA, to resemble a portion of the Rubicon Trail in California. Furthermore, the Silt Handling Circuit was designed to emulate the terrain at the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. Very cool!

With that said, we decided it was time to test the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 4x4 Limited’s mettle as a “Trail Rated” Jeep vehicle. Hill climbing and descent, Soft Terrain Traction, Water Crossing, Mud Traction, and Trail Riding capability were all tested in this segment.

One concern that we had with this vehicle from the get-go is its low ground clearance. At less than 9”at the front axle and 10” at the fuel tank, we had suspicions that the chance of bottoming out during this portion of testing would be more than likely. This was confirmed in the hill climbing and descent portion of our testing.

Hill Climbing and Descent

The hill climbing and descent area at the CTTVTC features 3 different concrete surfaces, all designed to test tire traction in a simulated environment with a 30’ long, 30° slope. Smooth concrete emulates the granite in the Texas hill country and was easy as pie to ascend with the vehicle’s easy-to-pull lever to engage the Quadra-Trac II 4x4 system. However, upon descent the departure angle was too much for the 9” front axle ground clearance and consequently, the front bumper bottomed out causing paint damage and a small crack. The irony is that the departure angle was no more extreme than a driveway in a hill-laden suburb, reiterating the point that a 4x4 Grand Cherokee, especially the Limited edition, should have suspension upgrades available from the factory that are comparable to the new JK Wrangler.

The other two concrete surfaces, one with a brushed surface and the other with embedded rock, were no problem on the ascent but again, the descent was a different story. A cool feature of the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Limited (and not exclusive to just the Limited model) is the Quadra-Trac II 4x4 system with Hill Descent and Brake Traction Control. Essentially what the system does is that with the push of a button, it engages torque control that brings the vehicle to a crawl while descending difficult slopes or wet terrain and manages the braking system accordingly. This is a very nifty feature that compliments off-highway situations.

 

Soft Terrain Traction

 

Maneuverability was pretty awesome in the Silt Traction Area. Designed to emulate the terrain in Baja, California, the Silt Traction Area was not only the highlight of fun while testing the vehicle but also showed how capable the vehicle is in soft terrain. We were especially surprised with the Goodyear Fortera P245/60R18 tires. While they aren’t much of an all-terrain tire and a model that we would not choose for a 4x4 Jeep vehicle, they did handle surprisingly well given the terrain and lack of off-highway tread design.

 

Water and Mud Traction

 

After a few laps in the Silt Traction Area, we were off to test the water crossing capabilities of the vehicle. The conditions featured a moderate rock bed with approximately 2’ of water at the deepest point. With Quadra-Trac II engaged, the vehicle handled the rocky water crossing rather easily and would most definitely handle this sort of terrain better with a tire more designed for all-terrain use. The same can be said from our mud traction testing. The vehicle is certainly capable with Quadra-Trac II engaged, but we kept wondering why a 4x4 Limited Grand Cherokee has such puny looking tires. Again, more off-highway upgrades from the factory would be very welcome.

 

Trail Riding

Testing wouldn’t have been complete without having an opportunity to drive the vehicle in a real trail-ride simulation. The CTTVTC features a Trail Ride Course consisting of 1.5 miles of general trail-ride terrain. Suited for stock to extreme vehicles, the trail-ride experience in the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 4x4 Limited was a good one.

Ground clearance was again an issue when approaching several hills on the trail. We actually bottomed out on two occasions, requiring winch help from our chaperone, Carson Miller, and his wife. Other than this, the vehicle Electronic Stability Program worked nicely and made the journey very enjoyable. 

Final Verdict

The 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD 4x4 Limited is a capable SUV in both on-road and off-highway driving situations. While it is definitely a far more luxurious vehicle than our 2005 Wrangler Rubicon, the assortment of amenities and most importantly, the vehicle’s capability and performance, make it worthy of the Jeep name. Now if we can only convince Chrysler to add more off-highway upgrade options to this model and make the awesome 3.0L CRD Turbo engine available in the JK Wrangler, the Jeep world would certainly take notice and the stars would all align. 

Nonetheless, we would highly recommend this vehicle for any Jeep enthusiast looking for a luxurious, spacious, comfortable, and certainly capable vehicle that can accommodate either daily driving on-road or off-highway adventure with the entire family. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 

 

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