Jeep Swedish magazine calls out safety of Jeep Grand Cherokee; Chrysler rebuts claim

[Human]

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The safety of Jeep’s Grand Cherokee is being brought into question by a Swedish magazine. Teknikens Värld (Technology World) is urging Jeep to put a stop-sale order on the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland after the utility nearly rolled in the magazine’s “moose test” emergency lane change.​

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As seen in the video below, Teknikens Värld managed to get the Grand Cherokee Overland dangerously close to rolling over during an emergency lane change maneuver. The test was conducted at about 40mph and was intended to simulate the reaction to a large animal, such as a moose, standing in the middle of the roadway.​

Teknikens Värld indicates that the Grand Cherokee’s large 20-inch wheels could be to blame for the near rollover, but Motor Authority dug a little deeper to find out what really put the utility vehicle on two wheels. A source familiar with the situation revealed that the Grand Cherokee in question was carrying with five passenger and was also loaded down with sandbags to create an “overloaded condition.” The Grand Cherokee in the video was reportedly 200 pounds over its specified weight rating.​

After catching wind of the video Chrysler sent a team of engineers as well as three identical Grand Cherokee models to Sweden for further testing with Teknikens Värld. The magazine conducted the identical test 11 more times with properly loaded vehicles and was unable to duplicate the results of the earlier test.​

Teknikens Värld has yet to comment on the latest test, but it should be noted that the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee has received top safety marks from both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.​

http://www.leftlanenews.com/swedish...eep-grand-cherokee-chrysler-rebuts-claim.html

 

[Gianclaudio]

Ouch!!!!

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Don't buy Jeep Grand Cherokee for you and your family's safety

 

[DeDe]

That's scary.

 

[Zafiro]

You dont fool Sweden Same thing happen to the first generation Mercedes A-class and it was discovered by a swedish carmag.

 

[Gianclaudio]

Is so sad, the GC looks sooooo beautiful

 

[Hofmeister]

Now you know what to show someone if they say the Grand Cherokee handles well

 

[K-A]

Wow. My Dad has one of those....

Isn't the GC a technical twin to the ML? Wouldn't that help it in these situations, you'd think? I wonder how the ML handles that test.

 

[Giannis]

Wow. My Dad has one of those....

Isn't the GC a technical twin to the ML? Wouldn't that help it in these situations, you'd think? I wonder how the ML handles that test.

Many parts of the underpinnings are shared, but the key components of the suspension are different. The Grand Cherokee has a rear suspension that is very close to a solid/live axle, while the ML has a more sophisticated setup. The GC has amaging off-road capabilities, but can't much the behaviour of the ML on the tarmac.

 

[Gianclaudio]

And let's not forget that ESP plays an important factor, maybe Jeep can address this issue by remapping the ESP software.

Just compare these twins (altough badge enginereed) one equiped with ESP and the other one without:

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Regards!

 

[Giannis]

And let's not forget that ESP plays an important factor, maybe Jeep can address this issue by remapping the ESP software.

Regards!

Yes, ESP plays a very important role, but it's not everything either.

I won't lie, if it wasn't for ESP, I'd probably have bought 2-3 cars more than I was planning to up to this point. There are some tricky situations, usually cause by driver error, miscalculation or just not enough attention that can lead to loss of traction. But the more the speed rise, the harder it is for the ESP systems to be effective.

 

[martinbo]

"Don't buy Jeep Grand Cherokee for you and your family's safety."

Priceless. And Brave.

 

[Deckhook]

In this day and age you would expect mainstream manufacturers to have conducted every possible situation but it appears that Jeep over did a half arsed job. It makes me laugh when people defend the live rear axle design against the more advance independent ones used by everyone else................... HELLO, there's a reason why the switch was made.

And sure ESP tweaking might have prevented this from happening but what's the point putting a band aid on when it's the basic design is wrong, surely it needs addressed before everything else.

P.S.
Just thought of another method to stop this from happening, limit it's top speed to 30mph, will improve gas mileage no end too.

 

[Giannis]

And sure ESP tweaking might have prevented this from happening but what's the point putting a band aid on when it's the basic design is wrong, surely it needs addressed before everything else.

Ι drive a Volvo that came with 250 different electronic nannies, yet they didn't stop me for spinning after my idiotic "attack" of a right turn with the speed of 150km/h, when the maximum speed I can turn in there is 110.

 

[Deckhook]

^And that's why I wrote 'might' instead of 'will' because there's no certainty. Frankly I'm shocked this got passed the development stage...... too many Big Macs and Cokes I guess.

 

[Giannis]

^And that's why I wrote 'might' instead of 'will' because there's no certainty. Frankly I'm shocked this got passed the development stage...... too many Big Macs and Cokes I guess.

I don't think this is correct either. I mean you just can't have everything. Better stability requires a on-road targeted suspension, like wishbones, trailing arms, torsion beam or multilink. But such setups are more or less useless when you get off the tarmac. It's a compromise you have to accept, if you want a targeted SUV. I'm calling it targeted, because that's what it's supposed to be. A vehicle with off-road capabilities, not a raised station wagon with glamorous looks and high pricetag.

Here's a list of what I think are some of the most capable SUVs:

Suzuki Jimny
Suzuki Grand Vitara
Daihatsu Terios
Land Rover Defender
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Jeep Wrangler

All of those vehicles have a solid/live rear axle. All of them, pretty much suck when it comes to their on-road driving dynamics, but nothing can beat them out of it.

I guess, that the best way to drive them is to know exactly what you are driving. Know that this thing has a solid axle and learn how to control it. The limits are far closer than most of the other cars, so drive accordingly.

 

[Merc1]

I really don't know what to truly make of this. It seems to me that the other vehicles (volvo etc) weren't traveling at the same speed, nor were they flung around as hard. I just don't buy it. Even still blowing a tire and what not, it didn't flip over. Such a manuver in the real world is almost always going to cause an accident of some sort. Not gonna join the JGC is bad bandwagon yet. None of the other vehicles tested in this clip have the off road prowess or have off roading as a priority either. The Jeep isn't a sports car.


M

 

[Deckhook]

I have limited experience of the Jeep GC to know whether it's that much better offroad that say a Cayenne with proper rubber but to me the LR Discovery is just about as good as it gets offroad and don't quote me but I believe it nolonger uses a live rear axle so it's not a must have to be good offroad and another thing the Disco is quite capable on road if only it weighed less.

 

[Merc1]

Would a LR Disco stay upright during such a violent test though, that is the question. No one is saying that a live axle is a must anymore for off roading, but it is superior setup for serious rock climbing.

I'm pretty sure a Jeep Wrangler would fail such a test also. Has the G-Class been tested in such a manner by this group?

M

 

[Monteverdi]

Doesnt it have something to do with the high center of gravity? Look at other cars which struggled at the moose test: Citroen Nemo, Mercedes A-class, Toyota Tundra, Renault Kangoo.

 

[Deckhook]

Would a LR Disco stay upright during such a violent test though, that is the question. No one is saying that a live axle is a must anymore for off roading, but it is superior setup for serious rock climbing.

I'm pretty sure a Jeep Wrangler would fail such a test also. Has the G-Class been tested in such a manner by this group?

M

I honestly don't know but I'm willing to bet it would come through with flying colour.