Commander becomes new Jeep flagship
Inevitable as miniskirts and bell-bottom pants, the squared-off, slab-sided SUV refuses to die.
Jeep’s new Jeep Commander adopts the old-school aesthetic and adds a postindustrial twist.
“Kinda looks like my old Wagoneer,” observed my friend Ken, whose attachment to his rusty old Jeep remained firm to the end, though the noble beast had long since served mostly as a rolling repository of yard waste.
Convenient but hardly a boon to property values and in the end the Wagoneer was dispatched to the Great Hunting Grounds in the Sky.
But Jeep understands the allure of the old school and has applied it to the Commander, which supplants the Grand Cherokee as the company flagship. The Grand Cherokee continues, but now is the second-largest Jeep.
The Commander is an interesting amalgam of the old and the new. It’s based on the Grand Cherokee platform and adapts the upright, square-jawed look of the past as much for utilitarian purposes as to make a fashion statement.
The concept is simple: a square box has more volume than one with rounded corners. A vehicle with slab sides and squared-off corners has more room inside for passengers and cargo.
And since market forces were demanding a three-row, seven-passenger rig, Jeep figured the shortest route to get there was via the looks-like-the-box-it-came-in route.
“It wasn’t about thinking outside the box,” said chief designer Dan Renkert. “It was about creating a new box.”
Consumers have already demonstrated their approval. HUMMER has fashioned the look into its DNA. Honda’s Element and the Scion xB are modern proponents, and an entire mini-industry is devoted to restoring vintage Land Rovers and Land Cruisers.
Jeep says the 1948-62 Willys and 1963-91 Wagoneer provided the most direct design inspiration for Commander, but the discontinued Cherokee is a more recent antecedent; the similarities are obvious in the near-vertical body panels, windshield and grille and in the trapezoidal windows and wheel openings.
The round headlights are stacked vertically and placed within square-shouldered enclosures.
Borrowing a page from the postindustrial design aesthetic of the Audi TT, Commander designers studded both the exterior and interior with exposed Allen-head screws. They rim the flared fenders, as if holding them to the body panels, and they trim the dash.
Ersatz Allen-head screws even decorate the steering wheel hub and shift knob, as if to say “this rig is built, man.”
Jeep calls it a “bold, rugged, constructed” design approach.
But since the real purpose of the design is to increase interior room, let’s see how the Commander stacks up where it counts.
The second- and third-row seats are set “theater-style,” each just higher than the one ahead, so everyone can see out the front window. The roof is terraced to accommodate.
The Commander is just 2 inches longer than the Grand Cherokee, so squared-off corners or no, it poses no threat to the rivals’ jumbo SUVs. There’s scant legroom in the second row and third-row legroom is almost as tight. When the 50/50-split rear seatbacks are in their upright position, there’s just 7.5 cubic feet of cargo space, but dropping them is simplicity itself. Just flip a latch located high on the inside of the rearmost pillar and the seatback plops down.
The Commander is available in two trim levels, base (from $27,985, including destination) and Limited ($36,280).
Base power is a 3.7-liter V-6 rated at 210 horsepower and 235 foot-pounds of torque. The Limited is equipped with a 4.7-liter V-8 that makes 235 hp and 305 foot-pounds and can be optioned with the 5.7-liter “Hemi” V-8 that produces 330 hp and 375 foot-pounds.
All engines are paired with a five-speed automatic transmission, which in our tester made less-than-silky downshifts. The base trim can be equipped with Jeep’s full-time all-wheel-drive system. Four-wheel-drive versions of the Limited get the more sophisticated Quadra-Trac II system, which is optional on the base trim and has a two-speed transfer case, or can be ordered with the Quadra-Drive II system, which combines a full-time two-speed transfer case and front and rear limited-slip differentials.
Last year, Jeep finally deep-sixed the old solid front axle, which helped the Grand Cherokee earn its off-road credentials, and the Commander is equipped with the same short/long-arm (SLA) front independent suspension that the Grand Cherokee got.
SLA compensates for its off-road deficiencies with more precise steering, improved ride-and-handling, a lower center of gravity and 100 pounds less unsprung weight.
Equipped with gas-charged shocks and front and rear stabilizer bars, the Commander is smooth and well-behaved during daily driving, although the front end has a tendency to float over sharp undulations. Our tester produced an unnerving, low-frequency rumble on unusually rough patches of roadway, as if something down below weren’t screwed down tight.
The Commander’s standard-equipment list includes power front windows, heated power mirrors, eight-way power driver’s seat, air conditioning, cruise control, AM/FM/CD audio system with six speakers and a tire-pressure warning system. Cloth seats are standard on the base trim and standard on the Limited.
Other Limited upgrades include heated seats, power passenger’s seat, leather-wrapped steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control with rear HVAC, power-adjustable pedals, six-CD in-dash changer with MP3, satellite radio, power sunroof, twin tinted skylights and a tire-pressure monitor that indicates which tire is low, not just that a tire is low.
Limited models also receive added sparkle in the form of a chrome grille, front fascia, body-side moldings, roof-rail crossbars and liftgate grab handles.
Armed with its striking sheet metal, hard angles, exposed screw heads and tall, square windows, the Commander is less intrepid explorer than boldly fashionable suburban family-hauler.
Fans of the old school can form a line at the dealer’s door.