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Which Is Better Jeep Cherokee or Compass

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Jeep Compass or Jeep Cherokee: Which model and trim should you buy?

A dedicated Wrangler girl casts her eye upon the "lesser" sport-utes from Jeep

Dec 02, 2020 • 11 months ago • 7 minute read • Join the conversation
Jeep-Compass-Cherokee-Duet-Driving

Is a Jeep still a Jeep if it isn't a Wrangler? The company offers three compact sport-utes, and here we have two of them, the Compass and Cherokee. If you're in the market, which one should you choose?

Overview

If this Jeep girl had to buy any vehicle, she wouldn't buy a Porsche nor a Ferrari. Not a BMW nor Mercedes-Benz either. Nope, she would buy a Jeep Wrangler. And a real, two-door, cruise-the-boonies Jeep Wrangler, the two-door Rubicon version equipped with a rugged-looking seven-slot grill and even more importantly, a winch.

Any year, any colour would do – as long as both front and rear locking diffs are part of the deal, for the yeah, it's for driving in the worst possible off-road conditions . If one showed up and there was room in my garage, I'd even try my currently-non-existent mechanical skills and rebuild a Willys from the Second World War.

As with many Jeep aficionados, I feel a certain condescension and maybe even outright snobbery towards some of the other products that grace the modern Jeep family. Do we really have to hammer home the fact that the Jeep Renegade is a Fiat 500X clone built in Italy?

So before comparing two of the three smallest Jeep's SUVs, I was ready to point the disrespectful finger to the second-generation's Jeep Compass (with us for three years now) and to its sibling Jeep Cherokee (mostly unchanged since model-year 2014). Well, big surprise: one of these faux-by-fauxes actually won me over. The other one? Hmm.

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Three reasons to choose the Jeep Compass

The Compass, in its second generation since model-year 2018, is a subcompact SUV that offers only one engine: a four-cylinder 2.4L Tigershark "MultiAir" that develops a rather decent output, at least for the category, of 180 horsepower and 175 lb-ft torque. So far, thank God, it avoids the indignity of a three-cylinder turbo engine, like those found in the Ford EcoSport and Escape and the new Buick Encore GX .

This engine can't tow more than 907 kg (2,000 lbs) and lacks the polish of new technologies such as direct fuel injection, but in 4×4 versions, it uses a modern nine-speed automatic transmission. Otherwise, the base front-wheel version  (and who would want a front-wheel-drive Jeep?!?) can only be optioned from its default six-speed manual to a six-speed automatic, and isn't recommended for towing at all.

And if you want that manual gearbox, you need to hurry to a Jeep dealer and scoop up a (base) 2020 Compass, because the 2021 model-year doesn't offer it anymore . For 2021, the only FCA products offering a stick shift are the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, and the Dodge Challenger. Whatever version you choose, though, here are our three reasons to buy the new 2021 Jeep Compass.

It's a real 4×4. In this decade where SUVs are blending off-road looks while using car platforms and coupe designs, a real 4×4 is now a rarity – especially in this entry-level price range.

Yes, the Compass is available in base Sport trim with a front-wheel-drive-only system. But all other versions are equipped with Jeep Active Drive, sporting a four-mode Selec-Terrain with Auto, Snow, Sport, and Sand and Mud settings. Even more, the Trailhawk features a full-time 4×4 system that adds Rock mode. Combined with an increased ride height of almost an inch, plus skid plates, aggressive off-road tires, and the ability to deal with up to 19 inches of water fording, the Compass can even be Trail-Rated.

And let's not forget the 20:1 crawl ratio. While it may not compare with the top 84:1 featured by the Wrangler Rubicon, this petit boeuf is unique in the category, which is nothing less than what we expect from a Jeep.

Its design — one of the good Jeep ones. Was it because our tester was the rough-and-ready Trailhawk, sporting an exclusive Sting Grey paint, black roof, black hood decal, and those sexy red towing hooks? Maybe. But between the froggy-looking Renegade, the characterless Cherokee, and the awkward Gladiator, the Compass is one of the most appealing designs in the Jeep family.

That continues into the interior as well, where the Trailhawk features a clean-looking cockpit with red dash and door accents. That red is repeated in the stitching of the comfortable, nicely-combined mesh and simulated-leather seats. Overall, there's an airy, welcoming aura that makes us feel we are not in an ordinary SUV, but in a Jeep.

The UConnect infotainment system . One of the best human/machine interfaces on the market, FCA's infotainment system justifies choosing any Jeep vehicle. Its layout is simple but complete, it's easy to use and requires no effort, and so unlike some other systems, it doesn't interfere with our main duty of driving the car. It's also nice that the Trailhawk gets an 8.4-inch screen, rather than the usual 7-inch one.

Which Compass trim should you choose?

It's a little like Jesus feeding the multitudes: every model year brings a new version of the Compass. For 2021, there are eight different configurations, from the base Sport at $28,481 in 4×2, to the (new) Trailhawk Elite at $36,010. (Note that all our prices are with $1,995 in freight fees, but before taxes).

Now, we're not revealing any classified secrets by alerting you that standard equipment on the Jeep is not as comprehensive as, say, its Korean competitors . Besides the start-stop button, the dual-zone climate control, and – big novelty for 2021! —heated seats, there's not much de série . Especially sad is the fact that active driving aids, such as blind-spot monitoring, rear park assist and rear cross-path detection, are only available on high-end versions.

The first Compass to show a little commitment towards those security systems is the Trailhawk ($33,734), but you'll still want to add the $995 Advanced Safety Group. This package includes an almost prodigal quantity of assistance, such as adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning with active braking, and lane-keeping assist.

Add the reasons listed above and you'll understand that the Trailhawk offers, in our opinion, the best value and equipment level for an amount of money that's halfway between the cheapest and the priciest Compass.

Three No reason to buy the Jeep Cherokee

Boss, if you want to cut my pay in half for this story, so be it. But I can't, for the life of me, come up with even one reason to buy the Cherokee, let alone three. That said, I can give lots of reasons not to buy it. In fact, in the voice notes I recorded while driving the Cherokee Altitude version, I only found one good point … and that was for the UConnect system that's found on all Jeep products.

The Cherokee has been mostly unchanged for the last six years. To trigger buyers' interest, there's a new four-cylinder 2.0L turbocharged engine that now joins the base four-cylinder 2.4L Tigershark engine (with the same power output as for the Compass), as well as the optional 3.2L V6, making 271 hp and 239 lb-ft of torque.

We'd love to praise the turbocharged engine, which makes virtually the same power as the V6 and even more torque at 295 lb-ft, and its 1,800-kilogram towing capacity. But there's not a chance of that. Not only is it diesel-like coarse, but it suffers from one of the worst cases of turbo-lag one can find on a modern vehicle. Honest to God, we count up to two seconds before obtaining any reaction at 100 km/h. For a moment, we even thought the Jeep was equipped with a CVT, although it's is the same nine-speed automatic found in the Compass.

And even if that turbo 2.0L does have direct injection (something still not feeding the fuel to the two older powerplants), the consumption for our 4WD Cherokee was a steady 9.6 L/100km – the same as the 9.7 L/100 km on the non-injected Compass over a thousand kilometres.

And we can't even tell you that interior space is better in the Cherokee than in the Compass. That vehicle is almost a foot shorter, but front and rear headroom is similar in both. The Cherokee offers two inches more legroom for those seated on the rear bench, but when the rear seats are folded, the Cherokee has 10 per cent less cargo space, which is five cubic feet smaller than the Compass.

Which Cherokee trim should you choose?

None. Not even the Jeep Cherokee Sport, since this base version (starting at $32,100 in 4×2) doesn't feature such niceties as the pushbutton start and dual-zone climate control that are featured in the base Compass for a lower price.

The other Cherokee configurations range from the $34,500 Sport 4×4, to $42,630 for the top-of-the-line Trailhawk Elite. In our opinion, that's a lot of Benjamins for one of the worst-handling vehicles in any showroom. Because of its archaic four-link rear suspension with trailing arm, the Cherokee has all the shaky-road ride of a typical Wrangler, but with none of its legendary off-road manners.

If we absolutely have to make a Cherokee selection, it would again be the Trailhawk (but not the Elite) version. This Trail-Rated Cherokee, with its off-road-specific suspension, would (partially) justify its driving behaviour and its almost-forty-grand price tag. It comes with the Pentastar V6 and reaches 2,041 kg (4,500 lbs) in towing capacity … but still: Our best conseil remains to just wait for the next generation of the Cherokee.

Conclusion

This is almost certainly the easiest conclusion to one of these duets we've brought to you. It's simple: Don't buy the Cherokee. If you want a small Jeep, opt for the Trailhawk version of the Compass. Of course, what you should really do is bite the bullet and buy a Wrangler. Then you'll finally realize why, after 80 years of legend, the Jeep name is (still) iconic.

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Which Is Better Jeep Cherokee or Compass

Source: https://driving.ca/jeep/compass/reviews/comparison/jeep-compass-or-jeep-cherokee-which-model-and-trim-should-you-buy