Cruise Control Braking and Calibration Ruminations - 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited September 2014 in Jeep
imageCruise Control Braking and Calibration Ruminations - 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com conducts a long-term test of a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited and finds some areas of its engine, transmission and cruise control calibrations annoying.

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  • grijongrijon Member Posts: 147
    STELLAR post! Thank you for the info, Jason
  • seppoboyseppoboy Member Posts: 93
    Expect more of this kind of engineering miss as all manufacturers proliferate their model offerings, they stretch their engineering capacity too thin across all the variants and cannot sweat the finer details. Expect it to be even worse at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles because of their own specific organizational issues resulting from the mash-up of two companies on two continents, and some pretty obvious deficiencies in their managerial makeup. Too bad, we were hoping to add a Jeep to our household, but between obvious issues noticed on the test drive and our independent mechanic's very specific stories of recent product problems, we are looking elsewhere.
  • cobrysoncobryson Member Posts: 110
    Comparing this to the "Rain! Windshield Wipers!" post is like night and day. Much better guys, thank you.
  • grijongrijon Member Posts: 147
    edited September 2014
    I, for one, truly enjoy the varieties of posts on Edmunds: the vehicle-engineering ones like this one; the very enthusiast specific ones like performance tests and canyon carving feedback; the economy ones like the DEF and fuel usage; the maintenance ones; the comfort and convenience ones; and even the silly, nothing-else-to-post ones, some of which are really quite good in my opinion.

    It really is an all-around vehicle enthusiast's site, and I really, really appreciate that. To each their own and I digress, ha ha ha...
  • red_xj2000red_xj2000 Member Posts: 13
    The transmission does not have manual shifting capability. In Chrysler speak it's Electronic Range Select (ERS). The purpose of ERS is to limit the highest available gear, not to be able to select which gear the transmission is in. It's still up to the trans controller to decide which gear to be in. So the driver can choose "6th" gear when they're towing a trailer up a hill and don't want the trans to shift into overdrive. It will use any gear 1-6, but nothing higher.
  • isseyvooisseyvoo Member Posts: 121
    I much prefer a set-up that neither brakes by downshifting nor brakes by applying the brakes. I've been startled witless more than once when driving a rented Chrysler product whose engine began to howl when the cruise control apparently called for a downshift at 70mph+ going downhill. Don't recall this being an issue in GM rentals. (I drive standard shift, so obviously not an issue in my own car.)
  • misterfusionmisterfusion Member Posts: 471
    edited September 2014
    Regarding the throttle calibration: I wonder if an aftermarket electronic throttle booster would solve this. They are available for other cars (including Fiat/Chryslers), and they're just plug-and-play -- they supposedly don't even violate the warranty. Owners seem to like the results.

    Regarding the transmission issues: red_xj2000 is right, Chrysler's ERS is different from the "manual shift" mode in certain other auto transmissions. I've never been fond of it, and frankly I would rather have even an old-fashioned PRNDL selector if Chrysler won't put in proper manual gear selecting.

    And yes, the cruise control using the brakes going downhill is pretty dumb...but I don't think it would be a dealbreaker for me, since I quite like the overall package of the Cherokee.

    I'm always bemused by FCA skeptics -- I don't think any other management team could have pulled-off a recovery as successfully as this one has, so I'm willing to cut them a GREAT deal of slack.
  • goaterguygoaterguy Member Posts: 64
    isseyvoo said:

    I much prefer a set-up that neither brakes by downshifting nor brakes by applying the brakes. I've been startled witless more than once when driving a rented Chrysler product whose engine began to howl when the cruise control apparently called for a downshift at 70mph+ going downhill. Don't recall this being an issue in GM rentals. (I drive standard shift, so obviously not an issue in my own car.)

    So how do you propose for this to work without downshifting or braking in an automatic? My Volt will increase the regeneration of energy towards the battery in this situation but in a normal automatic car you either downshift or brake. How else would you decrease speed?
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    L:ack of engine braking on a 4x4 SUV. Colour me baffled, especially with the US habit of fitting undersized brakes.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    More important question, can the adaptive cruise be set in non-adaptive mode?
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