The IT Nerd

This part of the review will cover the interior of the Grand Cherokee Summit. I have to say, that this is one of the best interiors that I’ve seen in a vehicle in some time.  Here’s some of the items that stood out to me:

This is the driver’s side door. Note the stitching on the leather. It’s top shelf.

Here’s a wider shot of the door. Note the wood on the door near the door handle. It’s real open pore wood. Nice touch.

There’s similar stitching on the dash (and the seats as well) and it is well done.

There’s a massive dual pane sunroof that gives you an open air feel. Now around the sunroof is quality a quality headliner that I believe is either suede or the best fake suede I’ve seen.

On the centre console, you get the gear shift and the controls for the air suspension, hill decent control and to set the Quadra Trac II 4×4 system. You can also see more of the stitching on the leather armrest. One thing to note is that the gear shift isn’t mechanical, it’s electronic. Once you get used to it, it is very cool.

Inside the armrest is a CD player and a 12V outlet.

In front of the gear shift is a compartment where you can slide your iPod or iPhone into and plug it into a USB port. There’s also an AUX audio port as well as a SD card slot and a 12V outlet.

Move to the second row and you’ll see separate HVAC controls as well as a 110V outlet and two USB ports. You’ll also note that there’s switches for heated rear seats. For the record, the front seats are not only heated, but they’re ventilated as well.

One nice touch is this rechargeable LED flashlight which is in cargo area on the left hand side.

In the centre console is a 8.4 inch touchscreen that controls most of the functions of the SUV and there are redundant controls below the screen.

Finally there is a dashboard that is highly customizable much like the Dodge Dart that I reviewed recently. It’s clear and visible in all light and you can dispaly all sorts of info from fuel efficiency, what music is playing, to your text messages from your phone.

Some notes:

• How about interior space? I was able to set up the driver’s seat to fit my six foot frame and then hop into the back seat easily and have ample headroom and ample legroom. What really got my attention was the fact that the sunroof did not cut into my headroom. Nice!
• There’s no third row seating. That’s unusual but I for one wouldn’t miss it because it gives me more cargo space while being able to carry five people. If you truly need 7 seats, there’s always the Dodge Journey or the Chrysler Grand Caravan to choose from.
• The second row folds flat to give you even more cargo space should you need it. That’s not a trivial thing as a flat load surface makes the SUV easier to load. Just ask anyone who makes a lot of trips to Home Depot.
• You get a memory settings function for driver’s seat and mirrors.
• The driver gets a 12 way power seat with lumbar support. The front passenger gets power seats as well. The seats are well bolstered and if you take the time and effort to use the controls to find the perfect driving position, you’ll be rewarded with comfort on long trips.

Now in part four, I’ll cover the technology in the vehicle. Stay tuned!

This entry was posted on June 13, 2013 at 8:24 am and is filed under Products with tags Chrysler, Jeep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.