Muddy marvel

But then, unaccountably, for its previous generation Cherokee, Jeep chose to give it a soft make-over with a rounder more friendly face, something they obviously felt would appeal to the new generation of fashion four by four buyers.

However, Jeep took a lot of stick, especially from the press, for the oriental overtones and for softening of the brand image - so now for the New Cherokee it has reverted to its traditional appearance - thank goodness.

Elements which hark back to Jeep's proud heritage include; the elongated, near horizontal, clamshell bonnet, seven-slot chrome grille, trapezoidal wheel openings, roof rails and squared-off single unit headlamps.

Inside the slightly larger cabin there is a superior feel exuding from the two-tone instrument panel treatment and heavily bolstered front seats, to the leather wrapped steering wheel with Electronic Vehicle Information centre. Only the still slightly hard finish to the choice of plastics lets the side down.

Information and controls are presented in a clear and convenient manner, the logically arranged centre stack including the climate control radio and switch bank which fall nicely to hand and eye.

Practicality is provided by the standard reclining 60/40 split fold rear seats and a fold flat front passenger seat. In the luggage area the load floor has a reversible carpeted surface and access to a 10 cm deep waterproof storage bin which can be used for muddy items - a nice touch for those who really do taker their 4x4 off-road.

Additional space under the floor is taken up by the spare wheel which has now moved from the back of the Cherokee to leave a tidy and un-cluttered rear hatch that looks a lot neater.

With all the seats in place Cherokee offers up 419 litres of luggage space (10 per cent more than previously) and with the rear seats down this grows to an impressive 1404 litres.

New Cherokee arrives in the UK with just one, top grade specification level - Limited.

Like many of its rivals (most notably Land Rover's Freelander), New Cherokee has taken a step up in the market now that it has its smaller siblings, the Compass and Patriot in place. This means a leather clad interior, electrically operated and heated front seats, climate control, rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitors, six speakers audio system with radio and CD plus MP3 ability, rain sensing windscreen wipers and cruise control all as standard.

Among the few options is a power operated Sky Slider canvas roof (£950). This is two and a half times the size of a conventional sun roof and can be slid either forwards or backwards to vary the area open to the elements. Also included in the extras list is Jeep's MyGIG multi-media infotainment system with 3D satellite navigation, hands free Bluetooth communications system, and Infinity Premium sound system.

Keeping things simple, Jeep currently only offers the New Cherokee with just one single power unit, a new 2.8 litre DOHC 16 valve common-rail turbo diesel which is matched in terms of power against its accepted rivals but doesn't still quite have the same amount of refinement in terms of audible accompaniment.

Fitted with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger it pumps out a use-ful 174bhp (8 per cent more than before) and has a claimed best-in class torque figure of 339lb ft.

Certainly it's smart out of the starting blocks for a vehicle of this size especially the automatic which reaches 62mph in 10.5 seconds - almost a second quicker than the manual. And this can be sustained to offer a combination of good country lane work and untroubled motorway driving.

In terms of propulsion, the only choice is between transmissions - a six-speed manual or a five-speed automatic, Automatic five-speed models, which Jeep anticipates will take the bulk of sales (up to 85 per cent), come with a new Hill Descent Control system which operates in low gear situations both going up and coming down hill and senses when the vehicle is on an incline so doesn't come in when driving on the flat. This supplements the low gear ratios and provides a safe and extremely effective method of negotiating sleep gradients.

Lighter than the previous diesel, this helps the Cherokee to better fuel consumption figures (9 per cent better) but at 24mpg on the combined cycle for the automatic and 26mpg for the manual this still doesn't particularly help owners in a time of rising fuel prices. Emiss-ions have also been cleaned-up so that the 228 g/km is a similar 9 per cent better than before.

Jeep makes sure that the Cherokee retains its legendary go-anywhere abilities with a new Selec-Trac II full-time four-wheel drive active on-demand system.

No longer shackled by an agricultural mechanical handle, the system uses a simple elect-ronic dashboard mounted control switch which includes 2WD for normal on-road driving conditions.

When operating in automatic 4WD mode the system uses vehicle sensors to adjust and redirect the torque between the front and rear axles - in reality it should still spend most of its time in front-wheel rive.

Alternatively, the system can be turned into 4WD Low, which multiplies the engine torque 2.72 times and locks the clutch for maximum traction. Transfer of the torque from one wheel to the other on an axle is accomplished using Brake Traction Control.

A driving exercise in North Wales which involved towing a caravan off-road, up near vertical hills, through a foot of mud and three feet of water adequately demonstrated that the New Cherokee can still cut-it with the best of the 4 by 4 brigade without even breaking sweat.

To give the new Cherokee better on road driving characteristics (previously not the best on the black stuff) Jeep has installed an all-new independent front coil spring suspension and a new five-link rear suspension which provides greater lateral stiffness and slightly raises the ride height. An assisted rack and pinion steering system makes light work of handling the New Cherokee, and in operation it now feels a lot more confident and assured on the road if the settings don't quite make it the most comfortable in the market place.

Prices for the New Cherokee are competitively set at £24,595 for the manual version with an extra £1,000 added for the automatic.