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2008 Jeep Patriot
Thinking of Jeep light can seem like an oxymoron. Jeeps were invented for impossible terrain, scaling mountains, returning to nature under elementary conditions. Jeep on a car foundation seems almost surreal. But the compact, crossover-based 2008 Patriot seem designed for the entry level Jeep owner who's more likely to cruise a dirt road than plow through outback-like terrain.
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2008 Jeep Patriot Interior |
It's not that the Patriot isn't capable. Jeep shows off this entry level utility vehicle with an airborne wheel jutting into space, then tilting its way across the kinds of bogs and trenches most auto owners wouldn't dare go near. The auto underpinnings beneath seem less designed for comfort than the ability to fill a lineup void with an already existent architecture. It's the same one that's under the Dodge Caliber crossover and Patriot's softer sister vehicle, the Compass.
But there are Jeep lovers who have lamented the loss of the Cherokee Sport and never felt satisfied with the Liberty designed to replace it. It needed a little more size, a little more authority, a little more "Jeep-ness." Enter Patriot, with the requisite round headlamps and seven slot grille.
Hitting the market in the $15 K range, a very basic model Patriot probably could appeal to the stringently budget minded living a salad days reality despite a steak and potatoes appetite. Respectably powered with 2.0-liter (earning best 26 city/30 hwy mpg) or 2.4-liter four, Patriot won't offer the refinement of its Grand Cherokee sibling or some rugged but luxurious higher end crossovers on the market. The Patriot does offer Freedom Drive 1 and 2 choices with mostly on-road or off-road capability, respectively — for a price.
This is not the first time a crossover has been touted for its ruggedness. Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touereg, for example, despite their crossover classifications, comfort quotient and roadworthiness earned a reputation for being able to tame a foreboding landscape. With Patriot, this just might be the first time the capable crossover admission price has been so reasonable. |
