Diesel for Grand Cherokee

JEEP’S slick new Grand Cherokee is now available with a diesel engine that is 10 per cent more powerful and 20 per cent more efficient than the Mercedes-Benz oil-burner it replaces.

Priced from $50,000 (plus on-road costs) in entry-level Laredo specification, the Grand Cherokee diesel commands a $5000 premium over the cheapest variant in the new Grand Cherokee range that arrived here with only petrol engines in March.

In mid-range Limited guise, the diesel Grand Cherokee costs $60,000 – the same price as the most affordable 5.7-litre petrol V8-powered version of Jeep’s redesigned luxury SUV.

Similarly, the flagship Grand Cherokee Overland diesel wears the same $69,500 pricetag as the eight-cylinder version.

As we’ve reported, the Grand Cherokee’s new diesel engine was co-developed by Fiat Powertrain and Italian engine builder VM Motori, following the merger of Jeep’s parent company Chrysler with Fiat.

The 3.0-litre direct-injection V6 turbo-diesel shares the same basic architecture as the Mercedes-sourced engine that powered the previous-generation Grand Cherokee, which was developed during Chrysler’s partnership with Daimler.

In fact, the new WK Grand Cherokee - development of which commenced in 2005, before the dissolution of DaimlerChrysler two years later - shares its all-new monocoque chassis with Mercedes’ upcoming W166 M-class.

This time round, however, the redesigned Grand Cherokee’s new diesel engine employs Fiat’s latest MultiJet II induction technology, which delivers 1800-bar of fuel-injection pressure and was first seen in 2009 on the new Fiat Punto’s 1.3-litre diesel engine.

The result is 177kW at 4000rpm and V8-beating peak torque of 550Nm between 1800 and 2800rpm – up from 160kW at 4000rpm and 510Nm between 1600-2400rpm in the previous Grand Cherokee CRD.

Out-powering the Audi Q7’s 3.0-litre diesel V6 by 1kW, it falls 3kW short of the 3.0-litre straight-six diesel in BMW’s X5, which offers slightly less torque at 540Nm, while the outgoing M-class continues to deliver lower outputs of 165kW and 510Nm.

Despite that, the new Grand Cherokee diesel returns combined-cycle fuel consumption of 8.3 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions of 218 grams per kilometre, making it 19 per cent more fuel-efficient and 20 per cent cleaner-burning than before.

Matched with the same W5A580 five-speed automatic transmission as petrol models, the new Euro 5 emissions-compliant engine returns 10.3L/100km and 270g/km of CO2 on the urban cycle and 7.2L/100km and 188g/km on the extra-urban cycle.

What’s more, the Grand Cherokee diesel offers a V8-matching 3500kg towing capacity – up from 2268kg for Pentastar 3.6-litre petrol V6-powered models, which continue to deliver 210kW and 347Nm, while 5.7-litre V8 models offer 259kW and 520Nm.

Other key features of the Grand’s new diesel include a 60-degree compressed graphite-iron block with aluminium cylinder-heads and a two-piece structural aluminium oil pan.

Bore is 83mm and stroke is 92mm for a total displacement of 2987cc, while bore spacings are 96mm.

“The arrival of the new turbo-diesel is icing on the cake of the all-new Grand Cherokee range,” said Chrysler Australia senior manager of marketing and corporate communications, Dean Bonthorne.

“It’s no secret that Australians love a torquey, fuel-efficient diesel in this category and just like so many other aspects of the Grand Cherokee this highly anticipated new powerplant has exceeded all expectations.”

2011 Jeep GrandCherokee pricing:&nbsp
Laredo 3.6 (a)	$45,000
Laredo 3.0 (a)&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp	$50,000
Limited 3.6 (a)	$55,000
Limited 3.0 (a)	$60,000
Limited 5.7 (a)	$60,000
Limited 70th AnniversaryEd. 3.6 (a)	$58,500
Limited 70th Anniversary Ed. 5.7(a)	$63,500
Overland 3.0 (a)	$69,500
Overland 5.7 (a)	$69,500