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Jeep Grand Cherokee.
It's bigger, it's better, and it arrived in oz July 1999:
The 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee is produced for LHD markets
at the Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit from
3rd quarter 1998 and for RHD markets at Graz
Austria
and Mexico (hmmm) from 1st quarter 1999.
Notable options are the V8 4.7L sohc engine -
to take it to the
100-series
and the Lexus
LX470.
Oil crisis, what oil crisis?
The 4.0L six cylinder continues as an alternative,
with 4wd.sofcom.com (c) --> various refinements.
Very interesting is a 3.1 litre 5-cylinder turbo-diesel;
it has lots more torque than the 6-cyl petrol,
nearly matching the V8 in that department!
This will doubtless be favoured in Europe where petrol
is very expensive.
There is something very unusual about the 5-speed automatic transmission:
It has essentially two second gear ratios of 1.67:1 and 1.50:1.
This is supposed to give alternatives for acceleration
depending on optimal fuel economy,
throttle 4wd.sofcom.com (c) --> setting and speed.
Four wheel drive is by quadra-drive 4wd
system with speed-sensing torque transfer differentials,
which sounds like marketing-speak for limited slip diffs.
There are ABS brakes.
Wheel-base is the same as the
1992-1998
Grand Cherokee but track is 25mm wider,
length is 100mm greater,
height is 50mm up and
width is 75mm out.
Jeep Grand-Cherokee 1999 model.
- station wagon, 5 seats, 4 doors, ABS and dual air-bags
- loa: 4500mm, width: 1800mm, height: 1690mm
- wheelbase: 2690mm, track: 1473mm/1473mm, grnd clearance: 195mm
- approach: 37, departure: 30, ramp break over: 363
- turning radius: 5.95m
- weight: 1810kg (unladen), GVM: 2360kg,
towing: 3500kg (braked)
- Engines:
- V8 4.7L, petrol, efi, 2-valves/cyl, sohc
- power: 172kW, torque: 400Nm
- 6-cyl 3956cc, petrol, 6-cyls, efi, 2-valves/cyl, ohv
- bore: 98.45mm, stroke: 86.7mm, c.r.: 8.75:1
- power: 145kW at 4600rpm, torque: 300Nm at 2400rpm
- 5-cyl turbo diesel by VM, 2-valves/cyl
- power: 104kW, torque: 373Nm
- transmission:
5 speed auto (V8),
transfer case: 2 speed (lo 2.72:1), quadra-trac, centre open diff'
with viscous coupling and lock
- suspension: live-coil/live-coil, brakes: disc/disc
- tyres:
P215/75 R15 on 7x15 alloy wheels or
P225/70 R16 Goodyear Wrangler HP on 7x16 alloy wheels,
fuel-tank: 86L
- prices: from $52.5K (4L 6-cyl Laredo), $67K (4.7L V8), $au 7/1999
- Notes: monocoque construction.
Released in USA in late 1998, Australia July 1999.
Export models built in Graz, Austria in a joint venture with
Steyr Daimler Puch
- Rivals:
Range Rover,
Toyota
100-series /
LX470
- Brian Barrett-Park reminds us:
- the 1999 Grand Cherokee preview lists the V-8 engine as if
it is a new feature, and indeed your 1992-1998 page shows only the L-6.
[No V8 in oz yet.]
In the North American market the Grand Cherokee has been available
for a few years with a typical (for a North American manufacturer) pushrod
5.2L V-8. This was Chrysler's old standby "318" (named for it's
displacement in cubic inches). For the past two years (or so), an even
larger 5.9L (360 cubic inch) version, also an old Chrysler standard, has
been offered. The usual reason given to justify the monster motor is
trailer towing, but "sport" utilities need a lot of power to push their big
boxy bodies at highway speeds, and the old pushrod V-8's put out very
little power for their size (less than 50 hp/L), so you almost need 5.9L
to keep up with sedans. Besides, I can't remember the last time I
saw a Jeep actually towing a trailer...
For 1999, the V-8 offering is actually much smaller, because it is the
first appearance of Chrysler's new overhead cam engine. This should be
Chrysler's equivalent to Ford's series of OHC engines, which are replacing
essentially all existing pushrod V-8's, one model at a time. Ford already
has a 6.8L V-10 variation, and Chrysler has put their own OHC V-10 in a
show car. The new V-8 in the Grand Cherokee has a rated power output
between that of the old 5.2 and 5.9 engines; with the reduced engine weight
and only 10 less horsepower, unloaded performance should be similar to that
with the old 5.9.
See the
Grand Cherokee (current),
1998
and
Jeep (main)
pages
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