Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Jeep's Compass moves in new direction

By Scott Wasser carguysw@aol.com
Executive Editor

Sometime during an eight-hour trip in a 2012 Jeep Compass, I turned to my wife and asked, "Why do you think someone would choose to buy this over a competitor like the Honda CR-V or Subaru Forester?"

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From the front, the 2012 Jeep Compass compact crossover looks like a smaller version of its handsome big brother, the midsize Grand Cherokee. A major interior overhaul last year made the Compass attractive inside, too.

Courtesy photo

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Inside, the addition of sound-deadening material in strategic places makes the second-generation Compass cabin much more inviting than the first generation.

Courtesy photo

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NUTS AND BOLTS

WHAT IS IT? 2012 Compass Latitude, the second generation of Jeep's compact crossover and a vast improvement over the original.

WHAT'S IT COST? Compass starting prices range from $19,295 for a front-drive Sport to $26,045 for a Limited 4x4. Latitude 4x4 like the one tested starts at $23,225. Price as tested, including options and destination fee: $25,070.

WHAT I LIKED BEST: It's so much better than the first-generation Compass.

WHAT I LIKED LEAST: It still falls short of many competitors.

WHO'S IT FOR? Jeep fans who want the look of a Grand Cherokee in a less expensive vehicle.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS: 2.4-liter, 16-valve, inline 4-cylinder with variable valve timing produces 172 hp, 165 lbs-ft of torque. Continuously variable automatic. 103.7-inch wheelbase. 3,350-lb. curb weight. 21 city/26 highway mpg (EPA). 8.1-inch ground clearance. 22.7/53.6 cubic feet cargo space behind second/first row.

Without hesitating, Ronda -- who had spent nearly as much time in the Compass as me -- said, "Only two reasons: Because it looks like a Grand Cherokee and because it's a Jeep."

I couldn't argue. Thanks to a major redesign for the 2011 model year, the current Compass is a much better and more appealing car than its predecessor. But I'd have a tough time recommending it over one of its many outstanding compact crossover competitors.

But none of those competitors has "Jeep" on its hood. The Jeep name has a mystique and magnetism that traces its roots to the vehicles that helped decide World War II.

The brand has a cult-like following. Buying a Jeep gives you membership in a special club. Members feel like big shots when they tell someone they own a Jeep.

One of the most popular Jeeps ever made is the Grand Cherokee, and the current version looks as good as it performs. From its front doors forward, the Compass is a scaled-down dead ringer for it.

But it costs thousands less. The 2012 Compass starts at around $20,000 and is available in Sport, Latitude or Limited trim with front- or all-wheel drive.

The base engine is a 158-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Limited and four-wheel drive Latitude and Sport models get a more powerful, 2.4-liter four-cylinder. It delivers up to 172 horsepower and 165 pounds-feet of torque, according to Jeep.

That engine felt peppy and responsive in the Compass Latitude 4x4 test vehicle. My stopwatch recorded an 8.3-second zero-to-60 time, but the Compass felt quicker. It had no trouble cruising the interstate, climbing some pretty steep hills or passing at highway speed.

But the Compass almost always feels as if it's working hard to produce that performance because its engine sounds like a washing machine at idle and full throttle.

Contributing to the mechanical cacophony is a continuously variable transmission that whines like a motherless puppy whenever the Compass accelerates. Although it makes a racket, the transmission seems to do a nice job of wringing maximum energy and efficiency out of the small engine.

That might be a result of the only significant change Jeep made to the Compass for the 2012 model year. According to Jeep, it tinkered with the transmission to improve pedal response and acceleration, smooth deceleration, and reduce engine speed at mid-throttle.

Otherwise, the 2012 is virtually identical to last year's Compass. The 2011 received an extreme makeover that included a complete redesign from the front doors forward, an interior overhaul and some chassis and powertrain modifications.

We've already addressed the exterior change that turned the Compass into a Grand Cherokee lookalike. Also outside, the taillights were changed from bulb- to more modern and upscale-looking LED-powered units.

The new Compass moved upscale inside, too, where several hard plastic panels were replaced with soft-touch surfaces. Coupled with the addition of sound-deadening material in strategic places, it makes the second-generation Compass cabin much more inviting than the first generation, which debuted as a 2007 model.

More important to most fans of the brand is one change that made the Compass more like a Jeep: the Freedom-Drive II Off-Road package.

The first-generation Compass was no more capable of serious off-roading than the Dodge Caliber with which it shares most of its underpinnings. But the "Trail Rated" option package, which includes skid plates, engine oil cooler, larger tires and wheels, full-size spare, dual-mode four-wheel drive system and an additional inch of ground clearance, gives it more off-road chops.

Don't expect Wrangler-like capabilities, but this Compass is supposed to be more capable of straying from the pavement than its predecessor.

I say "supposed to be" because my test vehicle wasn't equipped with the package. It had the standard full-time four-wheel system and suspension, which basically performs and behaves like those found on other compact crossovers.

Others have found fault with that, suggesting the standard Compass is a lamb in Jeep clothing. That doesn't bother me, and I generally liked the Compass.

Yet I kept asking myself why someone would choose a Compass over larger, more comfortable, more refined, more powerful and/or less expensive competitors. My wife came up with the only answer that made sense.

Scott Wasser is executive editor of MaineToday Media. He writes an auto column for the Sunday Telegram and other newspapers. He can be reached at: