Jeep Commander Review
Published: 10th April 2007
Jeep Commander
There isn’t a manual option available and all Commanders are equipped with 5-speed automatic gearboxes. The gearbox is well matched to the 3.0 litre CRD engine, offering pretty much seamless changes. Should you wish you can manually change gear sequentially by knocking the lever to the left or right of the ‘Drive’ position.
Whilst touring around country lanes and around town we achieved an unimpressive 19 mpg which did improve to 27 mpg whilst cruising on the motorway. When we tested the Land Rover Discovery 3 we were seeing around 24 mpg.
How It Drove - Ride/Handling
You would imagine from the outside that the Jeep Commander would be intimidating to drive. However, it is quite the opposite, once you have got in touch (not literally) with the exterior girth and length. Around town we found the Jeep to be a bit too cumbersome to nip through the urban landscape and if you tackle a roundabout with too much enthusiasm the Commander does not really oblige, it requires careful piloting.
Once out of town, on the open road things improve but body roll is evident through the bends. Cornering at speed requires planning but it is not all that bad and in some ways it felt more composed than the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The Commander has hydraulic powered, variable ratio rack-and-pinion steering which is more responsive and more precise than the previous recirculating ball system seen on Jeep’s of past, which is a good thing. The system works well when parking and is not too bad around town but on the open road it can feel a little too woolly.
In summary the ride and handling is fairly good considering the off-road capability of the Commander, but it is not up with the latest offerings from the likes of BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.
