Jeep Wagoneer

Since our initial test of the Jeep Wagoneer,  this immense three-row SUV now has a 420-horsepower, twin-turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, which replaces the 392-hp, 5.7-liter V8. Not only is the smaller engine more fuel efficient than the V8, but it also makes the big Wagoneer quicker and quieter. After all of our tests were completed and the numbers were crunched, the Wagoneer’s road-test score increased by an impressive 9 points.

This is a super-comfortable cruise ship that coddles occupants with a very nicely finished—and quiet—cabin. But keep in mind that the Wagoneer is still somewhat of a throwback old-school tank. After all, it’s based upon the body-on-frame construction of the Ram 1500 pickup truck. While the new engine helped trim about 80 pounds off the Wagoneer (making it feel a touch more agile through corners), this is still a lumbering beast that’s not easy to park. Plus, it falls short on braking performance and a price check: It’s about $10,000 more than its main rivals, and that’s before you factor in the absurdly high $2,000 destination fee that Jeep charges.

We bought a Wagoneer Series II 4x4 for $82,285—anonymously from an area dealer, as we do with every vehicle we test—for the purpose of this road test review.

The new boosted powertrain really makes the Wagoneer come alive. Its 420 horsepower helps this behemoth down the road with surprising alacrity, and the eight-speed automatic transmission shifts with supreme smoothness. Fuel economy still isn’t what we would call stellar, but it did improve to 18 mpg overall, which is 3- mpg better than we got with the V8. The slick turbocharged six-cylinder engine also drops the Wagoneer’s 0-to-60 mph time to just six seconds, beating the old V8 by a second. It’s also a touch zippier than the competing Cadillac Escalade and the Toyota Sequoia.

The Wagoneer sails down the highway with grand stability, and the suspension soaks up broken pavement with ease. Unlike the Ram truck which uses a live rear axle, the Wagoneer makes use of an independent rear suspension, a design which typically aids both ride and handling. Most versions of the Wagoneer also come equipped with an optional package that includes air springs in place of coil springs, a move that further contributes to a settled and comfortable ride. It was only on bumpier back roads that it exhibited some pickup-truck-like jitteriness from the robust, body-on-frame construction.

We also noticed that the slightly lighter six-cylinder Wagoneer felt a bit more agile when it came to our various handling evaluations. Still, this is no light-and-lively sporty SUV, and we found that it did protest a bit when we pushed it harder on twisty roads. You feel the SUV’s bulk through corners, but it still ultimately proved secure when pressed to its limits around our test track. But, its performance in our braking tests were disappointing, with unusually long stopping distances, especially on wet surfaces. 

Step up into the tall, super-quiet cabin and there’s room aplenty, along with leather, wood, and lots of stitched surfaces. However, although it’s nice, the level of sumptuousness doesn’t quite match the Wagoneer’s lofty price, as evidenced by a few rough and unfinished edges scattered about the interior including along the door pockets and on the flimsy steering-wheel stalks.

The front seats are wide and supportive, and we especially appreciated the four-way lumbar adjustment. The driving position is helped by the tall and commanding outward views, but there are large roof pillars all around the vehicle which form some big blind spots.

Although we had previously tested a Wagoneer with second-row captain’s chairs, we bought this Wagoneer with a split bench rear seat. Both second-row seating choices are very comfortable. The bench seat offers a natural seating position with impressive leg, knee, foot, and headroom along with generous fore/aft and recline adjustability.

Squeeze into the way-back row and you’ll find one of the roomiest and most comfortable third-row seats on the market—suitable, in fact, for adults. Not surprisingly, the cargo room is plentiful.

Controls, though unchanged from the last Wagoneer we tested, aren’t as user-friendly as they used to be with Jeeps. Our biggest gripe is with the touch-capacitive “buttons” for the heated and cooled seats, and heated steering wheel; they are small, close together, and don’t offer any haptic feedback, and quite often they fail to respond to the touch at all. We also don’t like that the steering-wheel controls don’t make it clear which button is for regular cruise control and which one activates the more advanced adaptive cruise control system.

Also, the driver’s instrument screen switches its display briefly anytime you make a change with the steering-wheel controls, which is needlessly distracting and cumbersome. On the bright side, there are lots of handy storage cubbies and USB ports throughout the cabin.

Standard active safety and driver assistance features on the Wagoneer include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking that operates at highway speeds, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, reverse automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, and adaptive cruise control. Rear occupant alert is also standard, but a rear belt-minder system is not. Oddly, automatic high beams aren’t standard until you step up to the super-pricey Series III trim.