By Jude Katende

Have you ever fallen in love? Have you ever been swept off your feet? If not then it is time to meet the new Jeep Grand Cherokee for a test drive at Spear Motors in Kampala. I was interviewing Gilbert Wavamunno, the Managing Director at Spear Motors and he candidly told me that he too was swept away by the many good things about this new SUV.

It comes in two versions, 5-seater and 7-seater and in three models, Limited, Overland at the top, the Summit Reverse. Wavamunno says the Jeep sales started last year and many orders are ongoing with the 5-seater versions expected to arrive here in just three weeks this month.

“This car is amazing. It is an SUV but it drives like a sports car. The 3.6 V6 petrol engine is very efficient. 10km covered on a litre! Someone drove from Kampala to Mbarara and consumed less than a quarter tank of petrol!”,Wavamunno comments.  It has a naturally aspirated horsepower with no turbo and no lug. It is so fast. The reliability is just so good. He adds that this SUV is very stable and nimble.

It has many new nice features or call them attractions if you like including an extremely great sound system with full surround. You will ditch your home theatre! You can connect your phone seamlessly. The heads-up display shows everything that you need to know about including incoming phone calls.

For safety, the Grand Cherokee has a full radar system that applies instant brakes in case of any unexpected danger in your way. This was designed to minimize and prevent accidents. With our reckless Boda boda guys, anything can happen and the Jeep will caution you with beeps and when you don’t respond then the brakes are applied immediately for your safety.

Hear this, this Grand Cherokee has a remote start. You don’t need car keys anymore. From about 200 metres, you can use the remote to start the Jeep and it will instantly cool itself as you say goodbye to your friends from that meeting or party.

When you get to it then you can open it and fully start it for your trip when its finally cool and not warm inside or hot! All SUVs come in three models at different rates for different features on board. This reason why I called this a smart Jeep is because it has many new nice features including a dual-pane panoramic sunroof invites more sun and fresh air, a front passenger screen for music, movies, phone calls and more! The leg room is sufficient just as the boot space is. By the way, with modern technology, you do not need keys to open the boot, just swing your leg and voila, it opens, just like that!

Passengers at the rear have their own air conditioning system and control it they themselves as well as charge their phones. Servicing can be done once or twice a year depending on your driving style. The SUV has a 276-mm ground clearance, good enough for our bad roads.

The features

The Jeep has a 16-way adjustable front seats with memory and massage. Power-folding third-row bench seats.12 USB ports, four in each row. interior rear-seat monitoring camera. heated, leather wrapped, multi-functional steering wheel.

Quilted Nappa leather-trimmed, ventilated front seating with massage function up to four zones of climate comfort. Programmable climate controls adjust the temperature and airflow in up to four separate vehicle zones. McIntosh premium audio system with 19 impeccably placed speakers. 10-inch subwoofer, 19-channel, 950-watt amplifier, precision sound with unrivalled clarity.

The Quadra-lift air suspension system sets Jeep Grand Cherokee L apart by lowering ride height for optimal access or rising higher to meet your on-road demands. Now, the system reacts even faster and raises even higher, so you’re handed exceptional ground clearance with water fording 2 capabilities up to 610 millimetres.

Optimal on- and off-road traction is instantly at hand. Up to five selectable settings electronically coordinate 12 different vehicle management systems to adjust your traction control to match the road ahead.
Advanced safety and security

More features offer next generation engineering for complete peace of mind.

New drowsy-driver detection

Monitors steering wheel movement and provides an audible alert if the system detects that the driver is not correctly handling the wheel or if the vehicle is off track.

New360° cameras

Your vehicle’s entire perimeter is monitored and displayed on your dash touchscreen. These cameras provide several views, like top view, rearview and panorama view, to assist you when parking, either manually or automatically.

New head-up display windshield

Drivers can maintain focus on the road ahead with the help of this full-colour inch transparent windshield display. Driving cluster data is projected onto a safe viewing area on the windshield in front of the driver.

Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with stop and go

Take the guesswork out of keeping a safe following distance from the car ahead while cruising on the highway. The system automatically adjusts cruising speed to maintain a preset distance between you and the vehicle ahead and can bring Jeep Grand Cherokee L to a complete stop, without driver intervention, to help avoid a collision.

Forward collision warning with active braking

Sensors detect when Grand Cherokee L may be approaching another vehicle too rapidly, sending an audible and visual alert to the driver and providing 1.5 seconds of brake assistance if the driver does not react in time.

Parkview rear back-up camera

Brings previously hidden rear objects to your attention, either on screen or with an audible warning, in good time to react. You can also keep an eye on anything in tow while in motion.

New night-vision cam mounted on the front grille detects pedestrians and animals crossing the vehicle’s pathway. The driver is notified in time to take appropriate action.

Blind spot monitoring and rear cross path-detection

Monitors the space between you and other drivers, and you’re notified when a side or rear blind spot is encroached.

Parallel and perpendicular park assist

This active guidance system controls steering automatically using ultrasonic sensors

that help you ease into parking spots. Hear this, Wavamunno says compared to other brands on the market, pricing is competitive at just $110,000 to $150,000 for the 5-seater models and from $135,000 to $180,000 for the 7-seater models. So you can pay Spear Motors Limited at Nakawa, a visit for a test drive.