GTP Cool Wall: 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ

[niky]

Not a Wrangler. No thanks.

I'm sure it was a pretty good vehicle for its time, and extremely capable, but I can't get all excited over it, not as with an LC80 Landcruiser. (which, might just squeeze into cool... might)

 

[homeforsummer]

Yet another car I've actually considered owning at a couple of points. XJs are as cheap in the UK as they are in the U.S, and I like the boxy styling.

Cool though? Nope, not this one either. Give it another five or ten years though, and perhaps - they'll be old enough to be a truly rare sight and nice examples will have a pretty good retro vibe.

The 4.0L and the 4.9L Ford 300 I6 are probably the two best I6's ever built IMO.

I feel like BMW probably has something to say about that. And Nissan.

 

[Clark]

And Jaguar, Aston Martin, Mercedes, TVR...

 

[King Kraven]

Slash hit it right on the money. The Jeep I6 is the best NA I6 of all time. Reliability and usable torque around town. It's a tank that will survive a nuclear holocaust. It won't need to be babied like those Euro I6s. FPV's final version of the Barra 4.0 Turbo I6 is the best turbocharged I6 of all time and the best keep secret when it comes to engines. BMW, Nissan and Toyota can screw off compared to that engine.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Eeeuw. I'd rather drive a Rav4 from the same era.

SU.

 

[Clark]

Slash hit it right on the money. The Jeep I6 is the best NA I6 of all time. Reliability and usable torque around town. It's a tank that will survive a nuclear holocaust. It won't need to be babied like those Euro I6s. FPV's final version of the Barra 4.0 Turbo I6 is the best turbocharged I6 of all time and the best keep secret when it comes to engines. BMW, Nissan and Toyota can screw off compared to that engine.

Yeah cause the 2.5 litre six in my 24 year old car that had done 225k miles and hadn't been serviced in about 2 years really needed to be babied.

 

[King Kraven]

Yeah cause the 2.5 litre six in my 24 year old car that had done 225k miles and hadn't been serviced in about 2 years really needed to be babied.

Service is so subjective so I take that with a grain of salt. I guess it never had an oil change in about 2 years? It never had spark plugs changed? Then again if you don't drive it at all then I suppose you might get away with it. I made a habit repairing Euro engines. A Jeep AMC I6 will go 400k miles while being abused. It's the perfect car for the not mechanically inclined person. They will abuse it and not give it its proper service yet still run. The Euro will not do that on the whole. They aren't meant to so it isn't their fault. BMW is reliable for a European engine and a great performer but I'm far too aware of what they need. You have to baby them on the whole. It's the price you pay for the performance.

 

[Famine]

Yeah cause the 2.5 litre six in my 24 year old car that had done 225k miles and hadn't been serviced in about 2 years really needed to be babied.

Same as our 2.5 litre 16 year old car with 175k on it and didn't go near a spanner in the entire time we owned it. Though we had to top the coolant up every 2 weeks.

 

[Clark]

It's not exactly like the engine is very efficient or being stressed much though, 190bhp from a turbo 4 litre? The M20B25 I had was 171bhp from an N/a 2.5.

 

[King Kraven]

That motor isn't turbocharged besides it is tuned for torque. AMC could not be arsed about horsepower. It was a work engine so it actually is a very stressed engine because it required reliability for a VERY long period of time under extreme conditions. From the hottest climates to the coldest. From the lowest of sea levels to the highest. Climbing on mountains to wading the sand. Jeep (well Wranglers and old school Cherokee) owners typically put their motors through more crap than any other vehicle's owners.

 

[Clark]

It says turbo on the OP so that's why I thought.

 

[King Kraven]

It says turbo on the OP so that's why I thought.

The OP is wrong so there. We have that straightened out.

 

[Clark]

The OP is wrong so there. We have that straightened out.

Real mature, I was only saying why I said it was turbocharged. I wasn't trying to one up you anything. I don't know anything about these so I went off the information in the Op.

 

[Famine]

From the lowest of sea levels to the highest. Climbing on mountains

They probably should have turbocharged it then - it'd only have 110hp crawling up Pikes Peak.

 

[homeforsummer]

That motor isn't turbocharged besides it is tuned for torque. AMC could not be arsed about horsepower. It was a work engine so it actually is a very stressed engine because it required reliability for a VERY long period of time under extreme conditions. From the hottest climates to the coldest. From the lowest of sea levels to the highest. Climbing on mountains to wading the sand. Jeep (well Wranglers and old school Cherokee) owners typically put their motors through more crap than any other vehicle's owners.

So what you're saying is that despite it being rough as a bear's arse and getting terrible gas mileage, the engine's ability to survive crap maintenance and owners with no mechanical sympathy makes it the best I6 ever? Gotcha.

Sorry, I'll take the tuneful, powerful BMW unit and suffer the absolute anguish and pain having to... erm... top up the oil now and then.

Wait, that doesn't sound that bad at all.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I'm going with meh, I can't really think of anything that makes it cool or uncool.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

Uncool. I'm sure its great at what its supposed to do, but its image has been tainted for me by mothers who insist on driving these to 'keep their kids safe in an accident' and only ever go off-road if its to get to the overflow section at the school sports day's car park. Plus, whilst I do like the bulky, square-jawed, no-nonsense look on some cars, it only really works on cars of a certain vintage; the late 90s/early 2000s is not one.

 

[CTznOfTime]

Turbo or not, This is one simple, straight forward and cool Jeep...

I have always liked this model... its not pretentious

Its not trying to be what it is not...
It knows what it is,and it does it well with no complains.

Thats a solid cool for me.

 

[Wolfe]

Arguing that the best engine is one that withstands neglectful abuse for a long time is like arguing that the best food comes out of a can because it can sit on a shelf for a long time.

If you like trucks, like we all know Slash does, it's a good quality. But other applications would benefit from other qualities like more power/revs or better fuel economy.

 

[White & Nerdy]

Cool:

-Simple, basic, not trying to be a luxury car on stilts.
-Actually good off-road, unlike a lot of "crossovers"
-Overall more a legitimate SUV than a crossover
-Engine could probably approach Hilux levels of durability while providing reasonable power

Uncool:

-Started the trend of unibody SUVs, which has resulted in station wagons being almost entirely replaced by crossovers that serve much the same purpose while being taller, heavier, less aerodynamic, and overall worse-performaing on the road.
-Sort of... blah.

@Jahgee1124 OP needs fixed, it's not turbocharged.

 

[Tornado]

I don't think simply having a unibody before anyone else in the segment did really counts as "starting a trend" when every direct competitor the thing had until it went out of production was body on frame anyway.

 

[Ingram]

It won't need to be babied like those Euro I6s.

I used to own a BMW 328ci. I had it for three years, more than two of which it sat untouched, parked outside and subjected to Scottish wind, rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures. When I tried to start it after all that time, the only thing wrong was a flat battery. Other than that, it ran perfectly.

It also had three more bhp than that Jeep can muster from an engine 1207cc larger, and - I'm going out on a limb here - is more economical, too. I should make it clear that by no means is the 2.8 M52 engine the best I6 BMW has produced.

Those Euro I6s definitely need to be babied..

 

[Doodle]

A poor attempt to beat the Land Rover Discovery.

Do you get all of your car knowledge from Top Gear?

 

[JAHHAJ]

I kind of like this Jeep unlike a lot of others but, I don't see how it could be cool. I would rather have a Land Rover Discovery but I wouldn't rate that cool either.

 

[Clark]

I know, people think that uncool car is a bad car. It's the GTP Cool Wall, cool and good don't have to go hand in hand.

 

[Bopop4]

I love it when the muscle car fanboys think that their stuff is gods gift to earth while having no knowledge of anything made outside of "Deetrot Michgin".

As for the Jeep, it makes me depressed.
I'm not sure how much it does so though.

 

[Dennisch]

This is the Honda Civic of the SUV's. Even here you see so many of them that they blend in with every other bland car. And here they will never see a puddle of mud. Except when there is some roadwork done.

I got nothing but meh for this.

A V8 swapped one does get a low cool, only because that brings some silly fun to this, 1600kg with 300+ hp in a wobbly vehicle. Hilarious.

 

[King Kraven]

I used to own a BMW 328ci. I had it for three years, more than two of which it sat untouched, parked outside and subjected to Scottish wind, rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures. When I tried to start it after all that time, the only thing wrong was a flat battery. Other than that, it ran perfectly.

It also had three more bhp than that Jeep can muster from an engine 1207cc larger, and - I'm going out on a limb here - is more economical, too. I should make it clear that by no means is the 2.8 M52 engine the best I6 BMW has produced.

Those Euro I6s definitely need to be babied..

I used to own a BMW E36 M3 Euro-spec (great car btw). Big whoop. I also owned a BMW E39 528i and it was a POS engine wise. The heat and salt where I live killed it. I replaced too many parts on it. The Vanos rattle to atrocious oil consumption. It didn't leak but burned it to hell. The hoses blew and the spark plugs went. Then finally the head gasket blew and the head was warped. I'm willing to say that mine was perhaps a dud though being a dealer car with proper inspection and paperwork. However, I worked on plenty of BMW I6s again that engine alone gave me a decent living. So YMMV. I've owned plenty of BMWs and they are my favorite European brand. However, you are quite lost at least on the Jeep if I'm honest.

The BMW is a performance engine compared to a Jeep. It "should" have more horsepower but the Jeep has more torque that's what you are missing. You are also missing that AMC tuned the engine for torque not horsepower. Horsepower was an afterthought. BMW's M52 should have more horsepower. Engine size is irrelevant as the Jeep doesn't use it for performance. The Jeep also hits its peak hp and torque at a lower rpm. That should also give you a hint. Also this particular variation weren't the best years of the AMC motor. So the M52 should be better to be honest.

The Jeep I6 should have lower fuel economy. It's a work engine. If you can't understand the meaning of that or its purpose and how it relates in everyday ownership then that is a personal problem.

They probably should have turbocharged it then - it'd only have 110hp crawling up Pikes Peak.

Thank goodness for torque.

So what you're saying is that despite it being rough as a bear's arse and getting terrible gas mileage, the engine's ability to survive crap maintenance and owners with no mechanical sympathy makes it the best I6 ever? Gotcha.


Sorry, I'll take the tuneful, powerful BMW unit and suffer the absolute anguish and pain having to... erm... top up the oil now and then.

Wait, that doesn't sound that bad at all.

Yes because I always wanted to have a vehicle which didn't require anything off schedule even topping the oil off. Just a beater to abuse and neglect without consequence. Oh wait I did in fact I owned a couple like that. It was my old hand me down Jeep Wrangler. I sold it to some kid after 353k miles (and I owned it after it just turned 101k). It never leaked or burned oil. It never smelled and the hoses never exploded or cracked even after its life as an off roader. The gaskets never blew and I upgraded the clutch for my personal preference. It was my shop's everyday get around. It also took long trips.

I value the engine's ability to survive crap maintenance because people aren't perfect and a lot of people simply don't care about maintenance. That's why I made my money. If I could build an engine but it's basis could be reliability or performance then I would choose the former because I can always add the performance with more ease. Gas mileage isn't everything otherwise I would drive a Prius yet my Wrangler easily did 25 mpg. That's quite well for a motor which didn't have that in mind.

You take what you like but it was a breath of fresh air back then to just get in and drive and not do a darn thing on it. Unlike my BMWs which always gave hints to show it some love. With the Wrangler, I could focus on other stuff and not constantly popping the hood on it to give it a look through. That's just me.

 

[Slash]

Yeah cause the 2.5 litre six in my 24 year old car that had done 225k miles and hadn't been serviced in about 2 years really needed to be babied.

And people have taken 300 I6's to 750k on nothing but oil changes and hard miles including drowning it under water. They put them in everything from trucks to UPS trucks to dump trucks because reliabiilty and low RPM torque. The AMC engine here is the same and the 225 /6 is high on the list as well. All are widely considered the best ever built when it comes to reliabilit and various ther attributes. Its not really disputed. Its not made to go fast.

 

[McLaren]

Slash hit it right on the money. The Jeep I6 is the best NA I6 of all time. Reliability and usable torque around town. It's a tank that will survive a nuclear holocaust. It won't need to be babied like those Euro I6s. FPV's final version of the Barra 4.0 Turbo I6 is the best turbocharged I6 of all time and the best keep secret when it comes to engines. BMW, Nissan and Toyota can screw off compared to that engine.

Slash also can't decide how he chooses to vote on these threads.

But, I disagree. Toyota hasn't been topped yet considering how over-engineered this engine was out of the factory, turbo or not. It can't survive the negligence of no maintenance, but this isn't a car you should be driving if you're too stupid to go miles & miles & miles without changing the oil. Handling 700-800+ Hp on the factory internals reliably is a nice feat.