- Article content
- Article content
- Article content
- Article content
- Article content
- Article content
- Article content
Article content
Back in 2018, an internal presentation at the Ford Motor Company, one intended to give a preview of upcoming product to its dealer body, contained a slide with a simple phrase and mission: BEAT JEEP. At the time, Ford didn’t have an answer to the massively popular Wrangler or Trail-Rated versions of their other SUVs. Flash forward to today and one will find the Blue Oval has largely plugged those holes in their portfolio with Bronco and the like.
Article content
But there was one area in which Jeep was deficient: three-row vehicles. Despite taking the competition to school in the SUV segment, the brand was notably absent from a hugely important vehicle segment. Turns out, Jeep was busy working on a raft of those vehicles, including the two models shown here: the Grand Cherokee L and Grand Wagoneer . Resting on their laurels, it would seem, is not in Jeep’s vocabulary.
It’s natural to question why Jeep felt the need to introduce multiple three-row SUVs after years of not having one at all. Compounding the issue is the all-too-similar faces of the Grand Cherokee L and Grand Wagoneer, as if they were two brothers a couple of years apart in school. They’re handsome faces, to be sure, but it can be tough to tell them apart in a vacuum. That’s why standing them side-by-side at school picture day is helpful in determining which one pranked the cafeteria staff (again).
Article content
Or, in our case, parking them side-by-each at a recent event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in southern Ontario. It’s one thing to simply state on digital paper that the Grand Cherokee L is constructed on a unibody platform while the Grand Wagoneer is built on body-on-frame bones of a full-sized pickup truck; it’s quite something else to see the difference in person. The GW towers over the GCL as if it were an NBA power forward player ready to hit the court. There’s a great deal of similarity in their grille areas, to be sure, but the vast road presence of the GW cannot be denied in person.
Grand Cherokee L (left) and Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Grand Cherokee L (left) and Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Grand Cherokee L (right) and Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Article content
For all you fact nerds readers who like hard figures, the Grand Cherokee L measures 204.9 inches long, 77.3 inches wide, and 71.5 inches tall. These are large numbers in and of themselves but the Grand Wagoneer has them handily beaten six ways from Sunday. Witness dimensions of 214.7, 83.6, and 75.6 inches for length, width, and height respectively. In particular, that extra 6.3 inches of beam in the GW makes itself known at every opportunity, especially in tight parking lots. If you’re a condo dweller, be sure to take this brute to your underground parking lot before signing a six-year note on the thing.
Those dimensional differences are a partial product of the platforms on which these SUVs are constructed. The Grand Cherokee L is of unibody construction, like the two-row Grand Cherokee, while the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are built on the frame of a Ram 1500 pickup truck. This also helps explain engine choices, with the smaller vehicle offered with a V6 or V8 engine and the latter showing up for duty with a selection of V8 power. Our own Justin Pritchard detailed those differences in his assessment earlier this year .
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Article content
While the front fascias of these two machines have a familial resemblance — seven-slot grille, furrowed headlamps, and a bluff bumper area — their hindquarters are vastly different. Your author never thought he’d describe any feature of the Grand Cherokee L as ‘rounded’ but that vehicle’s rear hatch area is many leagues less angular than the same spot in the squared-off Grand Wagoneer. The latter’s D-pillar is pronounced, painted body colour and stretching into the rear hatch, where as the GCL deploys some visual trickery in the form of black trim to reduce the SUV’s visual heft. Failing to identify the Grand Wagoneer in traffic is not an option.
Stepping inside, there are similarities here as well, but the GCL puts its extra width to good use. It’s like upgrading from Economy to Business Class on an airplane, to be frank, with more seat space in which to get comfortable and cushier materials on every surface. Don’t expect an alert flight attendant to regularly freshen your drink, however. What you will find in the Grand Wagoneer (at least in the megabucks Series III trim you see on these digital pages) that compares to airline Business Class are an abundance of interactive screens, most of them of the touch variety. It’s become expected in this price range for jumbotrons to appear in front of the driver – taking the place of old-school analog gauges – and dominating the centre stack area serving as a control centre for infotainment and ventilation. In this case, that screen spans a vast 12.1 inches and is oriented horizontally.
Article content
Peer below that device and you’ll find another 10.25-inch articulating display whose sole purpose is controlling the vast comfort devices baked into both front seats. Massage function, heating, ventilation, advanced lumbar supports — all those features are funnelled through this control. In what Jeep is calling a segment-first, they’ve also installed another 10.25-inch screen in front of the passenger in this Grand Wagoneer Series III, one which fades into the dashboard trim until called upon for co-pilot duties like navigation and device management. The second-row crew share another 10.25-inch screen between them for ventilation controls in that space, plus the option of large twin screens for rear seat entertainment. In all, there’s nearly 75 inches of diagonally measured screens in a top-tier Jeep Grand Wagoneer Series III. Suddenly, its price begins to come into focus.
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Jeep Grand Wagoneer Photo by Matthew Guy
Article content
Speaking of price, there is a significant delta between models of the Grand Cherokee L and Grand Wagoneer. In entry-level Laredo trim, the GCL sets a sticker of $52,495 before topping out at $77,990 for a top-tier Summit Reserve example with four other trims arranged in ascending order between the two bookends. Those amounts can be further inflated by various powertrain and options packages. As for the Grand Wagoneer, its starting price is $100,995 for a Series I trim, all the way up to $120,995 sticker for a Series III model. The vehicle shown in these pictures had additional options which pushed its price to $130,270.
If it’s the interior space of a Grand Wagoneer you seek, but that price tag induces heart palpitations, consider sampling another Jeep relative, simply called the Wagoneer. It is built on the same truck platform as the GW but bears a starting price of $79,995 — right at the top end of a Grand Cherokee L.
Keyword: Brothers in Arms: Jeep Grand Cherokee L & Jeep Grand Wagoneer