Test drove the Jeep Compass 4x4 D AT: What I liked & what I didn't

The FCA 2.0L diesel does like to rev and it is very smooth. Power delivery is linear after the turbo kick. I can never get tired of diesels.

BHPian vretdesbyrd recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

While I flail about on OLX for Fortuners and 9anime for Isekai all day waiting for the Scorpio, I decided to have a look at the Jeep “Chompy” Compass:

What I liked:

• Handling and Dynamics: This is one of the best handling crossovers this side of 40L. Enough has been said about it and it is all true. Now, if it were only rear-biased.
• The FCA 2.0L diesel does like to rev and it is very smooth. Power delivery is linear after the turbo kick. I can never get tired of diesels.
• The gearbox is less dog-poop than the pre-facelift Chompy. I can live with it but it will remain at the back of my head.
• The materials, buttons, switchgear, door handles, everything is build absolutely solid. Controls have this nice heft to them. Only weak links are the wiper and indicator stalks.
• U-Connect is nice and took 5-10 seconds to pair up to my iPhone. Similar timeframe for the OnePlus. Works flawless, nothing to complain about.
• Suspension is very good at dealing with bad roads. Sharp potholes felt really soft and fluffy. It was gliding like driving on Korone or Luna’s cheeks.
• Yes, this is way better, even than Scorpio-N and Endeavour (not that they are anywhere even close to bad to begin with – I am one of those people who find Fortuner’s suspension livable).
• I will never stop praising a 360 camera system, even if it is poorly implemented (Alturas G4). This is a good one.
• Both front seats are powered. Who does that in this segment?
• I like the sunroof. It is big and the controls are nice. What is also nice is the button-operated rear hatch.
• 4WD Lock, 4 Low, Hill Descent Control, Auto-Hold, Auto-Irritate-Me, EPB, this thing is loaded.
• Nice and soft seats. Very comfortable overall.
• Really good A/C for a european vehicle. Especially the ventilated seats. At par with 320d/Fortuner/Swift. Slightly better than Scorpio-N (it is good) and in another dimension compared to Vento/Superb.
• Audio system gets the job done. Very audiophile tuning (lacks bass).
• Makes RR Evoque look like a trashcan at this price point. (Urbanmech joke?)
• I like the way the digital instrument cluster looks and feels.
• Sales guy mentioned that customers have upsized to 235/55R18 without issue
• Vehicle is a looker and turns heads easily. The green looks lovely, both on screen and in person.
• Build quality, fit and finish is really good. I daresay phenomenal and way better than my 2010 Superb.
• It turned off when I opened the driver door in P.

What I didn’t:

• The gearbox. I said it is less dog-poop but that is still dog-poop to some degree. At a certain point I needed the full output of the engine. Put my foot down all the way.
• It took 2 seconds. IT TOOK TWO SECONDS! Yeah, I can live with it but compared to this, Scorpio-N and Fortuner torque converters feel like an F1 sequential transmission.
• No physical controls for ventilated seats. It’s right there on the screen but I would just rather avoid using the screen other than for 360, navigation and music.
• Cannot see the bonnet despite cranking seat height to the max.
• Brakes are bad. Better than Vento but bad. Not very confidence inspiring. Scorpio/Fortuner/Crysta stopped and slowed exactly how I wanted.
• A semi dog-poop gearbox like this could be redeemed with paddle shifters but no.
• Does the subwoofer even work?
• Overpriced by a couple of lakhs but it is totally worth it. Hardly any cars that are not overpriced these days.
• Ground clearance is way too low for such a nice off-roader.

While not totally vetoed-out, it remains on the list alongside the Scorpio-N and used Fortuner

Here are some more pictures:

Quarter:

Rear:

Rear quarter:

Nice seats:

i like this view of the cluster more:

Cramped but comfortable rear. We don’t complain since we are a family of short people (but Fortuner and Scorpio do feel palatial):

Clean and functional centre console:

Pièce de résistance (the lifesaver):

Notice that the auto-irritant button is off.

Meh:

That’s it for now.

Keyword: Test drove the Jeep Compass 4x4 D AT: What I liked & what I didn't