It’s not as firm as the outgoing two row model, which makes the ride comfortable even with the available 21-inch wheels, but it also it’s quite as quick to react and it doesn’t provide as much road feel. The suspension upgrade helps the Grand Cherokee L feel tied down and responsive to driver inputs through fairly direct steering. Standard in the Overland and Summit models, it comes with adaptive dampers that can firm up in the available Sport mode, which also lowers the ground clearance from 8.5 to 7.7 inches.
The air suspension is also a boon to on-road dynamics, which is important because Jeep engineers softened up the suspension. The new Grand Cherokee L’s bona fides seem to be intact, new generation or no. The Overland handled them all well, despite a few scrapes on those replaceable skid plates. My rock-bashing escapade came at the end of a trail that included hill climbs, hill descents, and off-camber exercises all approaching 30-degree angles, a dip through deep water, and some intricate rock crawling. While those numbers can’t match the outgoing two-row model’s figures, they’re still enough to handle an arduous off-road run. That ride height creates approach, breakover, and departure angles of 30.1, 22.6, and 23.6 degrees, respectively. The air suspension is also in its Off-road 2 setting, which raises the ground clearance from a standard 8.5 inches to 10.9 inches. The Selec-Terrain system that comes with four-wheel drive has five traction modes, but I’m in Rock mode, which shifts to low-range gearing to enable a 44:1 crawl ratio.
Of course, for off-roading duty, this tester is also equipped with the Quadra-Trac II four-wheel-drive system with a 2-speed transfer case. As an Overland it also gets a unique front fascia with a better approach angle, hill descent control, an air suspension with five modes and 4.2 inches of lift, adaptive dampers, and front tow hooks.
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