Q&A thread for 2009 Jeep MK

[KJ4ME]

on jeepforum.com last night, i watched the thread for the new 2009 jeep MK's (jeep patriot and compass). the jeep compass is not getting the ax just yet, 2009 production will start soon! owners of the patriot and compass seem to want the diesel option from europe and owners of the Trail Rated Patriot (yes such a thing exists) want the Freedom Drive II system to have more power. as it currently stands, if you try to climb a hill that is too steep, the CVT transmission will shut itself down to prevent damage to the belts and pulleys (i wheel with a guy that has a patriot and its the weirdest thing to watch... the car just stops mid hill. no tire spin or nothing). people who owned the vehicles had great things to say about them which im suprised about, and a lot of them even cross shopped their patriot/compass with more established CUV's like the CRV and Rav4. when a couple of compass owners were asked why they bought it over something else in the jeep line up, styling was a huge factor. compass owners like the smoother style and the front fascia over the boxy look of the rest of the line. another factor was powertrain choices. the compass/patriot is one of very few CUV's that you can get a manual transmission with AWD, the only other car i can think of that you can get the same setup in is the hyundai tucson/kia sportage. questions were asked about lifting patriots and of course jeep engineers said not a good idea and if you want a lift buy a trail rated version, its lifted 1 inch over the standard patriot. a rubicon/renegade patriot was suggested, with larger tires (patriots can only handle up to a 28-inch diameter tire) and possibly lockers. it seems that owners of jeep's small fuel sipping buggies want them to succeed and love them to peices. maybe it will just take some time for die hard jeepers to accept them into the family.

[ArmyFSJ]

I dont think diehard jeepers will ever accept the smaller varients but it is interesting that they want to try to lift them. It may be cool to see a compass lifted 6" with 35's on it cruising down the trail

[Lt. Dan]

lift kits are coming from MOPAR.... Oh, and the interior is receiving a major upgrade as well!!!

[KJ4ME]

i dont like what they are going to do with the center stack. at least the illustrations i saw were not impressive...

[Irish_Assassin]

dont think it will fly to well. jeepers wont accept it i think. i have a hard time being accepted on the trails in my jgc. and i almost never get the jeep wave. im always the underdog but i like it sometimes

[KJ4ME]

i get laughed at and told i have a pussy jeep. and the funny part is its by guys with wranglers that are chromed out, hummer h3's and grand cherokee owners. i asked one guy to come with me and he said "oh hell no, im not scratchin' my s***"

[Irish_Assassin]

you actually wheel that?

[KJ4ME]

my liberty??? of course i do! why wouldnt i?

[Irish_Assassin]

just didnt think that you did.

[trailsnail]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but why is this in the Rocky Mountains and not General? Anywho, I want to be with you when you wheel your Liberty. I thought about getting my wife something like that for a minute.