A few years ago when the Patriot arrived in showrooms, I immediately thought of the old boxy Jeep Cherokee, one of Jeep’s most popular selling vehicles. You have to admit that it is a practical design that gets the maximum cargo space in the smallest package.
The Patriot is considered by Chrysler to be a “crossover vehicle,” which means it is based on a front-wheel-drive platform but with the optional capability of all-wheel-drive. So it is basically a heavy-duty car that is almost fuel efficient as well as easy to drive in town with capabilities of light off-road duty.
Looking at the Patriot for the first time, you can’t mistake that the vehicle is not in the Jeep family. The efficient boxy square lines plus the famous 7-slot grill keep it tied to the family lines. All Patriots are 4-door and wagon-like with a one-piece opening hatch on all models.
Inside the family resemblance carries on with an efficient four-gauge dash leading in the centre area with sound system and heating/cooling system controls. Everything here is pretty straight forward as all the controls are easy to find, as they are standard Chrysler equipment.
Front bucket seats come in all models and 60/40-split rear seating is supplied in the back. As you might suspect leather-faced seats is an option for some of the models. I found the front seats comfortable with the rears average, as they are limited to their comfort due to the fact that they have a flat-back allowing them the folding feature. The boxy shape really helps in the cargo area out back, as the straight sides allow you to really load up the cargo space. Add to the fact that the rear seats fold flat gives the owner even more efficient loading space, something a lot of new vehicles lack. I found loading the Patriot easy and it carried as much or more than my own larger Jeep.
Things get a little confusing when it comes to choosing the right Patriot for your needs. As for body shapes, they are all the same but engine choices and drivetrain get a little confusing at first. The Patriot is offered with a 2L or 2.4L double overhead cam 4-cyclinder engine. Transmissions choices are 5-speed manual or automatic and lastly either front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. The car I drove was the 2.4L with the automatic and all-wheel-drive and it had plenty of power in city and highway driving. The all-wheel-drive models come with the 2.4L engine standard as it has the extra power for the rear drive wheels.
It would be my choice to choose the 2.4L engine as it has a little more power climbing steep hills and mountain roads. As for the drivetrain options, it depends on the kind of places you wish to travel. For most city dwellers, the front drive model is more than adequate for everyday trips to work and travel.
Now, if you find the styling a little bland for your tastes, Jeep offers the Compass which is basically the same vehicle but with a body style based on the Grand Cherokee. Sales statistics have shown that men prefer the Patriot’s styling while women prefer the Compass, which is quite interesting. When I showed my wife the vehicles she too chose the Compass over the Patriot.
The carrying capacity of the Patriot is what makes it special as it offers a base $20,000 price tag which I think is a good winning combination.
By Glen Konorowski