The Unsealed 4X4 Reivew: 2014 JEEP CHEROKEE TRAILHAWK

By Unsealed 4X4 7 Min Read

Hill End, the site of one of Australia’s great 19th century gold rushes, seemed so right to put this 4X4 through its paces. Jeep is an internationally famous 4X4 brand, but here its products have not always been viewed as meeting the 4X4 gold standard.  Would the US-built Trailhawk be 24-carat, or fool’s gold, or something in between?

The 2014 Jeep Cherokee range comes with several models and the $47,500 Trailhawk is the top dog. It’s “trail rated” – not just a soft-roader but marketed as a fair dinkum 4X4 with low range, locking rear diff, recovery attachment points, a 25mm factory lift, clearance of 221mm, 17-inch Yokohama Geolander tyres and decent underbody protection.

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Hill End? I was interested to see how it performed at the end of one hill in particular. There is a spectacular unsealed route called the Bridle Track that snakes south from Hill End towards Bathurst, about 60km away on the NSW Central Tablelands.

It was carved from the bush a century and a half ago to move provisions and gold between the two centres. By all accounts, travelling on it in one of the old Cobb & Co coaches you can see at the Hill End museum was an agonising experience. Much to the disgust of 4X4ers and the little Hill End business community, the Bridle Track has been blocked since 2010 by a landslide at Monaghans Bluff, 19km south of Hill End, that the authorities have declined to clear.

But at its northern end there’s still access to the awesome 8km 4X4-only climb from the Turon River to the top of Hawkins Hill. It’s winding, narrow, rough and steep, barely clinging to the side of the precipitous hill.

It was on Hawkins Hill on October 19, 1872, that the famous 286kg Beyers and Holtermann nugget – the largest single piece of reef gold ever discovered in the world – was found in the Star of Hope mine.

I wanted to find out if the Jeep would leave me feeling like I too had struck it rich on Hawkins Hill, or leave me disappointed like the vast majority of miners who tried their luck there.

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The nine-speed automatic transmission teamed with the 3.2 litre V6 petrol engine was smooth, powerful and responsive on the open road heading to Bathurst. The handling felt balanced and car-like.

The Trailhawk averages 10 litres per 100km and boasts a 60-litre tank.

Inside, the generous touchscreen display gives you a cool array of helpful things to fool around with (including built-in satellite navigation), which was distracting enough that I was glad to let my co-pilot take over the controls there.

On the dirt, tackling Hawkins Hill both down and up, the Trailhawk impressed. It felt sturdy and sure-footed, never stumbling.

Although snow was predicted for Hill End that winter weekend, it never eventuated so I didn’t get to click the Trailhawk’s 4X4 selector into snow mode.

But down by the banks of the Turon River there were deep, boggy wheel ruts in side tracks that inspired the switch to sand/mud mode.

Although the Trailhawk was up to its axles in mud, it breezed through them without having to resort to low range or the rear locker.

Lastly, I liked the appearance  of the Trailhawk, inside and out. It’s modern and refined but also ruggedly handsome, with enough of Jeep’s legendary military DNA to give it a hint of aggression. The iconic seven-slot grill has never looked more hip. I thought the Trailhawk won the beauty parade of 4X4s lined up outside Hill End’s historic Royal Hotel.

On Hawkins Hill they delved up to 240m deep to find the rich veins of gold-bearing quartz. To find the gold of a mid-sized SUV that looks good and impresses on-road and off, go no further than your nearest Jeep dealership and get a Trailhawk.

Stuff we loved

My kids loved the retractable sun roof, especially at night when they could look up and see the bright stars in the crystal-clear winter sky. It also made the vehicle feel more spacious.

My wife loved the comfy and heated leather seats. What she loved even more in frosty Hill End was that with just two clicks of the electronic key you could turn the engine on before getting into the car. That allowed the seats to get toasty warm before planting your backside on them.

Stuff we didn’t

Call me old fashioned, but I can’t believe the in-car CD player has already been declared obsolete. I’ve got a CD collection that I rarely find the time to listen to, except when going on long drives. So imagine my disappointment when I jumped into the Trailhawk and found there was nowhere to insert my favourite Bob Dylan CD. It was like I was listening to an apocalyptic mix of Bob singing Hard Rain and The Times They Are a Changing simultaneously. Oh, the agony! Sorry Jeep, but some of us haven’t got our favourite music stored on Bluetooth-enabled smart phones yet.

Once my border collie Zippy had jumped in the back of the Jeep, there wasn’t much room for anything else. A family going on any sort of camping adventure with a Trailhawk will need to invest in a trailer or a roof rack.

 


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