In the latest episode of the Jeep Grand Cherokee saga, the Swedes at Teknikens Värld have released new video footage of the subsequent tests that were performed after the SUV failed the infamous moose test.
Following a second test with a different Grand Cherokee that produced similar results, the Swedish magazine summoned a group of Chrysler engineers who insisted that the car be loaded with 470kg (1,037 lbs) or 132kg (291 lbs) less than Jeep/Chrysler's own registered maximum payload of 602kg (1,327 lbs).
The magazine pointed out that with a driver and four adult passengers, there's "hardly any margin for luggage" if they adhered to Jeep's 470kg payload demand but agreed to do the test nevertheless.
We should note here that in the previous moose tests the Grand Cherokee failed, Teknikens Värld packed the car with four passengers and sandbags with a combined weight of 602kg (1,327 lbs) as well as 502 kg (1 106 lbs).
Even though the Grand Cherokee Overland 3.0 CRD V6 was less prone to flipping over with the significantly lighter payload, it still exhibited dangerous handling in the moose test at a speed of 69 to 70km/h (43.5mph), while the magazine said that in the presence of Chrysler representatives, the front tires popped seven times in three different cars.
Chrysler's official line is that Teknikens Värld overloaded the car, something that the magazine denies citing the car's certificate of registration at the Swedish Transport Agency "Transportstyrelsen", while the automaker has not yet addressed the fact that the tires pried off the rims in the tests performed in front of its engineers.
When a reader asked about the tires coming off the rims on the Detroit automaker's official blog, Chrysler Group LLC Editorial Director-Online Media Mike Driehorst gave this response:
"The Grand Cherokee is an award-winning SUV with an exemplary safety record. The magazine used an overloaded vehicle in its initial evaluation. Chrysler Group takes seriously any safety concerns and continues to analyze data from the second evaluation, but the wheel-lift seen in the first round did not reoccur."
So putting aside the debate on the maximum payload weight, Chrysler has still not explained why the Jeep's wheels popped during the tests that were performed in front of its own engineering team.
35 Comments:
Let's hear it for Chrysler and Sergio "King of FAIL" Marchionne.
How humiliating for Jeep and Chrysler!
I am not sure what is worse - leaving alone the poor results of the fully loaded 1st test or this massive generator of bad, bad publicity.Anyway the car is absolutely inadequate by modern-day standards. I am sure more rotten apples will pop out in these tests! Keep up the good work Teknikens Värld!
The scariest thought is that they want to build an Alfa Romeo on Grand Cherokee's platform...
Your not supposed to drived a JGC like that. If you want to dart around corners like that then buy a porsche, not a jeep. The general public shouldnt worry about this either because in the real world you almost never have to drive like that.
Correction....Tires popped
Lucky the wheel rims didn't dig in, that would have been some bad Mojo, that Chrysler would have a hard time refuting.
Note, rims digging in, in the real world is a plausible possibility, because most people would not counter steer in that situation, like the professional driver did.
The Mercedes M class is on the same platform already.
The most awarded SUV in the world!
Yeah, the Jeep and the Dodge are on the same platform, so weird.
I remember when Jeep went after the Suzuki Samurai when they first came out for doing the same, and now they have a car that weights more than 3 times as much doing it worst.
I remember when Chrysler bought Jeep, and within a decade managed to turn vehicles that were solid relatively reliable and safe, into junk with their redesigns, virtually all of which were inferior to the designs they replaced Everything from engines to steering units to rear ends, even electronics. It's really hard to go backwards on electronics.
After working for Chrysler for a few years I was forced to conclude that this was no accident, that it was not the result of incompetent engineers and designers at Chrysler, no, it was intentional on the part of the company's upper management, who at that time were obviously playing the warrantee shell game, and I suspect pocketing the profits they were squeezing from every margin.
Hard to believe that decades later Chrysler's upper management still continues these unethical business practices a.k.a. scams, but why wouldn't they do so unless they were still able to profit by getting away with screw everyone from their customers, to their employees, to the US government, through the manufacture of unsafe deathtraps like these? Failure isn't just synonymous with Chrysler, it's the business model they have chosen to perpetuate in the name of profit. And until they are no longer allowed to get away with it, they'll just keep doing it over and over again, because in the current corporate climate and culture, passing off products that are known to be unsafe or unreliable, is considered part and parcel of a successful business model. In order to generate maximum profits, a certain number of customer casualties is an acceptable part of their calculations, you just can't get them to admit publicly.
You just know that Chrysler, and I'm sure others in the US who have tested these vehicles, have seen the exact same results. Why do you think we haven't heard about it till now, how many people do you think got greased to keep this quiet? How many folks in the business, at magazines, and at supposedly independent testing organizations here in the US, had their retirement packages and yearly bonuses topped off with a nice little whipped cream $$$$ an a cherry $$ on top, in order to make sure this didn't come out before these vehicles were on the road?And of course Chrysler's Internet propaganda team is already hard at work blaming Fiat and their people. That won't wash, this cancer at the heart of the company goes back five decades now. No responsible person would put their family in a Chrysler product like this, because as we can see here, to do so is to knowingly and willingly endanger their lives.
Hi, Heh Jeep makers......I like Jeeps....Actually we're on our fifth, but why would the tires blow?
it seems like their using duck tape to fix a broken window on an fighter jet, weighing the car up only slows its respond to avoid an accident and ruins fuel consumption, im just worried about those who actually bought this death trap
Teknikens Värld is a very old and reliable Swedish car magazine and they do some of the toughest testing in the entire world. I can't think of any other magazine that really goes all the way and puts the cars through real hell to see where they fail. They don't just take them out and see how fast and cool they are and to check the interior and bla bla bla... they test EVERYTHING. And Sweden's big on safety, that's priority number one. They've been conducting the now so famous moose test for decades. The reason for this test is that most car magazines and carmakers do this test as if they would now when the "moos" comes running out of the woods. So they steere more gentle and "professionally" so to say. A Teknikens Värld moose test is a wild abrupt steering movement exactly like what would happen if a moose comes running out of the woods on a narrow road. Anybody that questions this test should try to live for a couple of years in Scandinavia. You can easily see moose every week when driving. And they're BIG, and they appear out of nowhere since they can be running straight across the road full speed. Anybody that has been close to or in a moose accident knows that breaking is pointless because you're sense of reaction will absolutely not have time to react. So before thinking you snap your steering wheel and steer away, since that's first automatic reaction. Then this is what happens. That's what this test is trying to recreate, not a slalom by a professional driver. (Though the driver conducting this test is a former highway patrol cop). Every single time a car fails this test it is a huge thing, because it is very dangerous. And very real life applied if you live in for example Sweden. Teknikens Värld is very serious about this and they follow the manufacturers weight limits by it's maximum allowance. Imagine the typical Swedish family going for a skiing vacation with fully loaded trunk with and all kids in the car. That's why they need to test it with all passengers and maximum weight allowance. The fact that the Jeep behaved really bad even under weigh allowance is scary.... Nowadays with ESP and anti-roll, NO car or truck should behave like this. It is unacceptable. These videos speak for themselves. I know a Jeep is better off road than a Volvo or similar, but they still need to be able to program the systems so that it does not allow this much roll.
But the settings of both suspensios maybe doesn't be the same.
Who needs safety when you can cook the books like Sergio Marchionne, Supreme Ruling God of Fiat and Chrysler, President of ACEA, who is hailed by the automotive and management Press as one of the most successful managers in the world?
Sergio Marchionne can't be wrong. The man is the Pope of the automotive world. He is infallible. He is the One Supreme Ruling God of the Automotive Industry Universe who took the failed Fiat Group and made it sell a billion cars per MONTH; He is the Allah, Jesus, YHWH, Jupiter, Osiris, Krishna and Cthulhu of the automotive Pantheon - all in one. How dare those bloody Swedes make his divinely-inspired cars look like crap? Who is *anyone* to question Sergio Marchionne and the primates he employs in the R&D department of his firms, whose total budget (for R&D work alone) is the princely sum of $0.01/year?
Heretics! Haters! Wait until you feel the wrath of the Sergio and his internet shills who shall come here with pitchforks, axes and torches!
You have constipation of the brain and diarrhea of the tongue.
You make the right wing wacko element look sane.
GET HELP.
Shill detected.
Read aaronbbrown's rant before commenting about my entry. I as well would not buy a Chrysler product again, but the anti American, anti free entreprise rehtoric is over the top.
Unlike most of the bloggers on this site I base my likes and dislikes on the car, not the manufacturer.
It's about time for some grown up discussions.
Did Chrysler do a job on you or are you just as crazy as aaronbbrown.
Another member of the aaronbbrown cadre.
This goes back many years, US car munufacturers are for the most, there to make money to the extent that, whatever sells is good enough. Its sounds harsh but true. Go do some research and see how much work the people at for eg Lexus put into a new car before it goes on sale. There is a sence of pride/honor and passion not found from most USA car companies. The public must STOP taking crap from people who gamble with there lives and think its ok as long as they dont know.
I provide this link from Euro NCAP, European new car assessment program, Jeep Grand Cherokee 2011 ESC test results
http://www.euroncap.com/Player.aspx?nk=ccf0ba90-198a-40be-8024-2b612232b02f&sel=fc0d0f01-fde1-471f-a6af-d4af18699310
Please check out Euro NCAP test of 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee at 80 km/h ESC test video
Euro ncap don't load the cars up with more than just a driver. Ofcourse the car is more stable when it's half a ton lighter.
Nobody cares about this video of the Euro NCAP moose test completing okay becase does not show the test done with every stock tire package and with the specific loading pattern that can be a real life situation. This magazine test shows a failure under what should be safe operating conditions and Chrysler denying the incident ever happening. Since auto makers know what tests Euro NCAP tests for, if it could have happened on the Euro NCAP tests, the car would have been revised to pass and we probably would not have seen the video of it failing. Just like cars used to gracefully pass front crash tests untill someone decided to do crash tests at an offset and many american cars completely failed
It might have passed the ESC testing, did you read the rest of the Euro NCAP testing results? - The Drivers SEAT RAIL FAILED only just held together, causing the head to bottom out on the air bag!!
Jeeps response is to not fix existing vehicles - I am seriously regretting purchasing this car.
http://www.euroncap.com/results/jeep/grand_cherokee/2011/460.aspx
It is the responsibility of the tire manufacture to make tires fit for the road and the vehicles that they are designed to go on. As much as I agree that American automakers have a history of being crooked, the cars are generally crap and their business ethics are lacking, I cannot say that Chrysler corp is in absolute blame for the tires blowing out.
You wouldn't blame your family Doctor for an error made by a Surgeon. Lets look at the real issue, the tires are crap, the jeep might be crap too but that's not what this is about, it's what it's being made into; the tires failed first and that's the problem.
For all the idiots who think this is a "Rant", eat it. Its a commentary, if you can't tell the difference pick up a dictionary.
Consumer Reports magazine does excellent testing--is not supported by ads and a 100% unbiased.
wow,this is my favourites jeep car ever,
I like the design and the stability control which makes this jeep so cool when across the road
@Onge : I'm agree with you,it is not all the mistake of Chrysler corp,
the new tires are so crap, the jeep might be crap
too but that's not what is about,
moreover the tires failed first and that is the problem.
Oh yes, blame it on the tires. Like Ford blamed Firestone's tires for not working right. And do you know WHY they did not work right? Let me freshen up your memory.
The Ford Explorer was basically a '60s pick-up truck with a posh interior for five adults. Yes, that's the technological standard we're talking about. A '60s pick-up truck, with an ancient suspension, ZERO R&D to bring it up to modern standards (unless you think you can plausibly say that adding more seats and electric gadgets is R&D), made to cope with modern traffic and the kind of driving of a soccer mom.
Soccer moms started driving it as if it was a normal vehicle. Problem is, it had a high center of gravity and this meant that, when taking fast bends, it tended to go belly-up. And NHTSA's horrendously outdated directive 216 (which let manufacturers make cars with wimpy A-pillars) meant that such accidents tended to result in a shortening of the front seat passengers by about 8 inches (i.e. decapitation).
So, what did the bright eggheads at Ford do? They said "we'll reduce grip by underinflating the tires! That way, the drivers will be forced to turn slower!".
So, instead of Firestone's recommended inflation pressure, they recommended a much lower 26 psi. Yes, 26 psi. Do you know what happens when a tire is underinflated that much? It eventually overheats and bursts.
And then, all Hell broke loose! But everyone blamed Firestone, not the jackasses at Ford who told drivers to misuse the tire.
And now, you're telling us that the tires are to blame for the Jeep's fiasco?
No dude. Jeep done goofed. And the consequences will never be the same.
Fail Detector below gave an answer you'd better read. Ford (with the Explorer) told drivers to UNDERINFLATE the tires at 26 psi, when Firestone recommended 34 psi. When the car manufacturer tells you to misuse the tire (because underinflating it IS misuse) to cover up the fact that the car is crap, the car manufacturer is entirely at fault.
Your paycheck from Fiat/Chrysler is here, come and pick it up.
Dude, I understand you want to perform fellatio to the Milton Friedman's corpse (or, perhaps you work for Fiat/Chrysler and want to show your bosses what a good lapdog you are), but we're talking about a piece of shit "car" that puts people in danger. So, take your crap elsewhere, ok?
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