The spiffinator has arrived….the price for the compass inst too spiffy :-0

the compass has some GREAT features for the price… but good god that thang is uuuuhgleeeeey.

Having owned a ‘89 Comanche, ‘92 Wrangler, and currently an ‘05 Wrangler this thing disgusts me. The Patriot at least has more capability and is FAR less ugly.

both patriot and compass are badly styled. What happened to Chrysler’s styling dpartment?

look!! that union worker in the picture is vandalising the first one off the production line

I thought assembly workers aren’t allowed to wear bracelets because they may scratch paint or glass… Yeah, the Compass is indeed very ugly.

the Compass is built off the Dodge Caliber, which is the next generation for the SRT-4. Jeep used to have the Eagle brand ,with 4X4 cars not long ago. The Compass is a work in progress, aimed at the “all-wheel-drive + turbo” market..and you should see these cars soon at auto shows, and racing with EVO’s and STi’s not far after that..

That is so Selfish. the idiots that buy these won’t have to look at them while they drive them. Maybe I should poke my eyes out with a stick.

craig you are so funny, thats the best joke ive heard all year. All the power in the world won’t make a Caliber or Compass or Patriot handle any better.

What’s all that crap about DC having the best direction of any american brand? Because if they had any direction, they wouldn’t be out ruining one of the most respected brand names by sticking it with product that totally doesn’t fit the image it has created in it’s long history.

But Evo’s and Stis are so last year in more sophisticated parts of the world (i.e Americas coasts and Europe)
A white Gti on 19 or 20″ rims is where its at in hip neighbourhoods.
Good luck with these afterbirths

Craig, if the production compass stayed true to the concept in traditional DC fashion, there will not be a problem. The Compass was a kick ass concept with piss poor production excecution.

Doppleganger, Have you driven one? if not, how the hell do you know what the Caliber/Compass/Patriot are going to handle like?

Oh I get it now, Imperial is the new upmarket brand for Kia

Ummm, Eagle cars weren’t Jeeps, they were rebadged Chryslers and Mitsubishis or reengineered Renaults–sometimes the best-looking and performing versions, but nonetheless not Jeeps. And the AMC Eagle wasn’t a Jeep either.

It’s strange; the concept of a Compass-type vehicle is much more appealing to me than a traditional Jeep, but the execution is not to my taste at all (more appealing than the bone-ugly Caliber, but overall too gimmicky and busy), while I think the Patriot is the best-styled Jeep in a long time (bastard stepchild or not). Too bad it’s not available until fall.

Mike, you are right, I haven’t driven one, but I bet driving one won’t change my opinion. When it comes to small cars the europeans know a thing or two. I bet there is a whole layer of engineering sophistication that has been value engineered out of these products

That woman’s shirt looks like the “Wings of Honda” logo….hmm not a good shirt to be wearing as a UAW member.

I think she is too overweight to build cars. SHe might make the seats sag or damage the suspension.

Doppleganger: tuck in your skirt, your bias is showing.

“They handle like ****. I have not driven one. I do not know anyone who has. I never will. because they handle like ****.”

Dude, YOU take the Wednesday Dumbass Award for Quality Close-Mindedness. Thanks for the laugh!

Mike, thanks for your input. I still aint buying one, and I doubt you will either, because lets face it they are not very good and are ugly too. I spent too long in europe to fall for the sub-standard product being foisted on american buyers. Funny i love Mercedes-Benz cars, Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep just doesnt do it for me. Maybe I should buy an American made ML class, or an X5 or Z4. maybe an AMerican Accord or Toyota or Hyundai. These are all made by American labor and i want them, so it must be GM or Chryslers or Fords product that is wrong

I don’t want a compass either… but that is because I think they are ugly as sin. I test drove a Caliber and they handle fantastic! I WILL test drive a compass and the patriot, just to see how they differ, and chances are I will end up in a Patriot because it will probably be the best all around package for me…

you have european tastes, and you admit that openly… there is not a problem with that either. But to talk out of your ass about how a vehicle you have never driven (never will drive, and never know anyone who will drive) handles is blatent stupidity!

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and tastes, but I am not going to talk about a blind spot on a FJ Cruiser because I have never been in one. I am not going to talk about Hyundai’s interior fit and finnish because I have not been in one. I surely am not going to claim that the SUV’s from MB and BMW handle like ****… because I have never driven one to know! cheers…

I won’t buy a car made by fat people, they shouldn’t be encouraged to over-eat.

I agree, the Dodge Caliber and the Jeep Patriot are very nice. But the Jeep Compass looks like Chrysler design department really needs a real COMPASS to SORT OUT that UGLY FRONT end.

At least in Europe the Caliber will be available with 1 decent component:

A VW 2.0 TDi Turbo Diesel Engine

I guess I was out of the loop on this one. I just assumed that since all Jeeps are ugly… that’s kinda what they were going for. Uglier the better off road! You don’t feel bad when you scratch & dent them.

so RR, how’s that Freelander treating you?

There’s a new freelander outsoon and its way better looking than any Jeep

actually, here stateside, the first gen freelander sold so well they dropped the name for the second gen!

meet LR2, please forget the freelander….

Actually When MG Rover went bust the supply of K Series V6 Engines dried up so the Freelander was removed from the US Market

ok, you are right… the engine supply drained out so they changed the name after one model cycle…keeping the name in other markets though.

Freelander tanked in the US. They are trying to Disassociate the Freelander II from the Freelander in the US, the same way they dropped the Discovery name.

They are trying to re-invent the brand in the US. That is why they changed from Discovery to LR3.
That is why they changed from Freelander to LR2.

Range Rover, RR Sport, etc. do not have the identity problems and negative connotations with the name that would require the change.

but of course you already knew that, and the Rover engines drying up are why the LR2 is the Freelander II in every other country in the world.

And the LR brand equity is still huge. People would rather have Land Rovers and Range Rovers than Jeeps. That must make you sick.
By the way I’ve never heard you criticise a domestic nameplate product, but you are quite happy having a go at American owned foreign subsidiaries

Hey Mike,
Thanks for asking!
I got the new Freelander.. lowered it 5 inches… dual turbo…. set ‘o’ dubs…. lowered… chopped the roof a big…. and I ended up with a really expensive VWr32! But the huge benefit is the car actually makes sense now!

I love the d-90, d-110. I like what can be done with the Disco and RR’s previous to ford bastardization.

I have never liked the Freelander.

I criticized Jeep AND the Compass in this very thread… so I have no idea what you are talking about. If you want to try to take a swipe at me for not criticizing a domestic, try to do it in a thread where I don’t explicitly criticize a domestic

If people would rather have a LR or RR over a jeep, so be it. I’d rather not be embarrased
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/03/06/here-s-mud-in-your-eye-grand-cherokee-liberates-lr3-from-earth/

o’toole, at least RR Boy caught my humor (and he obviously shares my feelings about IFS IRS and no low range!

Hey Mike
I thoght you’d get a kick out of this!
Since Defenders a bit rare here and therefore expensive, we have a lot of modified disco series 1’s running about. This particular rig is owned by an Australian buddy living here in Colorado. He prepared it for the Outback Challenge in Oz.
http://www.washbrook.net/images/22206-14.jpg

Here in colorado?

I’m at Belleview and I25. mkbruin on CO4×4.org, pirate, etc……

damn, that thing is SICK!!!!! I have never seen a disco bobbed like that. I also like the interior cage, tucked away nicely. Got any specs on the suspension/drivetrain mods?

Check out the rest of his site. All mods in sickening detail.
I work north of c470 on broadway (dry creek circle) and live down south in the Hood! Highlands Ranch, CO (talk about Escalades)

Mike
I’m in the Solihull Society Land Rover Club.
http://www.solihullsociety.org/
Thor on the Forum.
What do you off-road?

I left you a PM on CO4×4
ThorRangeRover

the jeep is my car type my father has 2 grande cherokeis and a 2006 jeep compass but driveing the jeep is better than our hummer bmw x5

i forgot to say that behind our mansion my brother drives his hurrican in the mud, but yester day it broke up then we knew that only look is good but the motor is not