Invading Westchester County In The 2022 Jeep Wagoneer And Grand Wagoneer

Remarkably, while Jeep has long been considered an important cash generator for whoever owned the brand over the past several decades, the brand hasn’t participated in one of the most profitable segments of the US car market, full-size SUVs. GM has dominated the field with the Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Escalade family basically forever. Ford has been the most notable challenger and even Nissan and Toyota have entries. Now, nearly 30 years after the last vehicle to wear the Wagoneer badge went away, the name is back on the biggest Jeep yet. Can it compete with its cross-town rivals?

2021 marks the 80th anniversary of Jeep, a brand with a long and convoluted history. When the original general purpose vehicle that eventually became known as the Jeep debuted in World War II the brand itself didn’t exist. After the war it passed through multiple owners including Willies, American Motors and finally Chrysler which itself has been transformed several times in the past three decades from DaimlerChrysler to Fiat Chrysler to Stellantis. 

The original Wagoneer that debuted in 1962 was arguably the very first luxury SUV. However, by modern standards, it’s by no means full size. In fact, at 186.4 inches long, it’s 3.4-inches shorter than the 2021 Grand Cherokee. The new 2022 Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer measure 214.7-inches stem to stern, about 4-inches longer than the standard length models from GM and Ford, but a foot shorter than the longer Suburban and its siblings. 

There are two flavors of the new big Jeep being offered, the standard Wagoneer which is hardly spartan in its appointments and the truly plush Grand Wagoneer which is targeted at the Escalade and Lincoln Navigator crowd. We got to drive both variants along a route that took us from Manhattan’s meatpacking district to the northeast portion of Westchester county and back to Hudson Yards. 

Unlike most of the current unibody Jeeps, the Wagoneers use a body-on-frame layout like the Wrangler and Gladiator. In this case it is related to the Ram 1500 pickups but quite substantially modified. Among the changes are a fully independent multi-link rear suspension. Coil springs are standard on all four corners, but air springs and adaptive dampers are optional on Wagoneers and standard on Grand Wagoneers. The air suspension can lower the vehicle by 1.6-inches for easier entry and exit as well as improved aerodynamics at highway speeds. It can also raise the body by two-inches for off-roading where it can get up to 10-inches of ground clearance with the right combination of tires. 

As with most modern trucks and SUVs, the frame is fully boxed and made from a mix of several grades of high-strength steels to provide optimum rigidity and crash performance. One interesting detail Jeep incorporated is a standard class 4 trailer hitch at the rear. The hitch bar is welded to the main frame rails to provide durability and support the best-in-class (for now) 10,000-pound towing capability. 

At launch, only V8 gas engines will be offered. Wagoneers get the 392-hp 5.7-liter Hemi with the 48V mild hybrid eTorque system. The mild hybrid recovers energy during braking through a belted starter generator and lithium ion battery and provides up to 130 lb-ft of torque boost in addition to keeping the engine for up to several minutes at a time when the vehicle is stationary. Grand Wagoneers get the 471-hp 6.4-liter Hemi with cylinder deactivation. 

When the Grand Wagoneer concept was shown last summer it featured the same plug-in hybrid powertrain used on the Wrangler 4XE but Jeep officials have declined to discuss when this will arrive on the production model. Given that it is being put in the Grand Cherokee later this year, and Stellantis has made clear that it will be offering electrified options on all Jeeps by 2025 including battery electric variants, the plug-in Wagoneer is surely more a question of when rather than if. Probably sometime in 2022. 

All the Wagoneer variants use the same eight-speed automatic transmission used across the Stellantis lineup and as always, it’s well behaved. With either V8, this beast of an SUV moves off the line with authority and has no problem merging into highway traffic, even in crowded New York. At start of production, all of the Wagoneers will also have one of three four-wheel-drive systems although rear-wheel-drive models will be added later.  

The Wagoneer Series II gets the Quadra-Trac 1 full-time 4WD with a single speed transfer case. The Series III gets Quadra-Trac II which adds a two-speed transfer case and hill descent control. Optional on the Wagoneer and standard on the Grand Wagoneer is Quadra-Drive II. This top-end system adds an electronic limited slip rear differential to help deliver torque to the wheel with the most traction. The Quadra-Trac II and Quadra-Drive II also offer a Selec-Terrain system that lets the driver choose between Auto, Sport, Rock, Snow and Sand/Mud modes. As with similar mode selection systems on other off-road capable vehicles, these make adjustments to slip thresholds and suspension height among other variables. The two-speed transfer cases also deliver a crawl ratio of up to 48:1.

We got to try a bit of off-roading at our lunch stop and as you would expect from a Jeep, it handled rock crawling, and twist moguls with aplomb. Given its size, you probably won’t want to take a Wagoneer many of the places you would go with a Wrangler, but it should have no problem getting to a cabin in the woods as long as the trees are far enough apart. 

Speaking of the Wagoneer’s size, at 83.6-inches wide, this is probably not the ideal vehicle for someone that has to commute into a city like Manhattan every day. It does a very good job of filling space in the lane and driving down the Hudson parkway with a concrete barrier on one side and traffic on the other, I had to pay close attention to avoid contact with either. In the suburbs it will do fine. The Grand Wagoneers also have a digital rearview mirror in the cabin (optional on Series I, standard on other models) that does wonders for improving the view to the rear. 

While the width may be cumbersome on some narrower roads, it does mean that the Wagoneers do feel extremely roomy inside. Shoulder, hip, leg and head room are all ample. Even the third row easily accommodates this writer’s 5-foot-11-inch frame. 

In the big truck space, Ram has made a name for itself with the best cabin environments in the segment and the Stellantis design team has taken it up a notch with the Wagoneer family. Nappa leathers are standard on Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneer Series I while the other GW trims get even nicer Palermo leathers. The non-prefixed models get 12-way power adjustments in the front row while GWs gets 24-way and all front seats are heated and ventilated, a feature that is available or standard in the second row as well. 

When Chrysler first started introducing cup holders to its minivans in the 1980s, the race to add more cupholders quickly ramped up. In 2021, that competition is for USB ports. At a minimum there are at least 8 and up to 11 including both USB A and C ports in all three rows. There are also 3 HDMI ports with one in the first row and one on each of the screens if the rear seat entertainment option is included. 

Speaking of screens, up to seven are available in the Grand Wagoneer. The standard models get a 10.25-inch instrument cluster and 10.1-inch center touchscreen. The Grands bump this to 12.3-inches and 12-inches respectively.  The Grand Wagoneer also has a pair of 10.25-inch touchscreens for climate control in the first and second rows, with the front row display being articulated to access the storage bin behind it. Another 10.25 inch display just for front passengers is standard on Grand Wagoneer Series III and optional on other trims. This display features a polarizing filter so the driver can’t see it. As a result the passenger can watch videos or interact with the navigation or other apps. 

All Wagoneers get the new Uconnect 5 system that is based on Android Automotive. It’s full-featured and quite responsive with an easy to use interface. The default navigation maps are provided by TomTom but the system also supports wired or wireless connections to Android Auto or AppleAAPL CarPlay so you can use the media apps, messaging or navigation of your choice. I used a mix with the drive route already programmed in the TomTom navigation and PocketCasts running some podcasts in Android Auto. The navigation prompts are also mirrored in the instrument cluster and heads up display. A wireless charging pad is available in the storage bin at the front of the center console. 

Another feature that first appeared in the Grand Wagoneer concept is Jeep’s new branded premium audio with McIntosh labs. The Grand Cherokee L already offers a McIntosh system and both Wagoneer variants also offer it. A 950W, 19-speaker system is optional on the Wagoneer Series III and standard on the Grand Wagoneer Series II and III. Optional on the GW Series II and standard on Series III and Obsidian is a 1375W system with 23 speakers including a 12-inch subwoofer. Both versions include a Uconnect app that displays a virtual version of McIntosh’s signature blue backlit meters. It’s a neat little touch that doesn’t add any useful functionality, but if you’re a McIntosh fan you’ll probably appreciate it. 

Of course, premium audio systems are all about sound. I’ll stipulate that my 55 year old ears have been exposed to way too many rock concerts and race cars over the years to be able discern some of the aural subtleties that audiophiles claim to be able to hear when playing their heavy vinyl albums through gold oxygen-free cables. That said, I still have a reasonably broad range of hearing from lows to highs and playing a variety of music from Vivaldi cello concertos to AC/DC to the Clash, both systems sounded really good and clear with no distortion. Is it better than the premium systems from competitors? I can’t say without back to back comparisons and even then, probably not. But I doubt any Wagoneer owners will be disappointed. 

Another aspect of the Wagoneer that won’t disappoint is the driving dynamics. Four-wheel drive Wagoneers range from 6,200 to 6,400-lbs empty but aside from the aforementioned limitations created by its large footprint, they feel surprisingly nimble on the road. Our drive route included a mix from potholed Manhattan to Hudson Valley parkways to twisting rural roads. The Wagoneers handled all of it with surprising aplomb. 

You can perceive the more prominent contours of the road through your backside and ears, but body motions were nicely snubbed. Even over some of the worst pavement, there was little head toss and both flavors remained comfortable and never floaty. Again, without a back to back, it’s hard to say if it's better than GM’s latest big SUVs, but those are definitely a step up from the current Ford/Lincoln generation. 

It’s hard to pick a clear winner on the interiors between a Navigator, Escalade and Grand Wagoneer. The current Lincoln is a bit more traditional feeling, but that may soon change. The Escalade has those gorgeous OLED displays and feels just a touch more modern. The Jeep strikes a great balance and offers features not available in its competitors as well as Jeep off-road capabilities with available two-speed transfer cases.

The Escalade does offer Super Cruise hands-free highway driving. At launch, the Wagoneers include a hands-on active drive assist that combines adaptive cruise control with lane centering. Like Super Cruise, the hands-on Jeep system includes capacitive sensors in the steering wheel to detect when the driver’s hands are on the wheel, a much more reliable solution than torque sensors used by many other companies. Jeep isn’t saying exactly when, but a hands-free system similar to Super Cruise will also be offered, but current vehicles lack some of the sensors required and won’t be upgradeable. 

If fuel efficiency is a concern, neither of the current V8 powertrains are going to excite you. The 5.7-liter is rated at 17 mpg combined with the 6.4-l only managing 15 mpg. The 4XE should do significantly better and eventually a battery electric version, but that’s still at least 3 years away. 

As the first full-size SUV from what used to be known as Chrysler since the demise of the Dodge Ramcharger 20 years ago, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are able entries that appear to be fully competitive with the established players while offering features and capabilities none of the competitors do. Jeep has been moving steadily upmarket over the past decade and with the new Grand Cherokee and now the Wagoneer family seems ready to take on the incumbent luxury brands from the UK, Germany, Japan and Detroit. 

The biggest challenge for Jeep is actually the wave of electric competitors that are about to arrive including Rivian R1S, BMW iX, and entries from Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Range Rover and elsewhere. 

Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers are in production now and start at $72,500 delivered for the Series II 4WD and range up to over $105,000 for the loaded Grand Wagoneer Series III. A rear-drive Series I Wagoneer will launch later in the model year starting at under $60,000.