Here are my driving impressions from the night of 1-6-05, note, they are only my opinions.
Well, I test-drove the new 2005 Jeep Liberty "Limited" on unplowed roads last night. I've driven the Libertys when they first came out, I was not impressed with the stiff ride and Jeep Wrangler look of the grill. For 2005, Jeep changed the grill and transformed the look. In my opinion, they hit the nail on the head now. This vehicle now gets an A+ in the style department, but did they change the rough ride? I turned the key with low expectations, and the 3.7L V6 roared to life. The new interior cockpit has an excellent layout, but my main goal here was to evaluate this vehicle’s ride and 4WD system on horrible roads. The rough ride is now gone, and the ride is smooth for a 4WD. My main concern was that the short wheelbase would make this vehicle want to slide around or spin out on slippery corners. To my surprise, the Liberty was incredibly stable around corners, and the ABS worked perfectly; I was very impressed! The 4WD system in this vehicle was the premium “Select-trac” system. Once shifted into FULLTIME mode, the vehicle was transformed. This system performed flawlessly and the Liberty conquered the deep snow like it was dry pavement. I was absolutely and utterly impressed with the 4WD capability of this unit. I could not get this Liberty to misbehave. It tracked perfectly and effortlessly in 9.5 inches of snow. Most 4WD vehicles like my '04 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the new '05 model are a little jerky when traveling in and out of existing vehicle tracks or ruts. Not the Liberty, it tracked perfectly. In fact, if your eyes were closed, you wouldn’t have known when you were in a rut, and when you were out.

I don’t know if I’ve explained it well enough with words, but trust me this Jeep Liberty should have been named the Jeep Stability. I've test driven just about everything from Jeep and Dodge in deep snow now, and trust me, Jeep has found something truly magical with the wheelbase geometry of this vehicle. The Liberty has earned the Jeep name, and I highly recommend it.

Note: This vehicle did not have the “trac-lok” limited slip rear differential and I would advise against this option for one major reason; although limited slip will help in the mud and off road driving, they can make cornering dangerous on slippery snowy roads.


Amount Paid (US$): 25
Condition: New
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: Limited