2007 Jeep Compass

Editor: Sam Moses
All-new crossover with big-SUV virtues.

Driving Impressions

The 2.4-liter World Engine is the right powerplant for the Jeep Compass. It's an excellent engine, smoother and quieter than it was recently imagined a four-cylinder could be. It uses the latest technology, including an aluminum block and cylinder heads, and electronically controlled variable valve timing that helps optimize torque. It makes a reasonable 172 horsepower and 165 pound-feet of torque at 4400 rpm, and delivers an estimated 25 city/29 highway miles per gallon, with 4WD and the five-speed manual gearbox, or 23/26 mpg with the CVT automatic.

A four-wheel-drive Sport weighs 3326 pounds, so the acceleration is hardly neck-snapping, but the Compass is no dog. It just takes some forethought and bit of patience to get it to do what you might demand.

Our test model was a Limited with the CVT automatic and Autostick, but we also drove a Sport with the CVT without Autostick and another Sport model with a five-speed manual transmission. The five-speed manual is good, and gets the most out of the four-cylinder engine. But if you need an automatic transmission and believe it's worth the extra cost, then you should go for the Autostick option (available only with the Limited), because it totally changes the nature of the CVT, giving the Compass two great transmissions in one vehicle. These Continuously Variable Transaxles, or CVTs, operate like automatic transmissions: Just put it in Drive and go.

However, the Autostick feature allows semi-manual shifting for those who are so inclined. We like this feature. We were dazzled by the crisp and immediate upshifts and downshifts using this six-speed Autostick. A Jeep engineer explained that the nature of the continuously variable transaxle makes such quick shifts possible. Jeep has made the two systems beautifully compatible. The Compass Autostick is as sharp as any manual automatic we've felt, including those on expensive sport sedans. With such accuracy, it always works: easily downshifting to knock off a few miles per hour for bends, instead of using the brakes; or downshifting to pass on a two-lane, instead of waiting for the transmission to kick down on its own.

Along the winding wooded roads between Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Ocean, the Compass revealed itself to be steady and silent thanks to liberal use of sound deadening material, sealants and structural adhesives. The suspension does all the work as it should, isolating the cabin from the bumps and tosses. We aimed for potholes and weren't jarred when we hit them. There was none of the old Jeep head-toss, or side-to-side jouncing, and there was no trace of wallow over ripples. Only the good feedback was transmitted through the steering wheel to our hands. The turn-in for corners was secure, with no play in the wheel or wandering.

Jeep has designed a new four-wheel-drive system for the Compass, which it calls Freedom Drive I 4x4. On the surface it works much like all-wheel-drive systems by other manufacturers: On a dry, flat road, virtually all of the power goes to the front wheels, but as traction is needed elsewhere, as much as 60 percent can shift to the rear wheels. The coupling is through a two-stage clutch system that's magnetic and electronically controlled, rather than viscous, and Jeep says this is markedly more efficient.

We drove the Compass over 30 miles of loose, wet gravel roads that climbed, descended and twisted in every direction. We pushed it to find some limits, and they were suprisingly high; the Compass didn't skate on the slick round stones as we expected it to, even with standard touring tires, although the ESP activated a couple of times to keep us out of the ditches. We slammed on the brakes at about 40 mph, and the ABS with rough-road detection worked hard but successfully.

When we reached the beach, we climbed into a Compass Sport with the Continuously Variable Transaxle and no Autostick, and optional Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tires that aren&#