Driving Impressions, Pt. 2Family Style
Holy Cow! Loading groceries or, heaven forbid, trying to fit some home-improvement items or tools into the small trunk of my '00 Taurus is a bloody pain in the rear. Not to mention installing a child's seat in the back for a family outing. So when I was offered the Grand Cherokee to drive around for a long weekend, I squeaked out a yes, grabbed the keys, and hustled home. The Jeep did not disappoint. While it was not huge, the Grand Cherokee was pretty spacious and had a good amount of room in the rear for most of the items I needed it to carry. All the amenities were easy to access. Thank God for rear A/C. The brake and accelerator pedal control was pretty sweet as well and made adjusting the pedals to my stubby legs one-touch simple. I've heard about the turbo lag, and if it weren't for an alert truck driver, my first experience with it would have been ugly. Either it was the stink of panic in the air or the fact that I was sitting motionless in the middle of L.A. rush-hour traffic, but this guy must have known I was in a little bind and gave me the space and time I needed to get out of trouble. After the first encounter with this particular issue, believe me, you are quickly educated on what not to do.
The final judgment was rendered by my 6-year-old daughter, who, when not seeing her new Jeep in the driveway, looked at me like I just kicked her dollhouse, and said "Where is the nice red car, Daddy?" I had to explain that we only had the vehicle for a few days. We both had a good cry and crawled back into the Taurus.-Mark SnyderDiesel Power Art Director