Large, luxury SUV offers strong power, abundant technology, and off-road capabilities.

By Keith Griffin

Imagine the poshest living room you’ve ever been in. Put a steering wheel in it. That’s the 2024 Jeep Grand Wagoneer in a nutshell. It has one of the nicest interiors offered in a large, luxury SUV.

Unfortunately, it rides like a living room, which isn’t a great attribute. Granted, it was never driven with a full complement of seven, which this vehicle easily accommodates. The additional weight could affect handling. When piloted solo, though, it tended to float along the highway. The ride, if possible, was too soft.

However, there is nothing soft about the Grand Wagoneer’s performance. It has a Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six-cylinder engine, delivering 510 horsepower and 500 lb.-ft. of torque, is standard across the entire Grand Wagoneer lineup. Sometimes big vehicles don’t get enough torque, which you rely on for acceleration. Greater Hartford is notorious for short on-ramps on its highways. That power is needed.

The beauty of the twin-turbo, six-cylinder engine is it is up to 15% more efficient than larger V-8 engines. The fuel economy, though, still lags. The Grand Wagoneer is rated at 13 mpg around town and 18 mpg on the highway. During the week in the model loaned to me by Jeep, combined fuel economy was 14.9 mpg. A downside is the Grand Wagoneer runs on premium fuel, which means higher operating costs.

Then, again, if you’re paying $94,495 for this large, luxury SUV are gasoline prices even an issue? If they are, you might consider the 2024 Lexus TX, which has comparable interior space but features a four-cylinder turbo engine instead but 50% better around-town fuel economy ratings. Other comparable luxury, large SUVs worth consideration are the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade. The former handles better while the latter has been the gold standard in this segment forever.

This being a Jeep, the Grand Wagoneer comes standard with the Quadra-Drive II 4×4 system with active low range and rear electronic limited slip differential. It effortlessly handled the 15 inches of snow Mother Nature dumped on us in February.

Technology is abundant inside the Grand Wagoneer. It has up to 75 inches of total screen display and nearly 45 inches of screens along the front instrument panel. The 12-inch reconfigurable center stack touchscreen displays feature split-screen capability for dual-application operation. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard equipment and there is simultaneous connectivity for two Bluetooth-enabled phones.

Another neat feature is Amazon Fire TV Built-In, which includes access to hundreds of thousands of movies, TV shows and apps. There is an available 10.25-inch passenger screen that has four major functions: co-pilot (navigation, device management), entertainment (via HDMI or rear seat entertainment control), the ability to view the exterior vehicle cameras and the Fire TV. Other features include a standard 360-degree surround-view camera system and available night vision camera with pedestrian and animal detection, wireless charge pad, and a digital rearview mirror.

The Grand Wagoneer has best-in-class overall passenger volume and second- and third-row legroom with the most cargo volume behind the third row. I’m 6’1” so I don’t venture to the third row of any vehicle. Its legroom is measured at 36.6 inches, which is a comfortable number.

Overall, the 2024 Jeep Grand Wagoneer is a good choice. Are there better choices? The 2024 Lincoln Navigator is the strongest competitor. As long as you don’t mind driving an upscale living room, there’s a lot to be said for Jeep’s large luxury SUV.

THE FACTS

MAKE: Jeep

MODEL: Grand Wagoneer

ENGINE; Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six-cylinder engine

HORSEPOWER; 510 horsepower

TORQUE: 500 lb.-ft. of torque

FUEL ECONOMY: 13 mpg city/18 mpg highway

PRICE: $94,945 (base)

COMPETITORS: Lincoln Navigator, Cadillac Escalade, Lexus TX

Longtime West Hartford resident Keith Griffin is a veteran auto journalist whose work has been published in U.S. News & World Report, The Boston Globe and online for various New York Times companies. He is a past president of the New England Motor Press Association.

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