Down and Dirty

MANILA, Philippines - I have officially dunked seven and a half million pesos worth of luxury SUVs in mud pits, drove up and down really steep slopes and crisscrossed through some of the muddiest trails I’ve seen. All I can say is it was a delightful afternoon of getting down and dirty!

Upon invitation of CATS Motors Inc. some of the top motoring journalists and 4X4 Off Road experts in the country showed up at the Angeles Dirt Track in Pampanga to test-drive all the latest models from “Jeep”.

Under normal circumstance, last Saturday’s non-stop rain would have been grounds to cancel a typical motoring event, but not for the 70th anniversary celebration of Jeep. The more it rained, the greater the challenge for both vehicles and drivers.

Just to make sure that everyone had enough reason to drive hard, CATS PR Guru Emmy Arcilla had stacks of the finest steaks and burgers within miles of the dirt track. Every journalist that arrived was immediately presented an inch and a half of juicy tender steak, corn, buns and cola. A few sinners actually went for seconds, forgetting the tough and dizzying drive ahead!

Those of us who knew better, chose to go lean and immediately jumped into the nearest Jeep available, for test drives that would go on for several hours. Before I go into the fun stuff, just some background on why such test drives are important.

In the early years of motoring, only technicians were allowed to conduct test drives on production models. Those test drives were usually done in controlled environments or tracks where tests could be repeated and monitored. In other words, test-drives followed the basic principles of science: it must be observable and can be repeated.

As a result, the tests themselves became so controlled that it left out “real life” driving situations.

However as the world started to integrate both mass communication as well as mis-communication, manufacturers began to realize that they needed “real people” to tell their story and talk about their products. Only then could they prove what was true and disprove what was false.

One of those places is the Philippines where the backyard production of blatantly fake Jeeps cheapened what has always been an international brand of quality. Because of such misrepresentation, Jeep’s Wrangler model fell victim.

Last Saturday, we tested the full line of Jeep products through a 2.8 Kilometer auto rally cross track made even more difficult by days of pouring rain. The vehicles that CATS Motors lined up were the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6L ltd., The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7L Overland, the 2011 Wrangler Limited 70th Anniversary Edition, while on the sideline, we also viewed the stunning Grand Cherokee 70th Anniversary Edition.

For my first run, I grabbed the most expensive and most luxurious Jeep model, which was the 5.7 Liter Overland that features air suspensions. As a stylish mid-size SUV, any normal person would have misgivings about driving this vehicle through a place that has turned into a rice paddy over-night. You simply don’t want to trash such a nice thing.

Unfortunately, motoring journalists are not normal human beings so the first thing I did was to put the pedal to the metal and gunned for the first ridge. That’s when I realized with a bit of shock, that I was driving an 8-cylinder, 352-horsepower SUV.

Had it not been for “on-board intelligence”, I might have plowed into the ridge or flew over the ridge. The Overland immediately sensed that I was driving too fast and too soon towards an extremely inclined plane and adjusted its self.

Thanks to the “select terrain option” all I had to do was turn a centrally located knob from “Auto” mode to “Sand”. The select terrain also gives you other driving options such as “Snow” or “Sport”.

I was soon zooming over the track and it certainly helped that the “Overland” was a 5-speed automatic because I never had to worry or bother with shifting. This helped because the unfamiliar track coupled with above average speed forced me to concentrate on nothing else but steering and concentrating on acceleration adjustments almost like a rally driver. At one point the drive was so intense that my wedding ring literally flew off my finger!

As I write this review, I must be honest and tell you that the Overland air suspension bottomed out several times because I really pushed it on a part of the track that resembled a very wet Afghanistan highway after cluster bombings. But I have to say that never once did my teeth slam into each other or any sort of bone jarring shock.

The air suspensions obviously took all the punishment without transferring it to passengers.

At one point of the drive, our technical guide beckoned me to climb a very steep man made “hill”. It was so steep that when the full length of the Overland was on the steep side, all you could see was the sky. It was also so narrow at the top that it could only accommodate the front and rear wheels and nothing more.

Since I’m not an expert, I did not make it over the top in one go. So I decided to free wheel and roll down. No luck! This SUV is so intelligent it won’t tolerate risky driving under such risky conditions.

The technical guide explained that Jeeps are equipped with “Hill Hold” ascent and descent technology that will make the vehicle slowly climb up the hill on its own if you want it or will lock down to stop you from rolling off the hill if you don’t make it or if you freak out.

So in this case, I had to step on the brakes, go on reverse and literally back down the hill and not roll off it.

With four large men on board, the Overland was as agile and powerful enough never to need 4-wheel option. That would have made my driving very easy but no fun since the Overland power to weight ratio felt very balanced that I simply slowed down at sharp corners and curves and allowed the hulk of the vehicle slide me through.

As I drove into the drivers area, the crowd was visibly shocked how the black Overland now looked liked a mud-caked carabao. Yes I brought in the dirtiest Jeep but I can certainly say that the Grand Cherokee Overland has all you need in a luxury mid size SUV as well as all you’ll ever wish for in a 4x4 if you ever find yourself somewhere “Down and Dirty”.