Grand enhancement for Jeep
New Grand Cherokee gets 2.0-litre turbo powerhouse that delivers satisfying kick
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
For 2026, and the vehicle that arguably launched the luxury SUV segment — the Jeep Grand Cherokee — it’s what you can’t see that makes the biggest difference.
Under the hood, the venerable Pentastar V-6 engine continues, but expanding the list of powertrain options is a new Hurricane 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine.
It would be easy to see that change as a step backward. If four cylinders are good, six are better, right?
Supplied
The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee gets what is best described as a mid-cycle refresh, but also a new engine: an available 2.0-litre Hurricane turbocharged four-cylinder. A larger infotainment screen is the big news inside the Grand Cherokee cabin.
Not so fast. The new engine is the high-output option, offering more power, more torque and better fuel economy than its six-cylinder stablemate.
While the V-6 churns out a respectable 293 horsepower and 257 pound-feet of torque, the new Hurricane blows in with 324 and 332, respectively. The two engines both get 9.4 L per 100 km on the highway, but the turbo beats the V-6 in the city, 11.7 L/100km to 13.
We’ll leave it to future reliability rankings to determine which engine is the more reliable, but in the here and now, the extra oomph of the Hurricane is very noticeable. The turbo spools up quickly and delivers a satisfying kick to the backside when the right-most pedal is pushed.
The Hurricane employs an interesting twist on internal combustion: it ignites a small amount of fuel inside a small, cup-like chamber above each cylinder. The burning fuel is then jetted into the combustion chamber, where it ignites the fuel air-fuel charge triggering what Jeep says is a faster burn and more complete combustion of each burn cycle.
A variable-geometry turbocharger offers boost at low engine speeds to reduce a sense of turbo lag.
The Hurricane is offered on the Laredo Altitude trim level and higher. The Pentastar appears in the Laredo and Laredo X models.
Both engines are mated to eight-speed automatic transmissions.
Phased out of the Grand Cherokee lineup for 2026 is the plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Supplied
A larger infotainment screen is the big news inside of the Grand Cherokee cabin.
This latest version of the Grand Cherokee can be best described as a mid-cycle refresh: there’s no dramatic reimagining of the vehicle’s design.
That said, inside there’s a reworked cabin and a larger infotainment screen.
Also available is a premium McIntosh sound system. The front fascia has been refreshed slightly, as well, with an updated seven-slot grille, a Jeep hallmark. Three new colours — steel blue, copper shino and fathom blue — are also offered.
The Grand Cherokee Laredo begins at $62,290. The Laredo Altitude begins at $68,280. The range tops out with the Summit Reserve at $86,785. All prices include $2,295 destination fee. For a three-row model, add $2,500.
kelly.taylor@freepress.mb.ca
Kelly Taylor
Copy Editor, Autos Reporter
Kelly Taylor is a copy editor and award-winning automotive journalist, and he writes the Free Press‘s Business Weekly newsletter. Kelly got his start in journalism in 1988 at the Winnipeg Sun, straight out of the creative communications program at RRC Polytech (then Red River Community College). A detour to the Brandon Sun for eight months led to the Winnipeg Free Press in 1989. Read more about Kelly.
Every piece of reporting Kelly produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Kelly Taylor
Copy Editor, Autos Reporter
Kelly Taylor is a copy editor and award-winning automotive journalist, and he writes the Free Press‘s Business Weekly newsletter. Kelly got his start in journalism in 1988 at the Winnipeg Sun, straight out of the creative communications program at RRC Polytech (then Red River Community College). A detour to the Brandon Sun for eight months led to the Winnipeg Free Press in 1989. Read more about Kelly.
Every piece of reporting Kelly produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us
