2014 Jeep Liberty Spy Shots

[Im Not Spam]

A test mule for a high-riding crossover has been spotted in the U.S. and is likely to be for the next-generation 2014 Jeep Liberty due out next year. While the vehicle may look like an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, underneath the crudely-built body is thought to be the same Fiat-derived Compact U.S. Wide (CUSW) platform found in the 2013 Dodge Dart and...


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[Manhattan]

I'm a branding guy. I was hired in 1997 to name the Liberty. When I went to see the prototype with the Jeep execs... I couldn't hide my disappointment. They saw my reaction, joked that it was a new direction for Jeep, etc. The ironic part is that that prototype failed the subsequent consumer research so badly that it was redesigned - delaying the launch by years... Yeah, the old XJ got extended a few years that week.

That original prototype made a Subaru Forester look hardcore. It's taken Jeep 10 years to circle back to the level of blandness they started with. I think they've comfortably settled into a 1-vehicle off road line.

 

[Incommando]

The KJ was a fitting successor to the XJ. It had a modern, cleaner engine with more HP and the same TQ as the best years of the XJ had and more than many years. The body structure is noticeably stronger than an XJ. I have seen people roll both. My buddy survived rolling his KJ into a river in Livingston. I know he would have been crushed or pinned and drowned from the Xj collapsing where the Kj stood up.

Complete roll over and landed on its top with water halfway up the sides:

Driver walked away thanks to being able to get to him and cut the seat belt.
Trail flop in an XJ
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/i...N7tIhjQTnPGSjqK3ctF6kk2VWj-8xIQ4_WJ8SQ9CohN1t

The KJ was head and shoulders more capable off-road than any of its competitors at introduction: CRV, RAV4, Forester, Escape, Vue. Without exaggeration I have asked dozens of drivers of those other compact utes to come off-road with me and guess what? Not one ever had the guts to do it. Even the Subbies all refused to play....

With 2.5" of lift, 31" ties, and an Aussie in the rear 8.25, my KJ will go anywhere a similarly equipped XJ will while getting 23-24 MPG on a pure highway tank with the 3.7/NSG370 6-speed/241 Transfer Case /3.55 gears. It also has a better crawl ratio at 48.20- same as an auto TJ Rubi- than an XJ's poor-ish 26.86 with the most common 4.0/AW4/231/3.54 drivetrain. And it weighs about 800# MORE than an XJ. And mine, with the factory 241J, has a stronger Transfer Case than any Xj had.

This is a pretty popular obstacle at Badlands in Attica, IN being taken on by a friends XJ (4.0/aw4/231 3.54) with a rear locker, 4" of lift and 32's

Here is my KJ with less lift and smaller tires on the same obstacle and it went up with no drama.


I love the guys who drooled over the Patriot as "the new XJ" when it was a re-bodied Caliber...