When I saw the car in person it looked black at first glance, with a really nice deep metallic fleck, and the brown showing through where the light hit the paint. I’ve been pretty vocal in the past in my dislike of brown cars so I was a bit concerned. When I got the details through for our test car I saw that it was brown. All pretty muted shades but they suit this big car well. There are thirteen colours available two reds, a blue, two browns, black, white and various greys.

The Limited spec adds power boot lid, remote start, heated steering wheel and rear seats, auto dimming side mirrors, electric steering wheel adjustment, hill descent control, as well as various exterior changes and trim pieces. Standard across the range are reversing camera with sensors front and rear, 7 airbags, Cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, ESC, trailer sway control, capless fuel filler, dual zone climate, keyless entry and start, heated front seats, auto lights and wipers, auto high beam, hill hold, power front seats, bi-xenon headlights, LED DRLs and fog lamps, acoustic windscreen and front door glass, and many other features.

The new even more mental SRT Trackhawk will also be coming to New Zealand. Finally there’s the SRT at $114,990 with a 344kW/624Nm 6.4l V8 which can push the 2200kg SUV to 100kph in the mid 4 seconds. Then the Trailhawk diesel at $94,990 followed by the Overland with the V8 or turbodiesel at $99,990. Next up is the Limited tested here with either the 3.0l turbodiesel or 5.7l V8 petrol for $89,990. Then there’s the Blackhawk at $81,990 with the same 3.0l diesel and 4wd. The range starts with the RWD Laredo 4×2 at $64,990 with a 3.6l petrol engine and the Laredo 4×4 at $76,990 with a 3.0l V6 turbodiesel. There’s quite a range of models and engines available so I won’t cover them in detail. Now in its fourth generation it has grown bigger, taller, and more luxurious without losing its impressive reputation for off-road ability. Jeep’s luxury large SUV, the Grand Cherokee, has been around since 1993.

2017 jeep grand cherokee full tank size