BEFORE we go any further… Do you know who Sean Puffy Combs is? Nope? P.Diddy, perhaps? Still not ringing any bells? Or how about Puff Daddy? No? Okay… so how about Nelly and his grille? Confused? Concentrate now… Messrs Combs, Diddy and Daddy are actually the same guy. And Nelly is a rapper with gold-plated teeth. They have one thing in common – a love for extreme bling.
In fact, this appears to be the first vehicle designed to appeal specifically to a society that increasingly believes that the shinier the metal, the brighter the chrome, and the more ludicrous the detailing, the better.
After viewing it in the metal, you may be surprised to learn that underneath the gob-smacking exterior design there is Jeep’s Cherokee – the new one that’s due to arrive in South Africa early next year. Compared with the current Cherokee, though, Nitro has a longer wheelbase, and is also wider and longer. Significantly, however, it is lower. Combined with the shallow side windows, massive – standard – 20-inch wheels and boldly oversized wheelarches, this gives the Nitro a low-slung, menacing appearance. In front, the aggression is even more pronounced, with a vertical “cross-hair” grille that looks like it comes from a truck, and a bumper that seemingly does its best to emulate Jay Leno’s chin… Most of the people we quizzed about the Nitro’s appearance thought it was certainly eye-catching and different, but it’s clearly an opinion-splitting design.
The interior, however, resulted in a much more uniform reaction – and not a particularly positive one, it has to be said. Still, there are certainly good points. The Nitro’s relatively long wheelbase and square design free up a lot of space – with the rear seats folded down, total utility space is a cavernous 1 504 dm³. But even with the seats up there is a very useful 336 dm³. The Nitro’s boot also features a system called Load ‘n Go, essentially a floor panel that slides outwards by 457 mm to make loading easier. It does make loading bigger objects (such as baby buggies) easier, but really only because it needs to – the Nitro’s tailgate doesn’t quite lift up high enough, so you tend to stand far back from the actual boot lip…
Rear legroom is very good too but, unfortunately, this doesn’t translate into a particularly comfortable sitting position.
The seat is mounted low, so longer rear occupants tend to sit with their knees a bit too high in the air.
But the Nitro’s biggest problem is probably its driving position and levels of driver comfort. Some of CAR’s testers (notably the taller ones), simply could not find comfortable driving positions – the result of a fat transmission tunnel that leaves nowhere to place your left foot, and a steering wheel that’s only rake adjustable. There are other irritants too – the shallow window line results in a claustrophobic feeling from behind the wheel, and because the seat doesn’t go down low enough, the driver tends to almost look into the windscreen header when driving. The problem was also highlighted when some testers exited the vehicle, and knocked their heads against the door frame! Shorter drivers, however, had fewer complaints.
Generally speaking, the design of the Nitro’s facia matches the brashness of the exterior. There are no soft curves – or soft-touch materials – in the cabin. Hard plastics that look slightly cheap, but certainly appear to be robust, are used. The hangdown section houses the usual ventilation/ audio controls, but some of the minor controls – such as the headlamp levelling switch – are also mounted low on the hangdown, not where you would usually expect to find them. There are drinkholders and storage spaces aplenty.
One of the most attractive options offered to Nitro buyers is the MyGig multimedia platform that integrates navigation, audio, entertainment and communication systems, and allows the user to access all four elements via a touch-screen. MyGig also includes a 20 Gigabyte hard drive where music and photos can be stored.
Although on the upcoming new Cherokee, the Nitro is not as serious an off-roader, doing without the Jeep’s impressive traction systems. The Nitro is a part-time fourwheel drive vehicle, meaning the driver has to manually select fourwheel drive by twisting a rotary knob on the centre console. When this is done, the vehicle runs a 50:50 front to rear torque split.
There is no low range. But come on, with shiny 20-inch wheels, are you really going to go off-road?
Front suspension is an all-new independent, double-wishbone arrangement, with a multi-link, solid axle at the rear. ESP is standard and includes electronic roll mitigation (ERM), which uses sensors to detect a possible roll-over situation and actuates the brakes individually and modulates the throttle position to help curb the situation. Stopping power is provided by 302 mm ventilated discs in front, and 316 mm solid discs at the rear. ABS is standard. During our emergency stopping routine (10 stops from 100 km/h), the Nitro achieved a relatively poor average time of 3,37 seconds. It was also noted that the engine oil light illuminated under hard braking, suggesting oil surge…
Power comes from the current Cherokee’s 3,7-litre V6, which delivers 157 kW at 5 200 r/min and 319 N.m of torque at 4 000. The engine is coupled with a four-speed automatic transmission, which allows first and second to be selected and held.
From a standstill, the Nitro accelerates with zest, cracking the 100 km/h sprint in 10,35 seconds and running out of puff at 186 km/h (the speedo, by the way, is the most accurate we’ve encountered in recent times). Fuel consumption, however, is not a strong point, with our fuel index working out on a high 14,2 litres/100 km, resulting in a range of only just over 520 km on a 74-litre tankful. To drive – and avoiding further comment on the already mentioned levels of driver discomfort – the Nitro is not particularly impressive.
The old-fashioned transmission annoyingly tends to hunt for a suitable gear, making the engine sound and feel strained. The large, low-profile tyres and firm suspension result in reasonably stable cornering, but the rear suspension design is not particularly cutting-edge, so it tends to transmit bumps rather uncomfortably into the cabin – and there’s lots of roll, too. Combined with slow-witted and uncommunicative steering, the kindest description for the Nitro’s dynamics is “detached”.