tbburg
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Scottsdale AZ
Not so much in the resurrection of the name as in the lack of improvement in fuel economy.
I got bored a couple weeks ago and went down to harass the local Jeep dealer. A friend has a new Ram Powerwagon, and I'm really impressed with the integration of the electronic bells and whistles. Got me thinking I might be interested in a KL, or possibly the upcoming Renegade as a DD/crossover/highway cruiser. Anyway, I spent some time looking over a few KLs on the lot. They look much better in person. For some reason the front corner marker lights(yuck) are much less prominent in person then in photos. Mentally erase the marker lights and you can kind of see the "Rammified" version of a Cherokee grill in there.
Anyway, after squashing the whole "What can we do to get you in one of these today?" thing, I got the marketing brochure and took off. 'Came home and did a little research. That's where the whole "What the heck?" thought hit. The KLs get pretty bad mileage.
I looked up the info here: www'fueleconomy.gov
I road-trip plan 20 mpg and regularly get 21.(best was 21.9
) According to .gov, the rating for the XJ (using the current system) is 14/19. The rating for the KL is 19/25-27. A little controversy here, Chrysler says 25, .gov says 26 for the Active-drive II system(read:Trailhawk).
I know it's not apples/apples, and I know the KL weighs more then an XJ, but 5-7mpg over how many generations of engine management development? Three or four at least.
We're happily lugging our 550lb anchor up front, archaic design, fixed timing, the full-on 2-speed transfer case, all encased in a brick. The KL has variable valve timing, three overdrives, god knows what's going on inside the computer, sloped everything, and it can pull 25-6 highway.
Am I expecting too much, or does that seem low?
I got bored a couple weeks ago and went down to harass the local Jeep dealer. A friend has a new Ram Powerwagon, and I'm really impressed with the integration of the electronic bells and whistles. Got me thinking I might be interested in a KL, or possibly the upcoming Renegade as a DD/crossover/highway cruiser. Anyway, I spent some time looking over a few KLs on the lot. They look much better in person. For some reason the front corner marker lights(yuck) are much less prominent in person then in photos. Mentally erase the marker lights and you can kind of see the "Rammified" version of a Cherokee grill in there.
Anyway, after squashing the whole "What can we do to get you in one of these today?" thing, I got the marketing brochure and took off. 'Came home and did a little research. That's where the whole "What the heck?" thought hit. The KLs get pretty bad mileage.
I looked up the info here: www'fueleconomy.gov
I road-trip plan 20 mpg and regularly get 21.(best was 21.9

I know it's not apples/apples, and I know the KL weighs more then an XJ, but 5-7mpg over how many generations of engine management development? Three or four at least.
We're happily lugging our 550lb anchor up front, archaic design, fixed timing, the full-on 2-speed transfer case, all encased in a brick. The KL has variable valve timing, three overdrives, god knows what's going on inside the computer, sloped everything, and it can pull 25-6 highway.
Am I expecting too much, or does that seem low?