Chrysler likes to boast the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel engine has "best in class" fuel economy and by implication, better fuel economy than the Volkswagen and Porsche diesel-powered SUV's it competes against. What do the numbers say, though?
The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel turbo option is definitely one of the best fuel economy advents currently on the market. The Cherokee's diesel engine gives it an advertised highway mpg rating of 30 and up to a 730-mile range. Additionally, the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel, or ecoDiesel as the company has branded it, still delivers the offroading capabilities that the Cherokee brand is famous for.
What about the claim, though, that the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel offers better fuel economy and range than the competing Volkswagen and Porsche diesel SUV's? Lets take a look at the numbers.
The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel will have a 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine that produces an EPA estimated 30-mpg highway. In contrast, the gasoline engine version has a 3.6-liter engine and gets only 24-mpg highway.
To compare, the 2013 diesel version of the Porsche Cayenne with 3.0-liter engine got a 29-mpg highway rating and the 2013 Volkswagen Touareg got the same using the same kind of engine.
If you noticed that we were comparing the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel to the comparable 2013 VW and Porsche models, you're well on your way to understanding what Chrysler means when it says "best in class." It's quite simple and very shameless, really: the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel is the only 2014 diesel-powered SUV officially announced so far. So Chrysler is free to make any "best in class" statements it wants because the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel is currently the only SUV in its class.
