Test Drive—2006 Jeep® Commander

J Rations

Jeep Goes Full-Size With Its First-Ever 7-Passenger SUV

When rumors of the new Jeep Commander began wafting on the breeze, we had our hopes pegged on a rugged, perhaps slightly hairy-knuckled replacement for the Cherokee. In short, a Jeep-brand SUV that would deliver the passenger and cargo capacity that SUV buyers demand, a driveline that would borrow heavily from the gems in the Wrangler Rubicon crown and styling that would forgo most of the up-level trappings found on the Grand Cherokee. As it turned out, the ball didn’t exactly bounce in that particular court. It bounced a little here, a little there, and in the final analysis, we’re not sure exactly where this thing is going. There are a few nuggets for the adventurous off-road crowd to applaud, and more than enough content and styling to make the boulevard posers happy. But does the all-new Commander hit the bull’s-eye for any particular consumer segment? You be the judge.

Neoclassic Profile

From external appearances, the Commander says “Adventure!” at full volume. Jeep boasts that the Commander’s exterior design treatment borrows heavily from three specific Jeep models—the Willys Station Wagon, Jeep Wagoneer and the recently deceased Jeep Cherokee. All true in subtle ways, but from a peripheral view we’d be tempted to argue that the Commander exudes a spirit uncommonly akin to some of the older Land Rovers or Land Cruisers almost as much as it does to any Jeep heritage vehicles. Nevertheless, the Commander is unmistakably “Jeep” and a welcome evolution in the brand’s time-honored DNA.

The fundamental styling approach to the Commander can be found in the crisp lines, strong angularity and extensive planar (flat-plane) surfaces. We applaud Jeep’s designers for bucking the soft-and-round mentality so pervasive in the industry today. As a result, the Commander actually looks like a go-get ’em 4x4 and not a boulevard beauty queen.

Overall, the Commander has a distinctive boxy design. While that plays up to the classic design cues of the aforementioned Jeep predecessors, there’s actually a functional intent to it all. The upright A-pillar and windshield profile add to the feeling of increased interior space. Ditto for the rear liftgate and back glass. Similarly, the near-vertical side sheetmetal helps air out the interior dimensions.

What you can’t see from the side exterior profile is the Commander’s stepped roofline. Beginning at the second-row seats, the roof steps up a notch to provide the additional headroom necessary to accommodate the stadium-style second- and third-row seating. From the outside, the standard roof rack rail hides this stepped roof.

The Commander comes in two trim levels—base and Limited. In back, Limited buyers are treated to step pads integrated into the rear bumper corners, along with D-pillar handrails. These allow for easy step-up access to roof rack cargo. Given that the roof rack is standard equipment on all models, it seems to us somewhat of a slight to base model buyers to not have these as standard equipment.

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