The jeep compass we've all been waiting for is finally here the trailhawk
highlights include a BS 6 compliant engine 9 speed automatic gearbox and
that little badge trail rated 4x4 now jeep don't just go handing out that
badge to any car so here's 5 things you need to know
about the Jeep Compass trailhawk so the trailer has gone through quite a bit to
get this little badge here and that included a certification process that
looked at five aspects of off-roading ground clearance
traction maneuverability articulation and its water weighting ability and only
once it passed all those tests have Jeep given it the trail rated 4x4 bags
so let's take a closer look at the changes that the compass is undergone to help it
get its trail ready certification and let's start in the front for the bumpers
Jeep has shaved off both the front and rear bumpers of the trailhawk to give it
better approach and departure angles its ground clearance has also risen by 27 mm
water wading depth has increased to 480 mm and this has been made possible by
rerouting the breather snorkel to a higher position than before the
underbody also has new skid plates in four places to protect the body of the
compass from rocks the 9 speed automatic is also central to the off-roading
ability of the compass it features a very short first gear and that gives the
compass the grunt it needs to excel off-road other additions include a hill
descent control rock mode the four-wheel lock mode and a four-wheel drive low
mode that locks the transmission in first gear and restricts speeds to 10
kilometers power so what else has changed with a deep
Compass trailhawk well you'd be hard-pressed to recognize
one on the roads but one of the distinguishing features is on the seven
flat grill where you have these matte black accents instead of the chrome ones
on the other compass variants and if you have a really keen eye you'll notice the
redesign of the front bumper as well another change is this matte black decal
on the hood Jeep says is to cut down glare but we think they did it just to
make it look a little cooler moving to the side and the only change is these
17-inch alloys compared to the 18 inches in the limited plus variant and this
style wheel combination has been specifically chosen for the trailhawk to
improve its off-road abilities so the rim is narrower than normal to allow the
tire walls to bulge out and protect the alloys and these fork and tires have
also been specifically designed keeping in mind off-road grip over various
surface conditions moving to the rear and you have the trailhawk badging on
the right along with the Jeep logo and of course the revised bumper
on the inside the trailhawk features a few more changes so we get these trailhawk
badging on the seat with this red stitching as well you get red accents
around the gear knob around the drivers information display and around the
speakers other changes include the 8.4 inch touch screen which we also saw in
the limited plus and the dual pane sunroof
the drivers information screen has also been updated and it now shows additional
information like engine temperature oil temperature transmission temperature and
even the level of AdBlue in the AdBlue tank another welcome features cruise
control and it now finally fills up the blanks of the steering wheel but there
are some features missing too like the electric seat adjust with memory
function for the driver's seat that we saw on the limited plus and we're also
missing auto headlamps and auto wipers
so let's get to the fun bit drive the Jeep Compass trailhawk off-road and yes
we have taken the compass 4x4 the standard version off-road before and
while that was quite capable one of the things we felt was that slightly held it
back in terms of really going far off the beaten path it was the fact that it
didn't have a low ratio and a low ratio allows you to climb over steep obstacles
and get through really bad terrain much easier with less stress on the machine
and on the engine that first year of the 9 speed automatic is a super low ratio
20 to 1 actually and that gives this ability to overcome very steep obstacles
one of the other features of the Jeep Compass strelok is the four-wheel drive
lock mode and what that does is lock the transmission in just first gear that
gives you a top speed of around about 10 kmph but it gives you the best Drive
over the worst possible obstacles
and another new feature with the Jeep Compass trailhawk is the rock mode and
what that allows you to do is transfer more power to the rear axle and that
driving force from the rear wheels allows the front to lift over obstacles
like rocks and really steep inclines now that we're on tarmac let's talk about
that engine and under the trailhawk you have the same 2-liter MultiJet diesel
but this one is BS 6 compliant and what's more it will run on BS 4 fuel
until the BS 6 fuel is available later on another addition to the trailhawk is
an AdBlue tank it's about 30 liters in capacity jeep says it lasts for about
7,000 to 9,000 kilometers and that really helps in cleaning of the
emissions and helping it pass the bs6 norms
and that brings us to the 9-speed gearbox it's made by ZF and we have
driven it before and cars like the CRV or the Range Rover Evoque and similar to
that it is a very nice smooth transmission when you drive in an
unhurried manner but if you're driving through a twisty road or if you need
quick acceleration on the highway and you hit the gas pedal it does sometimes
take a second to respond what is different in this car though is that on
the road like we're driving right now it's only limited to the top eight gears
and like we said before the first year is limited to four-wheel drive low mode
and that's only for offroad and climbing up big obstacles or over rocks so when I
experienced on the trails today with the trailhawk we can tell you one thing it
is quite a capable off-road machine from that ground clearance the approach and
departure angles the changes to that 4x4 drivetrain and that low ratio mode it
has made a big difference to how far the trailer can go off-road but is it that
automatic option that some of you did want from the diesel compass well at 28
lakhs on-road which is what we expect the trailhawk to be priced at it is
banking a lot on its off-road capabilities to appeal to the enthusiast
if you want to go off-road travel around the subcontinent and just go on long
drives and have an adventure then this really makes a good option but if you're
looking for something that's more of an appealing solution in the city and you
don't go out too much and you're looking for that convenience of an automatic
well there are better automatic solutions out there but if you're okay
to wait a bit jeeps say they are exploring adding that
9 speed automatic to the rest of the diesel Compass lineup and that could be
something really worth waiting for