Naysayers aside, it seems that the Liberty can hold its own off the beaten path. It successfully navigated California's Rubicon Trail - a true 4x4's coming of age ritual. To demonstrate here at home, Jeep101 set up an off-road obstacle course in a downtown Vancouver parking lot. Aided by "bull" low gearing, I walked it up and down a 45-degree hill and leaned 35-degrees sideways across a pot-holed dirt path in which a wheel occasionally hung three feet in the air. Even in such extreme conditions not a squeak was heard nor flex felt. BC Lion's running back Sean Millington dropped by to drive the Liberty back to back with a current TJ and Grand Cherokee. He commented, "It's got the civility of a (Grand) Cherokee with the wild heart of the original (TJ), a great compromise." I couldn't have said it better myself.

The Sport (base) comes without the Limited edition body-color fascias and fender flares but looks great just the same. Among other features, the top-line Liberty also includes fog lamps, leather, air conditioning, power accessories and one of the highest quality aluminum trim packages I've ever seen.

Standard equipment includes a 150-hp 2.4-litre 4-cylinder engine. This should be ample but no tester was made available. Considering the Liberty's 1,675 kg (3,692 lb) curb weight, the optional 210-hp 3.7-litre V6 would be my choice. While the base engine incorporates 4-valve, DOHC technology, the V6 makes due with 2 valves and only a single over-head cam. In most applications a high-tech engine is best, but for off-road use a torque biased, lower-revving engine will pull you through the really tough spots.

Speaking of "low-tech," Jeep also incorporates rear drum brakes. Why? Four-wheel discs won't provide the stopping power in wet, muddy situations that drums will. A 3-channel ABS system is optional.