The smaller size doesn't mean passengers in its front two rows will feel many negative effects in hip, shoulder or legroom, and

The smaller size doesn't mean passengers in its front two rows will feel many negative effects in hip, shoulder or legroom, and headroom is also generous. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

headroom is so generous that Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain could feel comfortably at home - afro and pick comb not included. The seats are especially comfortable, but not in that overstuffed couch way that domestic manufacturers used to fulfill North American luxury tastes. They're firm, supportive chairs, well bolstered for this type of vehicle, and made of high-grade leather in my top-line Limited tester.

The rest of the cabin is also well put together, with soft-touch plastics in the most prominent areas, such as on the upper portion of the doors where forearms often take refuge. Like the new Grand Cherokee, the Commander doesn't extend the higher grade plastics throughout the rest of the cabin, unfortunately, its dash and console surfaces feeling a little substandard

The rest of the cabin is also well put together, with soft-touch plastics in the most prominent areas, such as on the upper portion of the doors where forearms often take refuge. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

compared to some others in the $50K+ range. Of course, most of these entry-luxury rivals don't offer a variant in the $40K range, where less affluent - but still comfortably middle class - families needing more space would be wise to shop, so this reasonably small foible will be acceptable to most. There are some, however, that may be turned off by the hard, hollow-sounding surfaces (you won't notice this unless you're an anal retentive snob like me, however, who executes annoying "tap" tests on every vehicle I drive). For these there is hope, however. A particularly amiable and also somewhat chatty engineer admitted to me that the less agreeable plastic quality came as a result of a cost cutting decision made during the Grand Cherokee and Commander developmental stages, about four to five years ago, when Chrysler Group was hardly riding the profitability wave it currently enjoys. This engineer told me to expect improvements in plastics quality as soon as the 2007 model year, which would be an odd time to upgrade a vehicle - just after its first year - but a welcome upgrade to folks like me.