The seats are agreeable for multi-hour jaunts behind the wheel. In back, legroom seems sparse, but the front seats are bolted high, so there's enough space for resting your feet underneath the front cushion. The middle passenger will be unhappy, because he or she will have to cope with the badly-located cupholders.

The cargo hold of the Patriot is reasonably big, although not as much as in the competition; that's not surprising, since the Patriot is more the size of a Hyundai Tucson than a Honda CR-V or a Nissan X-Trail. As for visibility, it's good but not amazing, because the windshield is low and the roof pillars are large.

Pricing starts at $16,995 for the base model and can go above 30K for a Limited 4WD with options.

Competition
The Patriot Sport FWD is offered from only $16,995, a price that's extremely aggressive, and includes the 172-hp engine, 16-inch wheels, a CD player, intermittent wipers, a rear wiper, ABS brakes, side-curtain airbags, traction control and stability control. The Canadian government even offers a $1,000 rebate on certain models.

My test truck was the $24,435 Limited 4WD, and included the Off-Road package with CVT2L transmission ($2,365), the 6-CD changer ($455) and Boston Acoustics sound package ($395), for a grand total of $27,650. We can consider such rivals as the Ford Escape XLT 4x4 ($29,339), the Mitsubishi Outlander LS 4WD ($28,248), the Nissan X-Trail XE AWD ($28,648), the Suzuki Grand Vitara JX ($28,195) and even the Dodge Nitro SXT 4x4 ($29,400). These adversaries are more refined than the Patriot, but they cost more, too.

Conclusion
Just like the Compass and Dodge Caliber, the Jeep Patriot is a steal in its most-affordable variations. The competition can't even come close with the $17,000 base price. In the better-equipped versions, such as this Limited 4WD, the price climbs rapidly; at $27,650, the cockpit's appearance and the powertrain's lack of refinement are hard to justify.

This time, however, no one can say that it's not a real Jeep...


Trademark robust Jeep looks
Very aggressive base price
Smooth ride



Noisy engine under full throttle with CVT
Unspectacular fuel consumption



Disappointing cockpit fit and finish


Photo Credit : Philippe Champoux, Alexandre Joyal