This is where Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited's grand deception really comes into play. The ride is surprisingly comfortable and smooth-not choppy and bumpy like many sport utilities. Also, it falls thankfully short of the mushy "boulevard" ride. Given this, you have no real clue that this vehicle is capable of any more than shopping mall runs. But take it off road and you're in for a thrill.We're talking grade-climbing, boulder-hopping, stream-crossing performance here. Run off-road and you keep looking around at this lush cabin and wondering if what you're seeing is what you're getting, because Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited can get it done. Ample power is there for steep grades, mud and sand. In our test, the full-time Quadra-Trac drive train, with its viscous couplings, kept power in to the wheels in the right amounts and the right time. Steering and suspension, at home on expressways, did well. Our Grand Cherokee Limited had the Up Country suspension option, which adds all-terrain tires, heavier coil springs at all four wheels, high-pressure gas shocks and skid plates for vital parts. This is overkill for most sport utility buyers but worthwhile if you do any serious off-roading. It adds a bit of harshness to the ride, which we liked. The Grand Cherokee is exceptionally free of road noise for an off-road capable vehicle. Although we detected no intrusive squeaks or rattles, the vehicle we tested was new, with fewer than 50 miles on it. Squeaks and rattles, especially in a vehicle driven off-road, tend to develop over time. We especially liked the Limited's four-wheel disc brakes with ABS. There was little or no fade. Also, there was no jerking or bumping during the computer-controlled pumping of brakes that is sometimes experienced with ABS.
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