We found the seats to be larger and cushier than any previous Jeep seat, with supportive contours and more seat track travel, always important for us tall guys. On top of the travel and legroom increments, there's also increased headroom that adds the feeling of extra space to the interior.

The instrument panel has no more of that pasted-together black-plastic of the last generation, but is a real, cohesive interior design with a nice combination of shiny plated parts, matte-finish plated parts, and a first-rate instrument layout. A new four-gauge instrument cluster with LED illumination has black gauges with brilliant red pointers. On the Limited model, the gauges are surrounded by chrome rings.

The cargo area features a reversible load floor panel that flips over on itself to create a shallow container, for more versatility in the rear storage compartment. As a system, the new interior is far better organized, more light in feeling and color, and altogether more roomy than the previous version, which had been around since 1993.