2021 Jeep Compass review A small SUV for the adventurer
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TechTranscript
00:00G'day, I'm Paul, most of you know the Jeep Grand Cherokee, but one car that you're probably
00:04not all that familiar with is the Jeep Compass, because they don't sell a great deal of them
00:08in Australia.
00:09So today we want to figure out whether this thing is any good.
00:12This is the Jeep Compass S Limited, so it's one down from the top spec.
00:16The top spec is like an off-road focused version called the Trailhawk, so this is more your
00:21executive type.
00:22It's priced at just under $46,000 and it competes with cars like the Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-30,
00:28Toyota C-HR, I don't know, it kind of competes with them, it's in its own little niche-y
00:32sort of segment, because it's quite big for its size, but not quite as big as the next
00:36segment up.
00:37Today we're going to do a detailed review.
00:39If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review, you can use the time codes
00:42up on the screen there, or if you're on YouTube, just scroll down and use the chapters below.
00:46If you haven't done so already, I'd love it if you could hit subscribe and also the bell
00:49icon, it's going to tell you every single time we get our bearings and drive a Compass.
00:55Let's talk exterior.
00:56You've got four colours to choose from, and all but randomly red is $645 extra.
01:01So the Compass is all about that sort of nice SUV look, but inherently it's a Jeep, which
01:06means you've got these pillars along the front here, they're the same in all Jeeps, you've
01:10got the seven pillar design there, and this kind of signifies that it is capable off-road.
01:15Strangely though, that's all completely blocked out, so I think it's there just as a design
01:20cue.
01:21Black Jeep lettering, and then the colours are offset there with a little bit of piano
01:24black in the centre, and then a little hole in there to get some air through to the engine.
01:29So look, cohesively I think it is a pretty nice design.
01:32This car is inoffensive in terms of the way that it looks, and then the Trailhawk version
01:35has all these tow hooks and stuff sticking out, kind of gives you the idea that you're
01:39an off-road master.
01:41Now in terms of headlights, you've got Bi-Xenon headlights.
01:43This is fairly old technology.
01:45This is one of the few cars left on the market today with Bi-Xenon instead of LED or halogen.
01:50Now down here this looks like an LED daytime running light, but it only comes on when the
01:54headlight's on.
01:55The actual running light is down here, and it's a halogen type.
01:58You do have fog lights down the bottom as well.
02:00Jump around to the side.
02:01Round here you've got 19-inch alloy wheels and a fairly low profile tyre.
02:06It's a 45 profile, so I'll be interested to see how this rides, whether it is firm or
02:11whether it is nice and relaxed.
02:13Normally with these American cars they tend to be quite soft, so hopefully that carries
02:17over here.
02:18I like the design of these wheels, they look really cool.
02:20And then you have this trademark Jeep design, it's like a squared-off rhombus?
02:25Is that shape?
02:26I don't know.
02:27Let me know in the comments below.
02:28And then this section here, which is kind of iconic to Jeep as well because those plastic
02:32wheel arches again signify that this is an off-road car.
02:35Around the side here, compass badging.
02:38You have an indicator built into the wing mirror.
02:41I like the black offset here with the roof leading to that panoramic glass roof.
02:45Strange plastic roof rails here instead of like a brushed aluminium type thing.
02:50Privacy glass.
02:51And then come around to the rear, you've got more black highlights here with another black
02:54Jeep badge.
02:55You have the S for S Limited.
02:57And then LED taillights.
02:58That's a pretty cool design there, how they've integrated that in.
03:01So let me know in the comments below, do you like the design?
03:04I think it looks nice.
03:05It's not sort of too outrageous and it looks classy enough.
03:08We're inside the compass now.
03:10We'll start off with the key, this is what it looks like.
03:13Unlock, lock, boot release, and then a few blank buttons, and then around the back we
03:17have Jeep just there.
03:19It's a proximity sensing key, so you just leave that in your pocket, grab the door handle,
03:23and then you have around this side a push button start.
03:26Okay, so in terms of styling, this is starting to feel a little bit dated now.
03:30When this car was first released, this kind of looked modern and it was good, but it's
03:33starting to feel its age now.
03:35This hasn't really seen too much of an update.
03:37But outside of the styling, it is all soft touch and it feels robust, kind of has that
03:42off-roader feel to it, and I think this looks like it's going to stand the test of time.
03:46It's just stuff like this that looks a tiny bit cheap, I reckon.
03:49Now what about the touch points?
03:50That is nice as well, and then you have soft touch on the doors as well, so that's all
03:55good.
03:56But how soft is it?
03:57Well, we've got our durometer here which tests from 0 to 100, and we've tested all the surfaces
04:02around this car.
04:03And if you want to see how this compares to other cars, you can use the link in the description
04:07below.
04:08And what about build quality?
04:09It doesn't feel great.
04:12As you can see there, that is moving the entire centre section of the car.
04:16Not amazing, I don't think.
04:18Let's talk infotainment.
04:20This is Jeep's Uconnect infotainment system.
04:22It's an 8.4-inch screen, and while this car may have some of its shortcomings, this infotainment
04:27system really is quite impressive in terms of the speed, the functionality and the features
04:32that are jam-packed into it.
04:33So today, I'm going to give you a detailed review of Jeep's Uconnect infotainment system
04:37so you can learn about it a little bit more and we can go through all the features.
04:40So starting off here, we have shortcut buttons all down the bottom, and then you can control
04:45your climate in here as well, or you have climate controls further down.
04:48In terms of radio, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio, so that's fully featured.
04:53If we jump over to media, this is where you're able to stream through your phone, through
04:57Bluetooth connection, or through auxiliary or USB connections attached to the car.
05:01If we jump over to the climate menu just for completeness, you can operate your seat heating
05:07functions here, and then when you do switch the climate on, all of the controls come here
05:11and the ability to sync, move temperatures up and down, and also select different zones as well.
05:16In terms of apps, you have all of your smartphone connectivity accessed through this screen,
05:21so this is what Apple CarPlay looks like.
05:22Really impressive setup, it is very high resolution, and while it isn't full screen, it takes up
05:27pretty much all of the screen that it needs to, and that integration looks really good.
05:31And I'll show you what Android Auto looks like.
05:34Another integration similar in size to Apple CarPlay, also a super high resolution.
05:38If we go into the maps there, it all seems to work really nicely as well, so it's good
05:42that you have the flexibility of both Android and Apple devices there.
05:45And in terms of other apps in the apps menu, there really isn't much else there.
05:49This is just a shortcut to access other parts of the car.
05:52If we jump over to controls, this simply takes us back to the menu item related to climate,
05:57which is our heated seats.
05:59Now what I love here, it has inbuilt satellite navigation.
06:02If we go to the map here, you can see that it is quite a fast and responsive map, but
06:06my favourite feature is I can configure what the icon looks like.
06:11So I can go through here and select different things, such as other Jeep products, go for
06:16a Wrangler, and if we go back to the map menu, there's our little Wrangler there.
06:19Let's see how quick it is.
06:20We'll try and enter a new destination, we'll put in our go-to, which is Melbourne Airport.
06:25That is super fast for typing, you know, I like that.
06:30Let's do a search.
06:33Yeah, look, that's not too bad.
06:35It had a little bit of lag there, but once it comes up, it gives us all of the options
06:38that we need.
06:39So that is all good.
06:40All of this is also backed up by a voice recognition system.
06:43So one push of this on the steering wheel brings up the native voice recognition, and
06:46then if you do have a smartphone paired using a wired Apple CarPlay or Android Auto interface,
06:52it will then send the voice commands through that, which are generally more accurate because
06:55they're using the cloud.
06:57Moving on from that screen, ahead of the driver is another colour LCD display.
07:01You control that using the steering wheel controls, and you can see here there are a
07:05number of menus to go through, including setup for the car and also display.
07:09And then you can also switch randomly the speedometer from kilometres an hour to miles
07:13per hour, kind of redundant for us.
07:15And then you have a whole stack of trip computer information along with vehicle information
07:19too.
07:20And then on top of that, if you do change drive modes, you'll see the screen ahead of
07:23the driver change as well as you flick through them.
07:25In terms of speakers, there's a nine speaker Beats branded sound system, and in terms of
07:30connectivity you have a USB port, an auxiliary outlet and a 12 volt.
07:34Let's talk safety technology, you'll find AEB, Autonomous Emergency Braking, that works
07:38at low and high speeds, fitted as standard.
07:41You get blind spot monitoring built into the wing mirror, radar cruise control, I'm keen
07:45to see what the reverse camera looks like.
07:47Okay, so it takes up the whole screen, but the quality isn't amazing, it's quite grainy
07:52there, but you do get front and rear parking sensors.
07:54Moving on to storage, where are you going to put your phone?
07:56So it easily fits down here, there's like this random little slot here for stuff, but
08:01it doesn't really fit too much, and I guess you could pop your phone down there if you
08:05wanted to.
08:06In terms of bottle storage, it easily fits in there, and there's these rubber tabs to
08:10keep your bottle secure in the door as well.
08:12You've got bottle storage, centre console, reasonably deep, I'll show you what it looks
08:17like with the bottle in there, gives you an idea of how deep it is.
08:20Storage box as well, that's a pretty decent size, bottle easily fits into there, but there
08:25is a secret mighty hole, watch this.
08:29You have stacks of space down there, you can fit a bottle and other bits and pieces that
08:33you won't be able to see from outside.
08:35Okay, moving on to comfort, you have dual zone climate control, heated seats for the
08:39first row, and speaking of seats, electric seat adjustment for the driver's seat only,
08:47it's quite fun doing that, and then the seats themselves are leather with Jeep insignia
08:51there, perforations, and in terms of comfort, yeah, they actually feel really nice, they
08:56hug you in nicely, and yeah, everything's nice and easy to reach as well, so big tick
09:01on the comfort side.
09:02Okay, we're in the second row of the Compass, even with my driver's seat pretty far back,
09:07I've got a decent amount of knee room, toe room's okay, headroom isn't fantastic, I think
09:14if you're any taller than me, you're going to be brushing up against that, but in terms
09:17of fun bits around here, you've got matte pockets in the back of the seats, randomly
09:21you have a power outlet, so a 230 volt outlet there, that's going to come in handy if you've
09:25got laptops and other bits and pieces, another USB port, air vents, and then over here you
09:30have the world's biggest centre armrest that gives you access to the boot, and then two
09:34cup holders, so that slides in nicely, and this has rubber teeth in there as well, and
09:41then inside the doors you also have bottle storage, ISOFIX points on the two outboard
09:46seats, and this cool looking panoramic sunroof, which makes long drives all the more easier.
09:52Let's talk cargo capacity, it is a powered tailgate, so one push of this brings it open,
09:58it's a little bit slow, but it'll get there.
10:00You've got 438 litres of cargo space available here, and you can see they've got this rubber
10:05floor mat here, but beneath that you have a full-size spare wheel, it is a steel wheel,
10:10not as good as an alloy, but better than a space saver, with storage on either side.
10:14Let's see how it fits with our bags.
10:17So look, it is a decent sized boot with a little light over there, a Beats subwoofer
10:22back here too, but if you do want to fold the second row you just reach over and push
10:27them out of the way, and it creates pretty much a flat floor.
10:34So we've hit the road in the Compass, and powering this is a 2.4 litre, naturally as
10:39aspirated petrol engine, it makes 129 kilowatts of power, and 229 newton metres of torque,
10:46and all of that's mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission.
10:50Now I know what you're thinking, a naturally aspirated petrol engine in a car this size,
10:54let's give it a punch and see how it goes.
10:59Look, it's not giving me a back massage with that much torque, but it is reasonable, I
11:06was actually expecting it to be far worse than it is, so it's reasonable, but not amazing.
11:10OK, how quick is it?
11:12Well Jeep claims 10.1 seconds, 0-100, let's see if we can match that.
11:19It is fairly leisurely isn't it, and quite noisy inside the cabin when you get up it
11:36as well, that engine is really sort of singing into here.
11:39So that all results in a claimed fuel economy of 9.7 litres per 100 kilometres, let's have
11:45a look at how we're doing at the moment, not great.
11:47We're actually seeing 14.4 litres per 100 kilometres, which is a fair chunk of fuel
11:52for a car this size, remember that it weighs just 1500 kilos, so it's not like it's this
11:56big lumbering mass, and we have been doing mainly highway driving, so it is surprising
12:01to see a figure that high.
12:02OK, what about the ride?
12:04Look it's not offensive, it's midway between sporty and comfortable, it's not overly soft
12:09or not overly firm.
12:10We're out on a pretty choppy country road at the moment, and it's sort of handling things
12:14fairly well.
12:15Centred around the city, it could be a little bit better, it can be firm over speed humps
12:19and cobblestones, but really can't complain out here.
12:22Now what about off-roading?
12:23You aren't going to be doing a great deal of off-roading in this, you'll go the Trailhawk
12:27if you want that, but you do get 212 millimetres of ground clearance, plus this off-road selector,
12:32so you have the ability to lock it into a four-wheel drive mode, which locks a centre
12:36differential, but you can also switch between snow, sand and mud mode, so that's going to
12:42change the stability control and make this a little better when it comes to tackling
12:46those conditions.
12:47OK, let's talk about steering feel.
12:49You feel what's going on through the wheel, it's not overly communicative, but it is an
12:52SUV, so you don't expect it to be a sports car, and for that part it does a good job.
12:56And then on visibility, I can see clearly out the front there, out the back visibility
13:01is pretty good.
13:02It is a narrow envelope and I can see the edge of those seats, but for the most part
13:05that's fine.
13:06And what about cabin noise?
13:07It is a pretty quiet environment, there is a little bit of tyre noise when you get up
13:11to highway speeds, but for the most part it really isn't too noisy or obtrusive in
13:15here.
13:16Righto, the Jeep Compass.
13:17They don't really sell that many of these, and there's kind of a reason for that.
13:21It's pretty expensive for what it is.
13:23Yes, it does come with a lot of features, but the rest of the class is getting better
13:27and better as they go, and this car really hasn't improved a great deal over the years.
13:32The engine as well is a bit of a letdown, it's not very punchy and it's quite thirsty,
13:35so if you do have your heart set on this, I'd probably go one rung above and go for
13:39the Trailhawk, because that comes with the better diesel engine.
13:42It's also just better as a purchase proposition, because it is off-road capable and it kind
13:47of fits the bill of that badge right there, whereas this straddles the line between not
13:51being very luxurious, not being very powerful, and yes, you do have the Jeep badge, but you're
13:56not really going to go off-road.
13:57So, let me know in the comments section below, have you bought one of these?
14:00What's it like to live with?
14:01Or if you were looking at this, what did you buy instead?
14:04I'm keen to get your feedback.
14:06If you did enjoy this video, hit the like button, also press subscribe and the bell
14:09icon as well, I'd love you to do that, that's going to tell you every single time we publish
14:13something new.
14:14But until next time, drive safely.