Diesel engines are no longer something special at Jeep as the company ends its experiment with the Ecodiesel engine. late last year. While the V6 diesel is the torque engine that Jeep fans have been waitingThis is not the first time the brand has tried offering diesel-powered models.
Starting in 2005, the powers that be at Jeep wanted to experiment with something new. The result was the first generation of the Jeep Liberty, which was powered by a diesel engine. Called the Liberty CRD, it was supposed to gauge public reaction to oil-burning engines. The Liberty CRD was Jeep’s first diesel engine since 1987.
Power for the Liberty CRD comes from a 2.8-liter turbocharged I4 diesel engine built in Italy by VM Motori. It makes 160 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, 60 pound-feet more than the gasoline-powered V6. It’s mated to a five-speed automatic transmission and Command-Trac part-time four-wheel drive. A full-time system is available as an option.
Performance is pretty good. It can hit 60 mph in 10 seconds flat. And thanks to all that low-end torque, the Liberty CRD can tow 5,000 pounds. Gas mileage isn’t bad either, at 22 mpg city/27 mpg highway. There’s nothing special about the Liberty CRD, though. Except for the “CRD” badge on the tailgate, the diesel Liberty is identical to the gas-powered one. You can even get it in Sport and Limited trims. Jeep originally planned to sell just 5,000 in its first year, but in the 16 months it was on sale in the United States, more than 11,000 were sold, each with a starting MSRP of $25,125 or $27,355 for the Limited. The Liberty CRD was dropped for the 2007 model year due to federal emissions standards. At the same time, Jeep decided to introduce another diesel-powered model.
In 2007, Jeep introduced the Grand Cherokee CRD and the WK generation. Instead of going back to VM Motori for another diesel, Jeep turned to owner/corporate partner Mercedes-Benz for one. A 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 diesel, making the same 215 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque as the V8, is available at a low 1,600 rpm. That torque also gives the Grand Cherokee CRD a towing capacity of 7,400. Fuel economy Rating is a significant improvement over the Grand Cherokee’s V6 and V8 gasoline engines, with fuel economy rated at 18 mpg city/23 mpg highway.
Buyers can pair this engine with a five-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive or Jeep’s Quadra-Drive II. Performance is pretty good for what it is, with the Grand Cherokee CRD hitting 60 mph in eight seconds flat. And like the Liberty CRD, styling is identical to the gas-powered models, save for the “CRD” badge.
The Grand Cherokee CRD isn’t cheap, however. Pricing starts at $38,315 for the CRD Limited 4X2. Prices jump to $45,145 for the CRD Overland 4X4. That price tag may have turned some buyers off, given the low take-up rate for the Grand Cherokee; in 2009, only eight percent of Grand Cherokee buyers opted for the diesel. Another issue appears to be the engine’s urea aftertreatment system.
Necessary for emissions clearance, urea for diesel engines is very expensive. These two combined made Grand Cherokee chief engineer Phil Jansen to say that the brand dropped the diesel option in 2010. Jansen also mentioned that the only way the brand would bring it back would be if diesel-powered luxury SUV sales made up 15 to 20 percent of the market, which is pretty crazy. However, just a few years later, Jeep will reverse course and offered an Ecodisel option on the WK2 Grand Cherokee before it was dropped in 2019. With the last diesel Jeep model being a limited edition Gladiator Limited to 1,000 units, one has to wonder whether Jeep will ever bring another diesel to market. With the shift to electric and hybrid vehicles, that’s doubtful.
