![\"Jeep](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/03\/11\/PDTN\/8cca1c04-bb4f-440f-b880-f861d2359934-jeep_mtn-fr-3-4.JPG?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>Jeep country: On icy, uphill Route 9 though the Zion Canyon pass, the Jeep Compass Trailhawk never put a foot wrong.\u00a0(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n At Zion National Park in Utah, the day had dawned grisly with howling winds, blowing snow and\u00a0icy roads. But Mrs. Payne and I had planned a day\u00a0trip to Bryce Canyon on the other side of Zion canyon\u2019s snowy cliff tops.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s Route 9 like over to Bryce?\u201d I asked a\u00a0snowplow driver after rolling down my window. The twisted, mountainous two-lane is the only way to get there.<\/p>\n \u201cNo problem. You\u2019ve got a Jeep,\u201d came the reply.<\/p>\n On that kind of confidence Jeep has built one of the most recognized brands on the planet. Beginning with the rock-climbing, terrain-shredding Wrangler, Jeep fields a juggernaut of SUVs perfectly timed for the market\u2019s embrace of all things ute. Every Jeep carries the Wrangler\u2019s DNA, right down to the compact Compass Trailhawk I had acquired for a weekend trip from Vegas into the rocky outback of southern Utah.<\/p>\n The Compass, new in 2017, is part of a Jeep strategy to expand its empire beyond the core Wrangler and Grand Cherokee fan base and into entry-level buyers. Much like Honda\u00a0hooks customers with\u00a0 the Fit, Civic and HR-V starters, Jeep has flooded the market with its own compact trifecta \u2014\u00a0the Renegade, Compass and Cherokee.<\/p>\n My trip from the valley of sin to the summit of snow would be a test of whether Compass is a worthy gateway drug.<\/p>\n First impressions are dynamite.<\/p>\n I like the rebellious Jeep Renegade, but at some point you\u2019ll grow out of it.\u00a0Eventually your tastes lean from your baseball card collection to grown-up things like art galleries and nice cafes and Grand Cherokees. The Compass\u2019\u00a0conservative body, thin headlights\u00a0and seven-slot grille echo the family patriarch Grand Cherokee.<\/p>\n Budget-conscious shoppers will opt for the Latitude trim. It comes with the typically robust Jeep all-wheel drive that throws torque to whichever wheel needs it most and handles all the nasty weather you’ll find. But the heart isn\u2019t always sensible.<\/p>\n I am a sucker for the Trailhawk trim with its blacked-out hood and roof, two-inch suspension lift, front-and-aft tow hooks\u00a0and knobby Falken tires. Dress it in Spitfire Orange and my knees turn to jelly.<\/p>\n This beast oozes Jeep authenticity and vaults\u00a0it above mere-mortal brands. Never mind that the Compass is tattooed with non-functional design touches like a fake\u00a0seven-slot grille (for enhanced aerodynamics, the engine is fed by a lower intake).<\/p>\n This is the Jeep Wrangler that everyone always wanted as their first car\u00a0\u2014 but without the compromises of rough, noisy ride.<\/p>\n The Trailhawk can go just about anywhere with its impressive front departure-angle, four skid plate\u00a0and four-wheel drive lock and crawl modes. And I rarely resisted the temptation.<\/p>\n I turned off Interstate 15 from Vegas-to-Zion to test the Jeep\u2019s capabilities in deep snow, dirt\u00a0and rocky terrain until my wife finally told me to stick to the asphalt if we were going to arrive at the hotel before next week.<\/p>\n I relented, but not before discovering that wet sand (the Southwest is essentially a big, red sandbox) is the most diabolical terrain. Stop moving and it would swallow the tires like quicksand.<\/p>\n Back on\u00a0asphalt, the Compass is at its most mediocre.<\/p>\n Despite its marriage to a modern\u00a0nine-speed tranny, the 2.4-liter engine is a dog. Mash the pedal to the floor to pass traffic, and the world seems to slow down as the four-banger labors to pick up steam. Snails have better acceleration. I raced a desert tortoise out of a Utah stoplight and the tortoise won.<\/p>\n Once up to speed I longed for adaptive cruise-control that is common now on competitors like Subaru, Honda\u00a0and Toyota. My wife\u2019s $28,000\u00a0Subaru Impreza hatchback, for example, comes standard with adaptive cruise and blind-spot assist. As does a $20,000\u00a0Toyota Corolla. Not my $35,000\u00a0Compass.<\/p>\n Happily, there are cabin features to forgive these shortcomings. Beginning with the best-in-auto uConnect touchscreen infotainment system which benefits most Fiat Chrysler products including Ram, Dodge, even Maserati.<\/p>\n It\u2019s intuitive, quick, easy to navigate \u2014 and works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone apps. In the vast Southwest, navigation is essential, yet the apps mean you get Google Maps navigation that you know and love\u00a0without having to pay $1,195 for Fiat Chrysler’s\u00a0inferior navigation system. Within moments of climbing aboard, Mrs. Payne had our route mapped.<\/p>\n Forgiveness abounds. The console is tight on storage, in part because of the unique terrain mode dial with settings for snow, sand, mud, rock and Mars\u00a0(I made that last one up).<\/p>\n The\u00a0automatic\u00a0door locks make a violent sound \u2014 WHAP! \u2014 when the gearshift moves from park to drive. But inside, accommodations are roomy and your giraffe-sized reviewer could comfortably sit behind himself in the rear seat.<\/p>\n Even the milquetoast engine is forgiven when churning across Route 9 to Bryce in near white-out conditions.<\/p>\n The Compass clawed up Zion\u2019s ice-caked roads without putting a foot wrong. Such competence makes you acutely aware that the danger is not the road\u00a0but other people on it. States might consider requiring driver\u2019s license tests be conducted in the winter, because I swear many of us have no idea how to drive in snow.<\/p>\n Our path was littered with creative ways to crash at 30 miles per hour and less. In Zion Park, a Cadillac CTS zigged when he should have zagged and T-boned a hapless Toyota Camry that had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In a Route 9 tunnel, a Honda CR-Z pinballed from one wall to the other, breaking its front suspension. In Bryce, a Chevy Cruze pilot miscalculated a 15-mile-per-hour\u00a0left turn and beached himself in a snowbank.<\/p>\n Common to all these accidents was\u00a0the drivers\u2019 faith that a car will steer on slick roads as it does on dry. It won\u2019t. It will plow\u00a0straight ahead. The Compass is no exception. But steer gingerly into a slick bend, then apply throttle on exit and the ute grips like a Rottweiler on a postman\u2019s leg.<\/p>\n Should any of the aforementioned projectiles have come the Compass\u2019\u00a0way, I\u2019m confident its traction and brakes would have been up to the task of avoiding them.<\/p>\n Fortunately, about half the vehicles in Utah are capable pickups. And half of the other 50 percent are Jeeps.<\/p>\n A wise choice. Just ask a snowplow driver.<\/p>\n Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-passenger crossover<\/p>\n Price: $23,340 base, including $1,495\u00a0<\/strong>destination fee ($35,160 Trailhawk 4×4\u00a0as tested)<\/p>\n Powerplant: 2.4-liter, inline 4-cylinder<\/p>\n Power: 180 horsepower, 175 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n Transmission: 6-speed manual (4×2 and 4×4 models); 6-speed automatic (4×2 only); 9-speed automatic (4×4)<\/p>\n Performance: 0-60 mph, 9.3 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 2,000 pounds\u00a0(4×4 recommended)<\/p>\n Weight: 3,633 pounds (Trailhawk 4×4 as tested)<\/p>\n Fuel economy: EPA: 22\u00a0city\/30\u00a0highway\/25\u00a0combined (24 mpg observed on Utah trip, Trailhawk 4×4)<\/p>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n Highs: Go-anywhere ruggedness; mature looks<\/p>\n Lows: Milquetoast engine; lacks standard features of competitors<\/p>\n Overall: 3\u00a0stars<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jeep country: On icy, uphill Route 9 though the Zion Canyon pass, the Jeep Compass Trailhawk never put a foot wrong.\u00a0(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News) At Zion National Park in Utah, the day had dawned grisly with howling winds, blowing snow and\u00a0icy roads. But Mrs. Payne and I had planned a day\u00a0trip to Bryce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Jeep Compass\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n