Jeep Compass Petrol Automatic Review Team Bhp
12th December 2017, 10:10 Senior - BHPian
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Location: Navi Mumbai
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Driving the 1.4L MultiAir Automatic
161 BHP @ 5,500 rpm and 250 Nm @ 2,500 - 4,000 rpm:
Get into the car and press the starter button with the brake depressed to wake up the turbo-petrol. There is a hint of cabin shake on startup - accentuated by the fact that one doesn't expect this from a petrol engine. Some aspects of this motor are obviously similar to that of the Fiat Linea 125S & Abarth Punto. It can be said that it is the same old T-Jet engine, but now with MultiAir tech. As told in the previous post, the technology is responsible for the bump up in power figures.
The Compass DDCT is a compact, good-looking petrol SUV with an automatic gearbox. This combo will definitely appeal to the urban dweller, more so due to the limited options offering this combination in the price band. Further, the light steering and tall seating position make it a breeze to drive in the city. The engine is audible inside the cabin, but it's not loud at idle. Slot into D, disengage the parking brake and lift off the brake pedal to move. Without any accelerator input, the car creeps at 7 km/h. This is very useful in stop and go traffic which you can tackle with just the brake pedal. On accelerating, the car upshifts to 2nd after 10 km/h. The extremely short 1st gear is used only to get the Compass rolling from a standstill. With an easy foot, the gearbox is smooth and most drivers will notice the gearshifts only when they watch the MID (gear indicator) or rev counter.
Starting off from a standstill is smooth and seamless, and it has more than enough power for city usage. Within the city, in traffic, the Compass seems to love the 2nd and 3rd ratios - good in terms of power delivery as you will be in the power band, but not in terms of FE (some ATs shift up quicker). The experience is overall smooth. However, it must be noted that the gearbox can at times get dimwitted in stop and go conditions where the speeds wildly vary. It can take too long to choose the right gear, or at times, persist in the wrong gear for a couple of seconds before selecting the right one. If you suddenly kickdown the accelerator in traffic, there are times when there is no response for 1-1.5 and at times 2 seconds, after which the turbo spools, the gearbox shifts down and you get a sudden surge of power with accompanying torque steer 
. This can take getting used to, especially when closing traffic gaps or during quick overtakes. The lack of a torque converter on the gearbox only adds to the delay; the gearbox doesn't conceal turbo lag. In terms of FE, drive it hard and it will guzzle fuel - unlike the Diesel ATs, Petrol ATs are very sensitive to FE & aggressive driving (ARAI number is 14.1 km/l).
When you are at a traffic light and engage P, the electronic parking brake automatically engages. When the lights go green, slotting in D mode with the brake pedal pressed makes the electronic parking brake automatically disengage. This is convenient & good for the gearbox's health too - if you park on an incline in a regular AT, the gearbox pin bears the stress. In the Compass, there is no load on the parking pin, as the handbrake is engaged automatically. However, what is not cool is that every time you drive off after restarting the car, you have to manually disengage the electronic brake. This can be disabled (auto e-park brake setting), but we don't recommend it. What Jeep should have rather done is that, with the foot on the brake and gear in D mode, the parking brake should have automatically disengaged (even when you've just started the car).
Keep the heat on the accelerator and the Compass Petrol will deliver fast performance on the highway, it'll munch miles quickly and you will easily set a healthy pace. The power & torque figures are excellent and no owner will be left wanting in this area. Still, you have to work this engine hard to extract the most out of it - power delivery isn't as effortless as in the diesel. With pedal-to-the-metal driving, the gearbox upshifts at just under 6,000 rpm. The final 5% of the accelerator has a kickdown mode - you can feel it with your foot and hear a mild click when you engage it. You have to press the accelerator all the way in for kickdown mode, and when you do so, the gearbox will aggressively downshift not just one or two gears, but at times even three. However, be mindful of the delay of 1-2 seconds sometimes - especially when you are overtaking. At high rpm, you will hear the engine in the cabin, but it won't cause annoyance. Although I must add, the 1.4L MultiAir is 'boomier' than you would expect in a Rs. 25 lakh car. The engine note is alright, yet certainly not what us enthusiasts would call a 'sweet enjoyable sound'. The tall 7th gear means that the Compass Petrol AT is extremely relaxed at expressway speeds. 100 km/h comes up at just 1,950 rpm, while the engine ticks over at just under 2,300 rpm at 120 km/h. And at this point, the engine is right in the turbo zone. The mid-range of this motor is punchy and overtaking is easy. The 7th gear engages only after you reach speeds of 90-95 km/h, but on the way down, it will hold 7th till about 77 km/h before shifting to 6th.
What you will undoubtedly miss on the highway are paddle shifters. At this price point, Jeep should have given us paddle shifters as they are immensely useful on highways, and when you're driving spiritedly. Because there aren't any paddles, you have to take your hand off the steering wheel for manual mode.
Move the gearlever to the left for manual mode - push up to downshift and pull down to upshift (we prefer it the other way around). In manual mode, the engine revs to 6,500 rpm. When it reaches there, it will not upshift to the next gear. We like this better than other ATs which upshift automatically at the redline - that can catch you out in a fast corner! It's a different matter with downshifts where manual mode is way too conservatively tuned for a petrol. It wouldn't even allow me a downshift from 4th gear at 3,800 rpm into 3rd. Heck, there are some diesels out there which allow this!! It should be noted that downshifts in manual mode are almost instantaneous, but the upshifts take slightly longer. Jeep has missed the opportunity to provide a 'Sport' mode on the AT, which owners would undoubtedly use more often than manual mode on the highway.
What catches you unawares is the torque steer! When climbing a ghat at full throttle, the torque steer in 2nd & 3rd got tricky as I had to concentrate on the corner as well as steering corrections to control the torque steer. Flooring it in 3rd, torque steer is definitely more than we expected from a 161 BHP car. It is lesser if you are accelerating from 0-100 km/h - i.e. running away from a standstill, but the torque steer comes in stronger when you are cruising and suddenly floor the accelerator - there is a sudden burst of power.
Overall, we'll say that the Petrol engine does the job, but it doesn't impress like the 2.0L diesel did. The Compass diesel has a jewel of an engine; it makes more power as well as torque. We look forward to the upcoming Diesel AT variant. Even the Petrol AT's gearbox is strictly average. On paper, 7 gears & dual-clutch tech puts it on par with VW's DSG, although in the real world, it can't match the speed & intelligence of the DSG. There's no comparison.
The laden ground clearance of the petrol version is 151 mm. That is 1 mm more than the diesel 4x2, but 4 mm lesser than the diesel 4x4. The Compass petrol gets 4 wheel disc brakes like the diesel. Even on the AT (lesser engine braking), we found the brakes to be satisfactory.
Sweeeeeet feature - even when you are driving in "D" mode, the MID tells you what gear is engaged (D1, D2...). Us enthusiasts always like to know what gear the car is in, but rarely do AT cars give us that data:
In "M" mode, you get suggestions for upshifts and downshifts, both:
The diesel's engine cover gets contrast-coloured branding (image link) - not so here:
An insulation sheet on the bonnet...
...as well as the firewall:
ECU is located behind the engine on the firewall, one of the farthest places from the ground:
Intercooler sits in front of the radiator. It's bigger than the ones seen in the Abarth Punto & Linea 125S:
Garrett turbo is mounted at the front:
The engine is currently being imported. Also notice the "170 HP" on the label:
Made in Mexico parts with Chrysler branding:
Last edited by GTO : 12th December 2017 at 10:12.
Jeep Compass Petrol Automatic Review Team Bhp
Source: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/193293-jeep-compass-petrol-official-review.html
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