[omranga98]

Compass is like the hot chick in college that you were crushing on in the first year (2018) and never garnered the courage to go up to her.

Now by the time you are at the end of your course (2022), she is waaaaay out of your league.

Back in 2018, the top model limited 4x4 was something around 24 on road in Calcutta. Now it's almost 36.

The car went from Octavia territory to Superb and beyond(?)

[Mach_1590]

This is what happens when your company is just one product away from poverty. I don't know why American brands are so poor in building up a proper product portfolio. Compass was launched way back in 2018 for a very competitive price, we hoped Jeep to launch multiple products with FIAT DNA. Being a well engineered car, FIAT/Jeep could have provided the Compass with 1.6L MJD to compete. With other lifestyle products like Wrangler, Jeep is trying to go fishing in the deep ocean, but that's not where the fish are.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by omranga98

Back in 2018, the top model limited 4x4 was something around 24 on road in Calcutta. Now it's amost 36.

The car went from Octavia territory to Superb and beyond(?)

In 2017, the Compass was originally launched between Rs. 14.95 - 20.65 lakhs, when the Octavia facelift had just been introduced at prices starting 15.49 to 22.9 lakhs.

Jeep later got much higher specced variants (Limited Plus, then the Model S), a much better specced entry Sport variant, diesel automatic option with 4*4 etc - and it is now priced between 17.79 to 29.34 (Model S Diesel AT 4*4, not the offroad focussed 'Hawk). Whereas Skoda removed the diesel option and features (like a sunroof or ventilated seats!) in this generation of the Octavia - and has priced it from 26.69L to 29.29L.

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by streetfighter

Heartiest Congratulations and wish you loads of adventure

Btw, did you get the bonnet decal changed from red to black? The side strip on Jeep website shows red whereas yours is black. Was that customized?

Attachment 2287480

Thank you.

Decal is not customized, that's how it came, I had the same question, showroom fellows said for green it comes in black, not sure why the pictures are shown in red. For rest of the colors, its red.

[vickyP]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

In 2017, the Compass was originally launched between Rs. 14.95 - 20.65 lakhs, when the Octavia facelift had just been introduced at prices starting 15.49 to 22.9 lakhs.

Jeep later got much higher specced variants (Limited Plus, then the Model S), a much better specced entry Sport variant, diesel automatic option with 4*4 etc - and it is now priced between 17.79 to 29.34 (Model S Diesel AT 4*4, not the offroad focussed 'Hawk). Whereas Skoda removed the diesel option and features (like a sunroof or ventilated seats!) in this generation of the Octavia - and has priced it from 26.69L to 29.29L.

Well, almost all cars have gone up invariably over the last few years and this has been debated for long! The key point also is that Jeep is increasing the price of Compass, regularly, without (I assume) adding anything more now; It is probably just 'cost' increase that they are passing on?

Though I am not trying to justify the price hikes from either and just as a discussion point between the point raised above, it must also be noted that:

1. Compass was a facelift (though interiors changed drastically for the good and they are charging for it & how!), whereas the Octavia is a completely new model.
2. Octavia changed where it mattered the most - the Engine and the gearbox; and Jeep though has a great diesel, could have done better with a improved petrol variant.
3. Octavia doesn't have a wide spread of variants and thus has a higher starting price; Jeep has many variants and thus has a lower starting price.

[chandu]

Phew, we just got our Petrol Automatic Limited variant last week in metallic blue colour.
There was no bargaining at all, i did manage to reduce the on road price by getting my own insurance which was significantly cheaper than the one offered by the showroom.
I would have loved to get the "S" version but the interiors of the car were all black and very claustrophobic feeling for my wife who will use this car.
Overall the petrol version is extremely quiet and refined. The power is a bit less but once you get the hang of it, its easy to manage.
We are all very happy with the purchase.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Could be true. Saw this on social media -

Attachment 2287246

[GTO]

Jeep Compass Diesel AT Review

• For the long Holi weekend, the family made a plan to go to Pawna. It was a big gang with cousins and all. What better opportunity to drive the Compass Diesel AT, which I have been keen to experience? This 400-km round trip covers all kinds of terrain, so it would be fun.



• TL;DR = I’ll give the Diesel AT combination a 7 / 10 rating, deducting 1.5 points for the occasional slow response times & confused nature, and 1.5 points for not having paddle shifters or a Sport mode. The gearbox is smooth & easy to live with. If you're a calm driver or even one who pushes the car at 7/10ths, you'll be fine. I must mention the Diesel AT is not dimwitted or painful like the Compass Petrol DCT which I would give a 4 / 10 rating.

• Regular people won’t have any issue with the AT gearbox at all. Even everyday enthusiasts will be fine with the Diesel AT. Diehard Team-BHPians who observe each and every gearshift and torque curves etc. will find the gearbox to be lacking, but only when they are driving h-a-r-d. As an example, on the expressway, it was still okay, but when I was flying down the Lonavala ghat, when I needed the gearbox to precisely be in the right gear - that’s where it let me down.

Jeep Compass Diesel AT Review in the City

• Sit inside and this feels more like a proper German car than an Italian-American one. With the way the doors shut and that firm seat compound. The Compass feels very sturdy & incredibly solid.

• Absolutely love the facelift's new interiors and the cabin does feel good. It looks amazing, very premium. The steering is thick and lovely to hold. The gear lever is like a rock-solid, chunky piece that could just as well have been the lever of a bank vault!

• Having no paddle shifters at this price point is a bummer & unpardonable. What you do have behind the steering though, are very neatly placed buttons for the stereo – left side ones change the track, right side ones adjust the volume. Other manufacturers should pick this up. The arrangement is very ergonomically good and there's great attention to detail too. If you long-press the track change button, it rewinds the song being played.

• Really sucks that there’s no 12V socket at the front because I needed it for a device of mine.

• Quite a small boot for the price, I must say! We were a big group, so we're carrying lots of food supplies etc. The luggage had to be spilt over onto the back seat. There was no way the boot could take it all.

• Driving around in the city, on the expressway and around the village roads of Pawna, the Compass made me feel like I'm driving a "mini-tank". The car has a very, very solid feel.

• Drive calmly around the city or drive a little spiritedly, say pressing the throttle 60-70% of the way and you’ll find the gearbox to be smooth and fine. No issues at all for regular Ashoks.

• Upshifts are executed smoothly & seamlessly.

• On the other hand, drive like an enthusiast and many times, you will find the gearbox's response time to be slow. Especially in the lower gears and / or at slow speeds, there were times that I wanted to downshift and it took 1.5 seconds before the gearbox responded to my pedal-to-the-metal command! Is this slow response to kick downs a deal-breaker? No. You’ll live with it, but you’ll never rave about your gearbox’s behaviour as an enthusiast and it won’t “wow” you as a DSG would. More than the gearbox's behaviour though, the real deal-breaker of the Compass is its stiff pricing. The Compass Diesel AT range is Rs 33 - 37 lakhs OTR, Mumbai.

• Has Jeep improved the tuning in the latest iteration? Well, the Diesel AT is certainly not dimwitted like the Jaguar XE’s gearbox (which is really one of the most horribly tuned ATs I have driven) or the sluggish Compass Petrol AT, but it’s not a particularly bright or intelligent auto-box either. Again, I'll give the Compass Diesel AT combo a 7 / 10 rating. I found the Seltos Diesel AT tuning to be more intuitive, where it would respond much better and pick the right gear almost all the time. The Seltos Diesel AT – now that’s a brilliantly tuned engine + gearbox combo. Other Diesel ATs that left me with a positive impression are the XUV700, Hexa, Safari, Tucson & C5 Aircross.

Jeep Compass Diesel AT Review on the Highway

This "tank" munches miles like no other on the open road:


• Not only are there no paddle shifters, but the gearbox doesn’t even have a sport mode. That itself should tell you this AT is not for enthusiasts. It’s more for daily use = for commuting, for convenience, for cruising.

• As said in our full Official Review, the Compass has very long legs and is a mind-blowing high-speed mile-muncher. With its excellent stability, smooth gearbox, torquey diesel engine and nice driving position, you can drive this car all day long with a smile plastered on your face.

• On the expressway, you’ll find the gearbox’s behaviour to be better. It’s basically under 60 km/h, at lower revs and in tricky low-speed conditions that the gearbox gets more confused. Example? Say you suddenly slow down for a speed bump, and floor it right after. But once you are well above 2,000 rpm, the torquey engine makes the gearbox’s life easier. On the expressway, you won’t find it getting that confused or the response time to be slow. It’s at slower speeds and / or in dense traffic that you find the response time to be lacking. You'll be fine on expressways.

• I like Jeep’s 80 km/h warning simply because, with my music volume, there isn’t any . I didn’t even hear it with my loud music. Other manufacturers, please take note.

• On the open road and for sheer driving pleasure, the Compass Diesel 6-speed MT is more fun and a lot more effortless to drive fast. With the Diesel AT, if you want to drive fast, you have to really wring the neck of the gearbox continuously going into a kick-down mode, or use the AT's manual mode. The Diesel MT is more fun on the open road because its performance is more effortless to access.

• The AT can get a bit unpredictable. On occasions, especially at higher speeds, it responds acceptably well to your downshift command. At other times, it doesn’t. In a couple of situations, I also found it to be confused and in the wrong revs. E.g. it didn’t upshift when I was driving easy and would have preferred it to. Again, these are only things that petrolheads like us would notice. The regular Ashok won't have complaints.

• Drive smoothly, move with the traffic or even with the throttle at 6/10ths and you are satisfied. No complaints. Start pushing the car with the throttle at 9/10ths and you’ll find the gearbox not downshifting when you want it to and upshifting when you don’t want it to (e.g. mid-corner).

• Coming down a fast ghat road, enthusiasts like us will stick to 'manual mode'. It will anyway upshift at the redline in manual mode, so you will use this mode primarily for commanding downshifts as well as holding the current gear. Although, it won't listen to your downshift commands about 1/3rd of the time (the tune is conservative).

• You'll enjoy the grip levels & sorted suspension on your favourite mountain roads. The car's behaviour is very confidence-inspiring.

• Equally enjoyable is the steering which is fab for an EPS. It's reasonably sharp & has just the right weight at different speeds.

• Using manual mode with the gearbox requires a firm hand; it requires effort to move the lever to the left. Drive it and you'll remember my "lever of a vault door" comment.

The kind of stuff that the Diesel AT doesn’t do well. On a narrow road stuck behind a truck, you need the AT to instantly downshift to overtake. In such tricky situations, its response time is like 1.5 seconds! What did I do? Use manual mode. Here, one misses "sport" mode which would keep the engine & gearbox on the boil:


• I found a very peculiar issue with the Compass Diesel AT. If you are driving hard on the open road in full auto mode, the gearbox responds / downshifts best in kick-down mode. That is, the final 10% of the accelerator pedal’s travel range. Meaning, you are continuously in kick-down mode when you want to fly. The problem with doing this is that the accelerator's travel range is long and the pedal is also on the firmer side. After doing this for an hour and a half, my right foot started aching. Solution: drive easy or switch to manual mode. "Sport" mode would've made continuous hard driving easier.

• Considering the price point of this car, Jeep needs to make the NVH package more premium. Above 2,000 rpm, you feel mild vibrations on the accelerator pedal. These vibes only increase with the revs. At high revs, they are very noticeable. This is not cool in a car as expensive as the Compass.

• This idling start/stop system is going to kill turbos. I needed to take a break, so after hard driving on the ghat (with the engine & turbo steaming hot), I came to a halt and instantly, the engine just switched off!!! I felt so terribly bad for the turbo.

• The suspension tune is mature. Again, it has a very German car feel, behaving as if it was built for the AutoBahn. It gives good stability and driving pleasure. On the downside, you feel bad roads, bumps and potholes a lot more. This is not your soft, comfort-oriented suspension. Your family will definitely tell you to go slow on bumps & potholes.

• Want to know how she will offroad? Here's Samurai's awesome 4x4 report.

Beautiful Pawna is just ~3 hours from crowded Bombay, yet it feels like you're on a different planet altogether! Leave early morning and the drive is very, very enjoyable:


The boot is too small for the price:


Our weekend luggage spilt over to the backseat:


Objects in the rearview mirror are sexier than they appear:


I saw these cars and thought, wow, India sure has some great automobiles on sale now. The Innova Crysta, Carnival, Creta & Vento are all fantastic machines. I also find it ironical that the full-size full-on luxury van in this image (Carnival) starts at a price lower than the small SUV I'm driving:


We had a sweet line-up of rides at the Pawna house. W221 is a decade old & my cousin intends to keep it for another handful of years. My philosophy of buying a more expensive car & keeping it for longer infectiously spreads within the family. It's his daily drive & he spends Rs 2 - 3 lakhs every year on the upkeep & maintenance; way cheaper than Rs 2 crores for a new S-Class! The car is still acceptably reliable:




The humble Bolero (proudly belongs to the family that takes care of the Pawna house) might be the cheapest car here, yet it has undeniable character! With that boxy body & black tints, all it needs are alloys with fat tyres to become a head-turner (check out this bad boy):


My kid brother's limousine perhaps has the perfect (soft) suspension for this village's broken roads. Road quality has overall improved though. Neither the S-Class nor the Superb scraped anywhere on the way to Pawna. Compare that to the time we went in the 530d:

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by GTO

Jeep Compass Diesel AT Review

Attachment 2287803

• For the long Holi weekend, the family made a plan to go to Pawna. It was a big gang with cousins and all. What better opportunity to drive the Compass Diesel AT, which I have been keen to experience? This 400-km round trip covers all kinds of terrain, so it would be fun.

[

Did you notice that the gearbox makes a typical grrr kind of noise when upshifting, especially when being driven sedately. Happens through 4th and 7th gear usually.

I have read about a number of cases where people have reported the same noise in the 4x4 AT variants. FCA terms it’s as operational sound from the dog clutches in the 9speed AT.

I have the same variant and have noticed this sound multiple times and got it checked by Jeep and they gave me the same answer. I even drove another car and that had a similar noise too.

The gearbox is smooth however it does make a very unnerving upshifting sound when driven sedately where you press about 30% of the A pedal and let the car work it’s way up through the gears.

Do let us know if you heard or felt any noise or vibration from the transmission during your trip.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by GTO

Jeep Compass Diesel AT Review

During your drive, did you experience any rattles, especially from the Sunroof, A and B pillars? My compass model S has been plagued with these and have not been rectified to date. Jeep is now offering me a deal (with some sweetners) to swap it for a Trailhawk but I am apprehensive as am not sure if this issue has been sorted completely.

[Maky]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

During your drive, did you experience any rattles, especially from the Sunroof, A and B pillars? My compass model S has been plagued with these and have not been rectified to date. Jeep is now offering me a deal (with some sweetners) to swap it for a Trailhawk but I am apprehensive as am not sure if this issue has been sorted completely.

What was your MY model himanshu?
As I was under the impression Dec 2021 onwards manufactured models no longer have this issue.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by Maky

What was your MY model himanshu?
As I was under the impression Dec 2021 onwards manufactured models no longer have this issue.

MY21, August 2021 manufactured, one of the first lot of the Model S (O2) Series.

[josetom89]

Great review as always. Magnesio Grey is "THE" colour for compass. Great that they have chosen that for trailhawk marketing. Is the front grill finished in Matt Black (though with smoked rings) similar to sport variant ? Personally prefer the matt to the glossy on limited and S variants.

[Kosfactor]

^ @himanshugoswami - You could be on the same road again.

The new model has good amount of boom and rattle from the rear , enough to make the ride uncomfortable.

These are some things that are overlooked when they make cars for India.

I distinctly remember the boom Mk1 Octavia's cabin makes when going over rough patches back in the day, even someone who is not car-aware as my mother would prefer to sit on the back seat of an Esteem instead for the same reason. She refers to it as sitting inside a tank.

I do not remember Rapid / Vento having that amount of it, so it's not a Skoda thing either just the way certain vehicles are set up or not for our roads.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by GTO

• Sit inside and this feels more like a proper German car than an Italian-American one. With the way the doors shut and that firm seat compound. The Compass feels very sturdy & incredibly solid.

• Absolutely love the facelift's new interiors and the cabin does feel good. It looks amazing, very premium. The steering is thick and lovely to hold. The gear lever is like a rock-solid, chunky piece that could just as well have been the lever of a bank vault!

What is your opinion of the fit and finish of the car compared to European rivals? Does it still have Fiat vibes i.e. built well but finished not quite so well?

[CR07]

Originally Posted by GTO

• This idling start/stop system is going to kill turbos. I needed to take a break, so after hard driving on the ghat (with the engine & turbo steaming hot), I came to a halt and instantly, the engine just switched off!!! I felt so terribly bad for the turbo.

Can you please explain this in detail? Is it the same for a Turbo Petrol car?