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-   -   Rise of the Silver Surfer | Chronicles of our Jeep Compass 4x2 Limited | EDIT: Sold (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/189361-rise-silver-surfer-chronicles-our-jeep-compass-4x2-limited-edit-sold-9.html)

Here is an interesting article on boot size measurement.

https://www.motoring.com.au/luggage-...erence-108672/

Yes it seems Jeep is definitely misrepresenting the boot space and either including the spare wheel space or calculating it till the headlining and both of these are not practical and should not be included.
By Contrast I saw the Renault Captur boot space yesterday and its reported size is 392 L and I felt that was bigger than my Compass boot space (below parcel shelf). Us buyers when we buy a car tend to trust the manufacturers published data but it seems that we should take it with a bucket of salt and actually test out the reality.
Similarly the Compass's power figures of 170bhp and 350Nm also look good on paper but I am not sure whether they would actually stand the test on a Dyno. Anyone with access to a Dyno who would be ready for it?
In real world performance my Jeep Compass loses on straight 0-100 kmph run to my humble Laura with 110bhp power and 250Nm torque.
The question then arises is that what recourse do us buyers have even if we are able to prove that the dimensions and the engine power is not as per manufacturer claimed specs?

Yes, Jeep counts the wheel well as well.
It was mentioned in the foreign reviews I saw on Youtube. The donut spare most versions come with there, have 438L of space. Trailhawks have a full-size (but steel wheeled) spare in the boot, resulting in a higher boot floor, and reduced volume.

As regards acceleration, speed and power, well, the difference with your Laura would be largely aerodynamic, and also related to gearing.
The auto-equipped diesel compass has a 0-100 time of about 9s, if European and Australian mags are to be believed. Not bad. So, the way the manual is geared is a factor.
Your Laura is so much lower, and less boxy, that'd make quite a difference too, I'm sure.
As regards dyno results, I'm sure they'll be more or less commensurate with Jeep's figures. These figures will be at crank, I think.

But why this sudden dissatisfaction (if I'm not misinterpreting your concerns)? I thought you found the Compass reasonably powerful.

Everytime I try to fit in any luggage into the Compass boot space , I realize how tiny it is. In fact an Ecsport with a claimed 350L of boot space is able to accommodate more luggage into the boot compared to the Compass! The Ecosport has its spare wheel outside so you are getting the full boot space.
It's not like we don't love our car, but it has some shortcomings which make it unsuitable for family outings and that was the purpose for which we bought the car in the first place.

Even removing the rear parcel tray doesn't help?

You can try the option of cross rails provided by MOPAR as a genuine accessory.

From the photos and talks with the SA, I got to know that it can be easily attached and detached and can hold weight upto 40kg.

I have this backup option in my mind in case the luggage we carry is voluminous.

Even after removing the parcel shelf, you get only a little more space but not too much as I don't want to block the rear glass (not safe).
The only other option is to add a roof carrier (in Mopar accessories the cost of which is around 45K which includes Cross bars and luggage basket as two separate items.)
I am looking for aftermarket options, which I feel should be available in a few months. But lookswise, a roof carrier on the Compass will be an eyesore.

Why do you want to go in for a complete roof carrier? Just go in for cross bars worth 15k. They don't look as bad as a carrier, plus can be easily removed.

Please check item number 34 in the attached accessories list.

Roof bars alone are good only if you mount things like cycle carriers / kayak carriers or a lockable roof box. If you want to put luggage bags on the roof, you need a proper carrier basket too, otherwise it will damage the roof!

The increase in brightness and throw seems impressive - seems like a good upgrade. I have shared these with my Uncle and recommended the same...

The other option my Uncle is considering is the HID option that he found on Facebook:
https://www.carchic.in/product/jeep-...t-with-canbus/

The HIDs will void warranty and can cause problems. They also need the dust caps to be cut which can lead to condensation inside the headlamps.
If you are keen for HID, go for the Osram Gen 2 4000K HB3 version or Morimotos 35W 4000K

Updating my thread after a long time!
It has almost been more than 14 months now into ownership and our Silver Surfer has covered only 12,560 Kms so far! It has not been on too many outstation trips yet as we have not had the time due to other engagements. Also, as our Labrador is now 13 years old, we cannot leave him in any boarding hostels and that has prevented us from taking any vacations! We do occasionally head out to our farm around 120kms from Gurgaon but we have to take our Laura as that has massive bootspace and that can accommodate him as well as our luggage comfortably. The Compass on the other hand does not accommodate even him well! This has been one of our biggest grouses with the Compass - too small a boot space for any outstation trips.

Anyway, it has been an uneventful 14 months and nothing much to report on the Compass. First service was done at 12 months exactly and costed 9500 Rupees and was a simple affair with the mandatory oil and filter changes and alignment and wheel balancing.

There have been a few upgrades to the Compass that I have done recently and I am going to detail them out here for the benefit of the other Compass owners!

1) Rattly doors and squeaky door seals fixed!
For fixing the squeaky door seals, this Silicone Spray is what I used to spray on them and it has eliminated all the rubbing noises from the seals. This needs to be sprayed on the door seals as well as the weather strips (from inside) on the doors.


This is available on Amazon India.

Also, the door latches are what rattle on the Door locks - so I applied a bit of Duct tape on the door latch part and greased the Locks well. All Rattling noises are completely gone now. I did this on all 4 doors and even the tailgate hatch. This is a trick I learnt on my Yeti, as the door latches of that also used to rattle. The Compass has the same problem and the same solution works.

2) DRLs bulbs upgraded to LED

The DRLs on the Compass looked really bad with the halogens and I had been itching to find the right bulb which would work well with the Compass Canbus system. After 2 trials with other bulbs I finally found the right one.

This is from Aliexpress and available on the link here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/WLJH...859909288.html

This is how they look at night. (they look quite bright at night but they look fine in daytime as they are meant to be DRLs . The Light output is around 1000 Lumens with 6000K CCT.



3) Headlights upgraded to HID.
The weak headlights of the Compass in the Limited version with Halogen projectors had been a really sore point and hampered the Highway driveability of the Compass for us. So finally I took a decision to upgrade them to HID myself. I used the same HID Canbus ballast kit which I am using on the Laura (for past 8 months now) and got Yeaky 4500K HID bulbs in HB3 to go along with them. I also ordered spare dust caps so the original dust caps are retained and I can reverse the entire installation easily if required.
This is where I got the dust caps from Aliexpress:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Genu...779527864.html

This is the ballast I used:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-Se...796715744.html
However I did not use the CNlight bulbs supplied with the kit and used Yeaky HB3 HID bulbs ordered locally from a local supplier uglare (www.uglare.com)

The Yeaky HID bulbs are better than the CNLight bulbs.
This is where I have installed the ballasts in my Compass:



The Holes were cut in the dust caps with a 20mm Hole cutter attached to my drill.




I also used High temperature Anabond Silicone sealant from inside to seal the dust caps properly (looks a bit messy, but I applied excess just to be safe!)



Overall quite happy with the HID bulb upgrade, though there is a bit of Ground wire shadow as the Ground wire is at 12 O clock position and cannot be rotated to any other position. The light output at 3800 lumens is almost 2.5 times that of the stock halogens (1600 lumens). The biggest difference is that the high beam now is very strong and visibility is good.

4) Headlights and fog lamps aligned better.

I realigned all the Headlights (there is vertical and horizontal adjustment which can be done) to my satisfaction. I also aligned the Headlights horizontally to converge slightly as earlier both beams were parallel and in between the beams there would be dark spot.
I also raised the fog lamp aiming so that the throw is slightly further ahead.
This is the tool required to do the adjustments:
https://www.amazon.in/JCB-Way-Handle...ywords=jcb+6mm
The headlight beam adjustment can only be done with a tool like this as it needs a very long rod. Normal Allen keys are not able to reach the adjustment screws and there is also the risk of dropping them into the engine bay.

I am interested in buying this ballast for converting my H7 projectors to HID. How is the performance of the ballast vis a vis standard 35w units available in the market?

My experience is quite good with these. This is my second set , the first one I am using on my Laura (H7 version) for the past 7 months without any issues. I did that installation also myself. I modified the bulb clip (straightened the clip a bit) to make the bulb also go in with the ground wire at 6 OClock position as by default it would go to 12 o clock position. With the ground wire at 6 o clock position there is no ground wire shadow and light is very uniform.
This unit is slightly boosted over standard 35W versions and also is canbus compatible in most cars.
You may get a bit of radio interference on startup on some stations though.

Interesting update, specifically on door rattle and HID kit. On silicon spray do you need to spray it once or frequently. Just wanted to check if the rattle comes back after spray. I liked the idea of getting the dust caps and fixing them with the wiring kit. That actually is the best solution. also keep the original caps intact just in case of warranty. Hows the HID kit is it giving similar output as other HID kits? do you see 100%+ improvement in performance?

Thanks once again for the update.

The door treatment with silicone spray lasts for more than 6 months or longer till the car is pressure washed. Once that is done the spray needs to be reapplied. The rattle from the door locks will not come back if the grease in the locks is sufficient and does not need reapplication for a year.
The HID kit I now have on has almost 4000 lumens of light output which is 2.5 times the original bulbs. This difference is very clearly visible in the high beam throw distance. Even in low beam there is often glare from my own headlamps if there is a car in front of me with too much chrome on its rear! The brightness is quite high and the beam spread is wider and much better than original.