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Pros, Cons & Mileage of my brand new Jeep Compass Sport petrol AT

13th June 2022, 18:01 by Rahul Nagaraj

Average overall fuel efficiency including the highway drive gave me 10.6 km/l.

BHPian car-go continues his Jeep Compass Sport ownership review with other enthusiasts.

This ownership review is for my Jeep Compass Sport Petrol DDCT which has run ~750km. The first 350 km. was 100% in the city, and the rest 400 km is 90% on the highways (we travelled this weekend with the Jeep).

This is in continuation to my initial review of getting the car, hence quoting the full initial review. I would mostly be specific to Sport model, and differences vis-a-vis higher models. However, I may iterate certain points from earlier reviews to emphasize such points as completeness to this review.

Pros:

The DRLs keep lighted up throughout the time the car is driven. Pardon my ignorance, but was not sure of this as Sport does not come with auto headlamps.
Cruise control is a boon for long stretches on the highways; gives a chance to relax the right leg. Nevertheless, resuming cruise control at a set speed (by pressing the resume button on steering controls after slowing down) is scary; the car picks up speed like anything.
Extremely well planted on the road, and no body roll while cornering. This was important for my daughter who has motion sickness.
During the long drive (200km going + 200km return), we were 5 adults and 1 kid (my daughter, 7 years old). Heights range from 5’3” to 5”8”, and my mother-in-law aged 68 years. Though having compact interiors, the travel was comfortable for all of them; no qualms at all. There were 4 in the rear seats (3 adults + 1 kid). My wife also did not feel any back pain-related discomfort (she has chronic back pain though).
Speed build-up was gradual and slow at low speeds, hence my wife did not “feel” any acceleration. The only reason she got to know of driving speed sitting at the back is due to the warning beep while crossing 80 km/h. No one felt a thing while the car was moving at 90+ km/h.
No problem is Ingress or egress for elderly people, especially my mother-in-law.
The bonnet well insulates the engine heat. After driving for around 100km we stopped for tea. My daughter jumped up (with a little help from me) and sat on the bonnet; it was absolutely not hot (unlike my earlier SX4).
My car is kept in open parking. It withstood three heavy bouts of rain recently, and there was absolutely no seepage inside.
The 8.4” MID and 3.5” instrument cluster display were pretty adequate for use, including the rear camera view during reversing. Android Auto connectivity has been always seamless with Google Maps running the whole time during the long trip.
Very very adequate luggage space; we packed up for the trip, and there was enough space left. At the destination, shopping added more and more, and all went at the back without a sweat.
TPMS is a welcome addition which was silently added by Jeep, probably with the increase in prices in April.
Entire handling of the car was very sedan-like once you get used to it (as I have been primarily driving sedans before), with a fantastic all-around view.

Cons:

No fog lamps, however, could not yet test whether it would really make sense on a dark night with heavy rainfall (yet to experience that).
No rear parcel tray/ shelf. I got it from the Jeep dealership separately.
Manual AC, though adequate, has to be first maxed for effective cooling. Later, the fan can be slowed down to maintain a comfortable temperature.
The 12V socket is at the back below the AC vent and the USB-A socket was a bit difficult to locate. Hence, if you are planning to use a tire inflator using it, the wire should be long enough to reach the tires.
Though gradual speed build-up is good for my wife (does not complain any more of kicking acceleration by me), it really tests your patience as Floyd de Souza has mentioned.
Could not yet satisfactorily figure out how to stop ignition and restart it at a long traffic signal with auto start/stop disabled (which I do as this sometimes can be both an annoyance, and takes a toll on the engine).

What I do not care about:

No sunroof - never felt the need, even when driving such cars in the US; felt so relaxed about it with the soaring temperature outside while driving the car with AC on
No auto headlamps and wipers - though they are great technologies, was never much of a fan of sensor-based electronics; felt satisfied that DRLs automatically light up during drives
4x4 and features like ADAS - do not feel the need (at least yet; never have used them anyway)
Mobile connectivity - though present through the JeepLife app in higher models, this can be added as an option using a MOPAR modem (retails at Rs. 30K in Jeep dealerships), however imagining cybersecurity threats these days makes me jittery; though I know this feature has worked as a boon for many.
The manual mode; the car anyway takes too much control and does not let you shift beyond certain RPM thresholds as Sharan has already described

Mileage:

The first 350 km in the city gave me 8.9 km/l. Overall average including the highway drive (total 750 km) gave me 10.6 km/l. Calculations (as I did not reset the trip meter for the highway trip) shows that I got 12 km/l on the highway. This to me is fine, and I expect it to go up a bit as it breaks in after a few thousand km.