alright I have been driving this all day and I absolutely do not like it.
Acceleration feels a little sluggish. engine whines like a Corolla. So much engine noise in the cabin and none of it is pleasant.
Transmission shifts well though and going up a mountain pass, it was in the right gear quickly.
Steering feel is awful.
Heavy. Does not return to center. Turning radius of a space shuttle. It feels like driving a car on flat tires.
When I let go of brakes and let it roll, it shudders to get in gear and everything rattles.
There’s a lot of drivetrain vibration in the cabin. Pedals. Even the glovebox.
It’s loud inside at highway speeds. At 55+ wind noise is INSANE.
you hear a lot of tire doom doom sounds. Low end dooooom. Sounds like someone next door is playing the bass drum. This alone is a deal breaker.
Sunroof has no shade. And it’s right over your head.
WHYYY. I was getting baked.
Rear visibility is POOR. Between the door and the tire, can’t see s***.
AC controls are terrible. It responds slow to temp dials.
You have to finesse with it and the numbers are like a size 8 font.
The speedometer is off to the side in the center. The center of the main dash is just warning lights. Could have at least put a speedometer and a horizontal strip for RPM.
This also wastes a lot of space for CarPlay. I kept having to look over to get my speeds right while an empty blank box was staring at me where a normal instrument cluster would be.
No visor mirror.
All in all, this makes my LX look like a Rolls Royce in comparison.
The Grenadior has 1700 miles on it.
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The steering differences are well documented, as are fixes and remedies. The 2026 models have improved in that department as well. If you never drove an older Jeep CJ/YJ/TJ or older Defender, then you likely haven't experienced anything like it. It's extremely foreign by modern standards, but most come to find it more engaging. It blows any other 4WD out of the water off-road; that's where the handling excels.
The bongs and dings mostly get resolved with a software update and by changing some of the settings. You get past everything being in the center stack in a few days, and most come to prefer it, myself included. I fly airplanes regularly, I know where my gauges are, and I reference them when needed. I need to be looking outside, focused on traffic, obstacles, and where I am headed. The same goes for in the vehicle. We've become spoiled in modern vehicles with everything in our face at all times, a monster screen and HUD, so much so that you find an analog and simple experience to be "terrible", outdated, and not informative enough. A sign of the times IMHO.
If you aren't used to driving a domestic HD truck, then you won't enjoy the ride in these; you've got a bougie behind from spending most of your time in a luxury SUV, which doesn't make it bad, it just means you prefer soft, and that's ok. The road noise is not as abhorrent as you describe (my spoiled wife would agree), but again, everyone experiences sound and noise differently, which makes it subjective. The one you're driving has 32's on 18" wheels, they don't have much in the way of a sidewall, and it's quite stiff as well. That'll add to the perceived ride and cabin noise.
Rear visibility is s***, there's no denying that, but that's why most add a
Wolfbox mirror, a game-changer. The Safari windows aren't my favorite, and that's why I bought one without them, but again, personal preference. Too much sun coming through them for your taste, well, they make shades and tint for that, easy fix. Visor mirrors are for women to check their hair and makeup. Strap one on if you think you need it.
Your complaints aren't anything new; many feel disappointed and want so much more. Adaptive cruise, blind spot monitoring, keyless entry, remote start, push button start, ventilated seats, adjustable lumbar, better sound system, larger screen, more gauges, bigger side mirrors, etc., etc., etc. And for those that desire such things, I say that you've missed the point of the vehicle entirely. There's a plethora of vehicles on the market that offer those luxuries, literally almost every other vehicle out there lol. This is supposed to be a modern take on an otherwise analog experience. You get modern niceties like CarPlay, heated seats, backup camera, a more modern engine, etc., but stripped of all of the fluff. If you're not one to embrace that, then this definitely isn't the vehicle for you, and that's ok, it's not for most.
Luckily for you, you got to experience one free of any financial or emotional commitment, and you get to return to your preferred vehicle without anything lost.
