ArcaMax

It's not quite as heavy-duty as what you' find in something like a 4WD Liberty or Xterra or FJ Cruiser - but it's heavier-duty than what you'd get in a CR-V, RAV4, Equinox or something along those lines.

As mentioned earlier, the Patriot gives you this enhanced capability with moderate fuel consumption - relative to truck-based, 4WD SUVs.

The base model FWD Patriot with the 2 liter engine and five-speed manual is rated 23 city, 29 highway. A Patriot with the larger 2.4 liter engine and Freedom II set-up still manages 20 city, 23 highway. While not spectacular, this is considerably better than the 15 city, 18 highway delivered by a 4WD Toyota FJ or the 15 city, 20 highway you'd see (if lucky) in a 4WD Nissan Xterra.

And it's about the same as what you'd get in something much lighter-duty, such as the Toyota RAV4 with its optional V-6 and AWD.

ON THE ROAD

Most of the reviews I've read of the Patriot slam it for being slow. Well, it's not quick (zero to 60 with the optional 2.4 liter engine takes about 10 seconds with the manual transmission) but that's certainly adequate for getting around. A Prius is a second slower and people seem to do ok. Context is key. If you lined up a bunch of new cars on starting line, dropped the checkered flag and had them all race, all-out, to 60 MPH then sure, the Patriot would be one of the last to get there.

But that's not the real world. In the real world, most people don't usually run all-out from one stoplight to the next - and if they do, there are better vehicles for that than the Patriot. A tire-fryer it's not. But adequately powerful for normal real-world driving it is.

Same as regards cornering. If you drive it within reason - that is, not expecting it to take a corner like a Corvette - it's fine. Nothing weird or unpredictable - or too firm or too soft. It tracks where you point it and the tires won't screech unless you're really pushing it, in which case that's your fault, not the Jeep's.

Normally, I don't recommend CVT transmissions - especially with smaller (and not so powerful) engines. But the Patriot's updated-for-2012 CVT is a well-sorted unit: quiet, smooth and well-matched to the engine. I can't tell you how it performs with the standard 2.0 engine, but it performed well with the 2.4 liter engine in the Patriot I tested. For off-road use, it's probably the better choice, too, as it will give you more fine control than the manual.

Speaking of which: I took the Patriot off-roading, using it to take me down to the fence line on the other end of our property - which involves carefully trundling across 16 acres of open, rolling fields - including several pretty deep dips and two pretty steep inclines. No problems. It tackled this terrain as well as my 4WD pick-up. I would never take someone else's brand-new FWD or AWD light-duty crossover like a CR-V off into the fields (and woods) as I did with the Patriot. Jeep's "trail rated" talk also walks the walk.

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