Bob Cooke – contributor
If we’re going to have a miserably cold winter, I guess we might as well have a bit of snow to brighten up the countryside. I do mean a bit of snow, enough to give a Christmas card look to the scenery, as opposed to last month’s blizzard that had people stuck all night on the M40 and M25. If only they’d all had 4x4s…
That snowfall was particularly welcome because it gave a chance for us to assess the white-weather performance of the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac mud-terrains fitted to the Cherokee. We’ve already found them to be more than adequate in the mud, as well as being surprisingly quiet at speed on the road, but only with that overnight fall that layered Kent with over 100mm of the crispy white stuff did we get to put Goodyear’s claims to the test. And yes, the Duratracs are impressive in the snow.
It didn’t take long to form a positive first impression, because the lane leading from our suburban residence has a nasty downslope just as it joins the main road, a slope that most winters sees cars sliding helplessly on the icy surface towards the junction, and only the fact that the main road usually does get gritted so that passing cars are able to brake in time has prevented a string of accidents. Even in the Cherokee we’ve habitually taken that slippery slope very gently, usually with the nearside tyres pressed against the kerb to get a bit of extra retardation.
SPEC
Make: Jeep Cherokee
Model: 4.0 Limited
Mileage: 63,891
MPG: 19.8
Recent costs: £35 for the MoT
Arrived: July 2011
You can read more about this Jeep in the April 2012 issue of 4×4 Magazine – available here
