Picked up my 2016 limited with the hemi V8. Only 17 miles so far. New shifter is nice. Let me know if anyone has questions? I think it's going to be a good year for the grand cherokee.
People are really excited about the new shifter, seems pretty minor to me in the grand scheme of things, reminds me of the Audi board I'm on where the 13-16 S4 has pretty much stayed exactly the same except the most minor stuff like the start button getting a red ring around it and there were like 100 threads on the new button and how to get it, retrofit it, etc
No kidding? Who cares? I love my '14 shifter! Exciting for 2016 would have been adding 40 hp to the Hemi, softening the Overland seats or having a factory Corsa exhaust! Any of those would put a smile on my face! . But a shifter . . . :wtf:
I love my 14 shifter. I am trying to educate myself about the new one. If given a choice between the old gated design, the 14 design and a knob, I would choose the 14 design for operation but I would turn its grabbing handle around, along the longitudinal axis of the car and curve it a bit.
No knobs though. I have them on every door in my house.
For what it's worth that's the same tire that came factory on our 2014 Toyota Highlander. They seemed fine to me, but everyone on the forums hated them. So it's nothing new just another factory tire that everyone will bitch about lol. Probably no better or worse than the Goodyears that have been on them for years.
And yeah OP whatsup with that, make a post saying you got your 2016 and no pics or anything?!!
yeah I was kinda wondering that also. they are both an all season touring tire on tirerack and out of 21 touring tires Pirellis are rated #1 the Ecopias are #5 and the Forteras are #15. If they were going to do an option tire you would think they may make the Pirellis standard and then have an option tire that is a little more off road slanted. But at least they are improving in the tire category so I'm not complaining.
No ground breaking improvements on the 2016s but better tires is a big plus, the +2 mixed mileage mpg over the 2014/15 v6 and a little more low end grunt for the v6 people is a plus and the shifter well that to me is a mix of a plus and a minus. I like the shifter function better but I don't like the movement of the sport mode to a dash button. Being able to bump the shifter into sport without even looking while resting my arm on the console was something I liked about the old shifter. over all id probably take the new one if offered a choice though.
For what it's worth I think the new shifter looks terrible, a few steps back in time. Although the shifter in my 15 Overland is a bit odd to operate it looks pleasing. IMO
I was just browsing all the pictures of actual 2016s on lots now on cars.com app. I think the new shifter looks better than I thought it would. It for sure takes up more space on the console though and has more going on. So it isn't as clean looking as the 14/15 models, but looks good. Like others have stated I do see the sport button on the dash under the climate controls. I do like how easy sport mode is to engage in the 14/15 models. I also saw some instrument cluster pictures and I see some of the menus are different. Overall looks good, other than that I see no changes at all.
Here are some random pics I found of the console with sport button and new shifter, as well as one of the new revised menus on the gauge cluster screen.
I was just browsing all the pictures of actual 2016s on lots now on cars.com app. I think the new shifter looks better than I thought it would. It for sure takes up more space on the console though and has more going on. So it isn't as clean looking as the 14/15 models, but looks good. Like others have stated I do see the sport button on the dash under the climate controls. I do like how easy sport mode is to engage in the 14/15 models. I also saw some instrument cluster pictures and I see some of the menus are different. Overall looks good, other than that I see no changes at all.
Here are some random pics I found of the console with sport button and new shifter, as well as one of the new revised menus on the gauge cluster screen.
I used to be a huge manual transmission guy and part of me still is. I still don't understand the point of a long shifter if you're transmission is automatic... That's probably why I enjoy the Jaguar and Dodge/chrysler rotary shifters. If a new shifter is designed and it's not a rotary shifter, I think is a step back in design. There's absolutely no need for a long shifter in automatic transmissions. Of course, that's my opinion.
Tired of my right leg rubbing on the shifter. A nice tiny rotary shifter would be fine in my mind, especially if it were nicely made like the one in the Jag. A chrome coated lightweight plastic rotary would suck!
^^I agree with everything. I also don't like where the sport mode got moved to. It seems 'cheap' I think they should have made it to where you push the shifter to the side in D or back one for sport. No idea why sport mode is some random button.
Can the upgraded Pentastar electronic start stop feature be disabled? If so can it be done permanently or with a push of a button with each start up? Thank you.
I have Michelin Altitude or Attitude, or some such on my 2015 Limited. They're nice except at 70+ MPH they sound like a prop plane at cruising altitude. Maybe that's why they call them "Altitude"??
The new shifter does have a "manual mode" by pulling it towards the driver seat, then you have the spring detent forward and back (although I think the + and - are backwards compared to most cars). It's possible some of you are confusing "sport mode" with "manual mode". Also, hitting either paddle shifter on the steering wheel puts it into manual mode, without having to move the shifter.
The sport button that is now on the center stack actually changes the engine and shifting dynamics to make it feel faster and sportier (quicker throttle response, holding gears longer before upshifts, etc.).
And on the tire front, I plan on getting my dealer to swap out the OEM Bridgestones for a set of Michelin Defender LTX. I'm hoping they'll give me a fair trade on the unused Bridgestones so my out of pocket cost on the swap will be well under $500. FYI, not much in the way of AT tires available in the stock 265/50-20 size.
The Defender LTX is the newest version of the original LTX...arguably one of the best street/all season/mild AT tires ever made.
Agree with you Driver Dave the Defenders are going to be my next tire on my Grand Cherokee also, I have been waiting for them to come out in the 265/50R20 size. They are the best all season on road tire with a slant towards off road. You can certainly buy better dedicated AT tires, Terra Grapplers would be my favorite in that category and this size. But for one that is smooth, very quiet and has good on road manors and gives you ok mild to medium off road ability and does decent in snow for not being a snow tire the Defenders cant be beat. Its a great all around tire to leave on year round. There are better purpose built tires but the defender does a good job of tying a little bit of everything together into one tire. Currently #1 out of 36 in its highway all season category on tirerack.
DriverDave, save your money! Those Defenders are glorified street tires! Put a set of these Nitto Terra Grappler G2's on & actually go places! :thumbsup:
Although those Nitto's look like a pretty good AT option for that size, one of the things I really like about the LTX's is the superb snow capability. Some say they perform almost as good as a dedicated winter tire. Even though I do plan on doing some mild to occasionally moderate trail bashing, I think I'll take the better snow performance, better treadwear/traction ratings, and longer, quieter life of the LTX. If I decide a year or 2 from now that they aren't as good as I expected, I will definitely look into the Nitto's, since my "go to" AT tire isn't made in our size (Dueler AT Revo 2).
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