A Swedish magazine’s claim that the Grand Cherokee failed its “moose avoidance test” was, according to Chrysler, based on conditions unlikely to be encountered by owners — an overloaded vehicle put under sudden stress. The result was then hyped as being deadly, with a large photo that was picked up by automotive blogs, resulting in publicity for the magazine.
Update: According to Gualberto Ranieri, Teknikens Värld’s driver, Ruben Börjesson, admitted to overloading the car by 110 pounds.
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Chrysler engineers tried to reproduce the wheel-lift in a properly loaded vehicle, but were unable to do so. The magazine conducted the test in the presence of Chrysler engineers, using three Grand Cherokees in eleven separate runs, and were unable to reproduce it, either, according to Chrysler.
Late today, the magazine responded to Chrysler, with Web Editor Mattias Rabe saying they had not overloaded the Grand Cherokee. They put in five people and used sandbags in the luggage compartment to bring it up to the maximum cargo weight, he wrote. He did not explain why the Grand Cherokee was only “lethal” (nobody was actually hurt in the test) during their televised, photographed test, and not in the eleven runs conducted in the presence of witnesses.
Grand Cherokee Statement for Teknikens Varld Test
Chrysler Group engineers are investigating a Swedish magazine's evaluation of the 2012 Grand
Cherokee. During the evaluation, the publication was able to capture images of a Grand Cherokee on two wheels as it performed an extreme maneuver in an overloaded condition.
Advised of this event by the magazine, Chrysler Group engineers made numerous attempts to
reproduce the wheel-lift in a properly loaded vehicle. Extensive testing produced no such result.
A subsequent evaluation was conducted by the magazine July 8 in Sweden and witnessed by Chrysler Group engineers. Three vehicles performed 11 runs on a course prepared by the magazine. None reproduced the original event.
The uncharacteristic result was obtained using a vehicle loaded beyond its weight specifications. The Grand Cherokee's weight limitations are clearly stated on the vehicle and in the owner's manual. Also, the extreme maneuver performed by the magazine is not certified by any regulatory agency, nor is it used to establish any sanctioned safety ratings.
Chrysler Group takes seriously any safety concerns and engineers are examining the event to better understand the magazine's claims.
A "Top Safety Pick" of the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2012 Grand Cherokee is an award-winning SUV that features Electronic Stability Control and Electronic Roll Mitigation as
standard equipment. It meets or exceeds all government safety mandates and its outstanding
performance has made it the most awarded SUV in history.