Jeep Meridian long term review, 21,000km report

As you will have learn in our final report, our long-term Jeep Meridian performed a key supporting position in our Guinness World Information title try, shadowing the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV from Jaisalmer to Leh. What you didn’t know is that the Meridian’s journey didn’t finish there. Rahul and I took it additional – first to Hanle, after which up the world’s highest motorable highway, Umling La. Why? Truthfully, the one reply is: why not?

The HVAC system labored properly at each extremes of our journey.

To recap, the Meridian had already tackled the gruelling journey from Mumbai to Jaisalmer and onward to Leh for our document try – and it did so with no single fault. Not that it was totally incident-free. A falling rock at Zoji La punched a gap within the sunroof, and with no repair in sight, we resorted to taping it shut for the remainder of the journey. With the document achieved and the shoot wrapped up at Khardung La, a lot of the crew hopped on a flight again to Mumbai. However Rahul, the Meridian, and I stayed for the following leg of our journey.

The diesel does get noisy when pushed and feels out of breath at excessive altitude.

By now, the Jeep’s cruising capacity and suspension had impressed us all. On vast open highways, it was easy to settle right into a rhythm. Snug, planted, and surprisingly environment friendly for such a big SUV, it cruised alongside with out criticism. Push it exhausting, and the engine does get vocal, however energy does preserve coming in. On tough stretches just like the Jammu-Srinagar highway, the suspension soaked up the large stuff, although sharp jolts nonetheless discovered their means into the cabin.

ADAS reactivates on restart, requiring use of the display screen to disable most capabilities.

However the drive from Leh to Hanle and onward to Umling La is what I’ll keep in mind most. The panorama shifts from lunar valleys to snow-capped mountains, the air thins, and temperatures plummet. We stayed in a single day in Hanle, the place the Meridian obtained its first dusting of snow. From there, we started the trek to Umling La through Photi La, which itself stands at a lofty 18,124 ft. The move was freshly blanketed in snow, and traction would have been a problem in a lesser automobile.

Change the Meridian into Snow mode, preserve your proper foot measured, and it climbs on – sure-footed and regular. Energy supply dips noticeably at altitude; the engine takes a second to catch its breath at 18,000 ft. However with a little bit of endurance, it carried us throughout with out difficulty. Umling La was equally snow-covered, however the Meridian chugged alongside easily, scaling the world’s highest motorable move. Standing there, surrounded by silence and skinny air, it was a kind of uncommon moments when the automobile, highway, and drive align completely.

The 12.2kpl common on a gruelling 3,800km journey is sort of respectable.

The return journey felt nearly like a victory lap. Again by Leh, onward to Kargil, after which Zoji La once more – this time kinder, with blue skies and no site visitors. It nearly felt just like the move was apologising for the rock bathe earlier. We rolled into Srinagar and at last handed the keys to our drivers for the lengthy trip again to Mumbai.

Snow on the mountain tops and on our Jeep.

The reality is, I didn’t need to. After 3,800km collectively, I’d grown connected. The Jeep Meridian isn’t excellent – it may be noisy when pushed, really feel cumbersome within the hills, and isn’t precisely fast at altitude. But it surely stored going, stored us comfortable and secure and by no means allow us to down. And in the long run, that’s precisely what you need from a automobile on a highway journey like this.