Jeep – there is no other brand so identified with off-roading ability. Now, the 2010 Jeep® Patriot is set to take you where you want to go – with power, comfort and convenience to spare.
The five-seat Patriot’s platform has had serious strengthening done to the frame rails of its unibody design. Open channels have been boxed, and engine and suspension mountings have been beefed up for rigorous duty as well. On top of that stiffer structure is a roomy two-box style wagon that looks fit and trim in its two model configurations, Sport and Limited. The Sport is a well-equipped base model while the Limited gets standard disc rear brakes, larger wheels and tires and keyless entry.
The Patriot is lighter than the Jeep Wrangler and the larger unibody Liberty, so it gets better fuel efficiency and can use smaller engines. The Patriot comes standard with a twin-cam 2.4-liter four-cylinder attached to a five-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels. Optional are two sophisticated, electronically controlled continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), which are differentiated by a low-range gear for the optional “Freedom Drive II” four-wheel 
drive system. This year, a smaller 2.0-liter four-cylinder that comes standard on the front-drive Sport model with the five-speed manual transmission gets an impressive 29 mpg in EPA highway testing while the 2.4-liter returns 28 mpg.
Patriot is available with Jeep’s “Trail Rated®” badge, meaning that the vehicle has climbed the obstacle-ridden Rubicon highway in California, a rough, dirt Mecca for off-roaders. To accomplish this feat acceptably, the Patriot is available with the Freedom Drive II Off-road Package, which raises the ground clearance one inch to nine inches. This package also adds a brake-operated hill descent system that keeps the brakes from locking a wheel on the way down a steep dirt hill. There is also a brake-based traction control system for climbing slippery slopes. What’s more, the system seals the engine intake and body seams tighter and that allows fording a stream 19 inches deep. Skid plates protect the mechanicals from rock damage, and tow hooks make winching out of a sticky spot easy, especially because the Patriot is just over 3,300 pounds completely loaded – remarkably light for an SUV intended to go off-road. Manual transmission Trail-Rated models also get Hill Start Assist, which holds the brakes on while the driver moves his right foot to the accelerator and releases the clutch, preventing the Patriot from rolling backward.
All Patriot models get electronic rollover mitigation, which uses the front brakes to prevent the vehicle from sliding sideways and possibly rolling over when the system senses a loss of control.
Recognizing that Jeep used an upright windshield to make the Patriot look like other Jeeps, there is a large amount of room above the instrument panel, and the windshield is far in front of the driver and front passenger. The dashboard contains an optional LCD screen that features navigation and real-time traffic display, and it will play videos when the Patriot is parked. The optional Boston Acoustics speaker system includes speakers that hinge down from the open hatchback of the 2010 Jeep Patriot, so when you arrive at the top of the Rubicon Trail, you can hold a tailgate party with minimal preparation.
Off-road or on, the Jeep Patriot delivers performance and fuel-efficiency in one very nice package.
