Luke
Interloper
I just recently had the chance to spend a couple weeks in a 08 Liberty "North Edition" with 20k km's (12,500 miles) on the odo. and I thought I would share my observations... or more acurately comparrisons with the KJ.
To begin I should state that it was a daily rental and although it appeared in mint condition, I worked as a car jockey when I was younger so ... in other words I would never consider it to be on par with a privately owned 08. I should also state that I love my KJ and am biased to the extreme
(but i can still give you my untainted thoughts on the KK)
First some pics ...
I will not get into anything subjective like the appearance of the KK because quite frankly who TF cares what what someone else thinks about that kind 'o' stuff. I will say that it has grown on me in that category. Also some things are obvious upgrades like the sound system for example, again not relevant really when comparing it to a late model KJ.
I didn't notice a lot of difference in build quality or materials used for the interior or exterior really although the comfort of the seats has to be mentioned, the KK seats must have more cushion material, side bolsters seamed very similar to the KJ. The deleted grab handles on the A pillar were sadly missing from the KK, although lighted rear passenger retracting handles were a nice addition.
Without measuring anything or looking at the specs, the KK is obviously larger in every direction by a few inches or more, which would have the obvious if not fractional advantage in storage and comfort, and an opposite however marginal effect on a skinny trail.
The electronic controls for the transfer case functioned as they should, I won't get into the whole which is better ( a separate research topic ). I prefer the manual controls but as I said they worked.. period. However, if I was buying one of these I would want to know that having for example "Fun in the snow" etc. is somewhat limited by the safety features (ESP), I tried deactivating the ESP during my "experiments", with limited success. Cutting the throttle and activating the traction control on me when I'm trying to have a little fun is not something I enjoyed. All that having been said there are some obvious advantages to these technologies and they are designed to thwart this kind of activity when it is not "planned" so in the end they work.
The ride in general is much more smooth and dampened, this again is a matter of preference, I definitely felt less connected with the road surface than in the KJ, something I personally do not enjoy. The tires were GY SRA's so I did not expect much and that's what I got. In the end however the ride quality has to be rated as "improved".
In conclusion I have to say I liked it ... It seemed equal to (sometimes better) than the KJ in most respects... but I enjoy my KJ more
Cheers All,
To begin I should state that it was a daily rental and although it appeared in mint condition, I worked as a car jockey when I was younger so ... in other words I would never consider it to be on par with a privately owned 08. I should also state that I love my KJ and am biased to the extreme
(but i can still give you my untainted thoughts on the KK)First some pics ...
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I will not get into anything subjective like the appearance of the KK because quite frankly who TF cares what what someone else thinks about that kind 'o' stuff. I will say that it has grown on me in that category. Also some things are obvious upgrades like the sound system for example, again not relevant really when comparing it to a late model KJ.
I didn't notice a lot of difference in build quality or materials used for the interior or exterior really although the comfort of the seats has to be mentioned, the KK seats must have more cushion material, side bolsters seamed very similar to the KJ. The deleted grab handles on the A pillar were sadly missing from the KK, although lighted rear passenger retracting handles were a nice addition.
Without measuring anything or looking at the specs, the KK is obviously larger in every direction by a few inches or more, which would have the obvious if not fractional advantage in storage and comfort, and an opposite however marginal effect on a skinny trail.
The electronic controls for the transfer case functioned as they should, I won't get into the whole which is better ( a separate research topic
). I prefer the manual controls but as I said they worked.. period. However, if I was buying one of these I would want to know that having for example "Fun in the snow" etc. is somewhat limited by the safety features (ESP), I tried deactivating the ESP during my "experiments", with limited success. Cutting the throttle and activating the traction control on me when I'm trying to have a little fun is not something I enjoyed. All that having been said there are some obvious advantages to these technologies and they are designed to thwart this kind of activity when it is not "planned" so in the end they work. The ride in general is much more smooth and dampened, this again is a matter of preference, I definitely felt less connected with the road surface than in the KJ, something I personally do not enjoy. The tires were GY SRA's so I did not expect much and that's what I got
. In the end however the ride quality has to be rated as "improved".In conclusion I have to say I liked it ... It seemed equal to (sometimes better) than the KJ in most respects... but I enjoy my KJ more
Cheers All,
