Well, now there's a new Jeep; the Commander. I dunno. It's ugly,even by the old AMC standards, but covered in mud I'm sure it'd be kinda neat. Looks aside, my main complaint is the IFS up front. Jeep says that they beat it up in testing and the IFS was up to the challenge. It did drive nice and seems to be well-equipped (e-lockers!) for more off-roading than a "highway-to-the-Chalet" Lexus. Whudyou guys think? Skip Colorado Springs

Not an answer but a comment. Have you ever seen a Commander off roading in real life or in a 4x4 magazine? Now depending on what you wanna do with it, you have your own answer...

I'll have to compare the specs, but a wagoneer is an amazing thing off road, of course an xj cherokee is more nimble, but because of the weight distribution has a few issues. a full size jeep/wagoneer has a pretty decent weight distribution, and almost 1,000lbs more... they are very sure footed... I didn't drive the Commander yet, it was raining, and none of the sales guys came out to harrass me... (note to self: visit car lots during rain) so I was able to hope in and look around, sit and examine. Visibility was not what is is on either the SJ, XJ or even the WJ. Having the windshield that far forward reminded me of driving a bus... When I looked under the hood I noted that the 4.7L V8 (which is one of the finest v8's I've ever owned, if it's the same or close to the '99 I had) was sitting way back under that dash... making it very difficult to service... pulling the spark plugs on that beast will not be a great deal of fun. At least on a full size van you have the dog house to access the back side of the engine... don't have that feature on this thing. that back of the commander (what's the designator for this thing???) did seem a bit crowded and visibility was very limited, with or without the seats... good side mirrors are a must... I don't know who would be able to sit in those back seats... there didn't appear to be any place to put legs... I put some VW seats in the back of my '67 Wagoneer... the kids loved it, but they were short back then... ;) The Commander does not have the "wow" factor you mentioned... the placement of the windshield and the fake(?) fender flares do seem very much aimed at the hummer types... I've got the brochures, will put some specs together to see what's what (provided of course the marketing types saw fit to actually describe the physical dimensions). As solid as that door was and as quiet as it got when I closed the door, and with that superb 4.7L V8 (got 21.3 mpg with mine in a WJ running Amsoil synthetics) along with the car like suspension, it should be a nice interstate cruiser... I didn't sit in the seats long enough to gauge their comfort, but they seem to be a departure from the WJ seats, but not nearly as bad as the KJ's. john