I have visited the future of midsize SUVs and it is good. Imagine a manageable footprint, the torque to tow 7400 pounds with ease, 22mpg in the city, and an almost astounding 27mpg or more with the cruise set to extralegal. As an added bonus, if you’ve ever wondered what the back of your head looks like, ponder no more: bury the throttle once, and then examine the headrest (while stopped, please): there for your amusement is a true-to-life impression, like those paper-machete masks we made as kids.

Despite diesel’s inflated price right now (16% more than regular unleaded), the math still works; by my admittedly rough-hewn numbers, the Grand Cherokee Diesel’s fuel economy is 25% better than the anemic gas V6 model, and 34% greater than the V8—which barely offers its thrust and towing abilities at sea level, never mind up here.

The powertrain’s price premium is modest: $1655, or about the same as the charge for the V8. And it will probably hold its value significantly better as well, if the used pricing on other derv-drinkers are anything to go by.

What else do the next few years hold? Nothing that the rest of this Jeep give you insight towards. In fact, the rest of the Grand Cherokee package is more of a reminder of yesterday than a harbinger of what’s to come.

However, that’s quite an improvement from just a few years ago, when it debuted. Then, it was cheap plastics poorly assembled, and a driving experience that felt very 20th Century mid-America. Now the ride’s rough edges have been chamfered off, the Grand Cherokee will actually go around a corner with a modicum of composure, and the dashtop is made of one main molding instead of three or four brittle pieces.

Jeep thinks it makes sense to offer the turbodiesel in only the top shelf Limited and Overland models, but I can’t help feeling that they’re missing a trick here. A cloth-lined Laredo priced in the low-thirties would be a steal, offering all the utility and ability the brand is known for, with a green bent that would attract a greater pool of buyers. As may be; Jeep’s audacious thinking deserves to be rewarded—and buyers will win too, every time they pass a fuel pump by.

Price Range: $40,940-47,360

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