Owning a car nobody asked for...

[FreeWillie]

28,000 trouble free miles. Goes anywhere I want it to. Only used 4x4 once (the roads were really bad - snow packed with a frozen layer underneath). Plenty of room and comfortable. Good gas mileage. I'll take it over some of the other crap out there.

[Billofthenorth]

Don't forget that we as owners can post auto reviews online also and they just might be more valuable to prospective buyers, especially if we do inappropriate comparisons just like the professionals.

The 2012 2.4l 4x4 5 speed Patriot sport model vs the 2013 Bentley Mulsanne

"While the Bentley displays all the bells and whistles one would expect from a luxury vehicle and the 6752cc Twin-tubocharged V8 puts out over 500 hp, accelerates smoothly and quietly we couldn't help but notice that it lacked some of the features one would expect on such a refined $328,000 vehicle and which our $20,000 Jeep Patriot does have.

In our performance test we decided to hook up our ice fishing shanty and tow it out onto Saginaw bay. Immediately one notices the lack of a tow hitch on the Bentley and the fact that an aftermarket hitch is not available. Not so with the Patriot which offers a dealer installed tow package and has a large selection of hitches available through Mopar and other manufacturers. There is also no roof rack offered by Bentley and though it offers a spacious interior and large trunk we just don't think your average outdoorsman would be willing to carry his deer home inside the vehicle and risk getting 'fluids' on the nice leather and expensive fabrics with which the interior is appointed. On the other hand the plastic and synthetic interior fabrics of the patriot are easily sponged off. Score another point for the Pat (as their owners are fond of callng them) In order to continue our comparison we had to jury rig a hitch for the Bentley with some old pipe, a rope and duct tape.

Out on the road both vehicles handled well while towing the load, though as expected the Patriot was a tad more 'truck-like' owing to the stiffer suspension and had slower pick up and acceleration. While the Mulsanne tops out around 180 MPH, the Patriot was only able to reach an anemic 80 MPH, but still not bad for a 4 cylinder engine.

It was out on the ice however that the Patriot outshined the Mulsanne, weighing in 3,000 lbs heavier than the Patriot, the two wheel rear drive Mulsanne had difficulty getting over the ice encrusted snow berm that rims the bay and staying on track amid the cracking and undulating ice while the lighter, nimble Patriot with on demand all wheel drive took the ice on in stride. We also found that there are no easily accessable tow points on the Mulsanne, something the manufacturer should really address if they expect to be taken seriously in the off the paved road arena and a feature that the Coast Guard demands if you wish them to retrieve your vehicle from an errant ice flow.

Fuel economy is also important to many drivers and here the Patriot with its combined average in the mid 20s handily beats the Mulsannes 13 combined MPG.

In short, if you have an extra quarter of a million dollars or so of spare cash lying around you might consider the Bentley though for light duty hauling and off road all weather capability for my money I would choose the Patriot and buy some houses or rental properties with the rest."

[2012Pat]

ha ha, love it.

[Coppertrailer]

Are there reviews comparing the Jeeps to the others. I guess I will look when I get home. I would love to see an off-road challenge with the bratty bunch. I think we know who would compete well.

[johnda]

You made my day with the comparison review, great writing!

[K Dubya]

Originally Posted by Brohio

im kinda mad there isnt a comment box on that article.

Oh but there is...

Fear not, it's full of drooling ignorants, just like the author.

[Jdog]

Originally Posted by Brohio

im kinda mad there isnt a comment box on that article. objective journalism is a dying art.

there is a comment section... and I did leave a comment

[aroundincircles]

I went to leave a comment and cannot reach their site. I'll have to try again later.