With our new '09 Pat, I found if I need speed to get rpms to about 3k and hold there. If I need a little more go, 3.5k. That usually suffices for any short on ramps here in Shenco. Otherwise, it does well. For the normal size on ramps, 2-2.5k gets the job done. Do you have a 2.0 or 2.4?

 

The only part of this vehicle I'm iffy on is how noisy and unrefined the 2.4 is. It's obviously not a deal breaker or I wouldn't have bought the thing. I love every other aspect of this vehicle.

 

Early on that wads one of my major gripes,
I give myself plenty of room when entering traffic.
0-60 is same as other SUV's but sure doesn't feel like it.
Now haven't even noticed if its slow or not.
Now my gripe which I haven't gotten used to is the small tank.
Reserve light coming on at 170 miles

 

Lol. That awkward moment on the ramp when you're sitting there waiting for there to be a gap in the flow of traffic, and there's cars lined up behind you honking because you're too scared to try to risk pulling onto the highway. Only if they knew that you wish you could...

 

As long as I remember that I'm in my patriot entering traffic, and not my hemicharger....I'll be ok

 

I have a 5 speed, and I know how to drive it, so I don't have these problems.

 

I Agree. I have the stick, and I drive it well:Racing:, so 0-40 is not a problem for me. Sure my gas mileage suffers a little bit, but hot-damn is this thing fun to drive. I had a 2WD CVT(2.4L) as a rental for a few weeks and I couldn't wait to get my manual gearbox back. I do wish that top gear was slightly more useful, but it's not the end of the world.

 

I'm happy with the performance of my pat . I have owned many sports cars in the past yes the pat is a little under powered . I have the cvt tranny but when I merge onto a hwy i use the manual mode and shift the gears myself this helps.


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

 

If I was looking for a fast car, I'd have bought a Charger, but I was looking for MPG and utility so I got the Pat. I don't have any complaints about the speed -- no problems pulling onto the freeway, even in rush hour.

 

Late 2011's have the most recent CVT programming.

Mine didn't and when I got it from the dealer it solved a number of minor drivability issues.

One of which was peppiness off the line. It is now much faster reving to 2,000 RPM and I have no issue keeping up with traffic, around town or merging, etc.

One issue tho, it killed 1 mpg on my fuel consumption. That will ad up to the price of a pizza over a year so I'll take the increased pep.

 

I find mine zings from 60-80kph. I think it's a bit dull under 40kph because the CVT doesn't rev right up at first before settling at 6000rpm [foot flat to the floor]. A proper 6spd auto like Kia/Hyundai use would have seen it tear along nicely. But it probably would've been less effective off-road? Anyhow, you can't beat it for the price, so there's no point complaining. The only other competition is the Ford Escape, which has a 4spd auto [and a bumpy ride].

 

I've driven a lot of 4cyl vehicles, all 4x4's, and IMHO the Patriot goes better than any of those. Better pulling out in traffic, and a hell of a lot better passing on a hill on the highways. In other vehicles I had to take a long running start to get to passing speed in those situations, but in the Pat I just stomp it and it goes.

 

0-100kmh (62 mph) : 10.5-11 sec.

2.0 CRD ,VW pumpe duse engine,140HP.

pretty agile for it's size if you ask me.

 

I have 0 complaints about the power/speed: 2.4L CVT II...I use the 'tiptronic' when merging into traffic if I have to, but I only 'have to' if I'm wigging out because the people around me can't drive worth crap and I want to leave the pack behind. Otherwise, I've never had any issues with the acceleration or power, and I've never gotten honked at or my A$$ ridden for not getting up to speed quickly enough.

My only real issue is the interior noise at highway speeds. Not sure if it's lacking insulation in the firewall, lacking weatherstripping around the sills, or what, but if there's someone in our back seat we are borderline yelling to maintain a conversation @ 60-80mph. However, more times than not, it's just me and the wife and we can carry on a conversation just fine, so this isn't really a significant issue...just would be nice if it were a bit quieter

 

When I first bought the Patriot I didn't realize how slow it was from a dead stop.. It used to bother me and make me worry about pulling into traffic. After having it for almost a year and a half i've learned to deal with it and it's not a problem.

My fiance has a 2012 hyaundai accent with a 2.0L engine. I figured it'd be as slow as my Patriot off the line. That car can move! We recently drove to the beach and she let me drive. I had trouble not speeding because you couldn't tell how fast you were going. I know the reason her's is faster would be due to the weight difference. Her car doesn't weigh anything near the Patriot.

My biggest complaint with the patriot would be all the vibrations that make noise inside the patriot. When ever I am listening to music or driving over a bumpy road the vibrations are ridiculous.

It's so much fun to drive and I love it.. So I really don't have that much against it.

 

• My Pat is fine in the acceleration area, I just drive it like a sports car...
• It has extremely good steering response, probably the best in all the cars I have ever owned...
• It is extremely quiet at all times, I can hardly hear any engine or road noise.
• The only negative I have is steep inclines, it just has not got enough torque to comfortably get up the mountain roads around here. When I took it for a test drive there were no significant hills in the area so I didn't realise this until I had my first road trip. I wouldn't have bought the Pat if I'd known. But it is a fine vehicle in all other respects and I am enjoying it.

 

Hey Binnsy, where did you test drive your Patriot? I did a test up Crackers [Mt Gravatt] lookout, and again at Kippa Ring. I found the CVT fairly good up Mt Gravatt, not that it's the steapest of hills, but it wasn't struggling at all. OTOH, I took an Escape auto for a run up Dennis Road at Springwood, and it almost died in the arse trying to get up there...

 

I took it for a drive around town, I was at the dealers at Holland Park. I don't know that area well so just toddled around the local streets and up Logan Road.
I went for a drive up Tamborine a week after I bought the car. I was down to second gear going up the Mountain, and I was alone in the car with no load???

I still like it, but have shelved the idea of towing a camper, for now anyway...

 

Rear window glass will not open by itself.

 

I took me awhile to get used to the acceleration of the Pat. My last Jeep was a 4.0L 6-cyl. Cherokee with a 5-speed, and my wife has a 3.7L V6 Liberty (automatic), so I was used to much more torque. The Pat's gas pedal felt soft and unresponsive by comparison. After a few months, I figured out how to drive it, and it feels pretty zippy. But when I get in my wife's Liberty, I have to be careful about mashing the pedal down.

I also use the autostick to shift manually when I want to accelerate more quickly. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but it certainly feels like it does.

 

I wish the rear glass popped up too, but then they probably want you to buy up into a Liberty/Cherokee for that feature.

 

My major complaints thus far in no particular order of importance:
1 - Rear hatch doesn't have a lock button, you have to use the key. (manual locks in mine)
2 - Not enough side to side leg room, my knees rest against the door and on the hard plastic console of the shifter.
3 - Headlights don't come on when I start the motor.
4 - interior lights don't come on when I stop the motor.
5 - Want more range, bigger gas tank or even better, more MPG!
6 - Vehicle computer does not address me as Sir or Captain when I am playing Battlestar Galactica.


All in all nothing really important to complain about.

 

3 - Headlights don't come on when I start the motor.

You can go to the dealer and get that turned on. The DRL can be activated on Patriots that didn't come with it. I've never heard of anyone being able to get it turned off though.... I'm going to try sometime

 

I think with power/weight, it's the same as taking a small car up Tamborine. I've had plenty of small 1.6/1.8L cars [even heavy 2.2L Camrys] up Tamborine and need to use 2nd and 3rd gear quite a bit. The only gentle way up there is from Mt Warren Park, all the other ways up [Henry Roberts, Oxenford, Goat Track] are what I'd call very steep, and 2nd gear would be normal.

When I get my car back from windscreen replacement, the first place it's going is up Tamborine, so I'll see how the CVT handles that. But the easy way up should be exactly the same as going up Crackers lookout at Mt Gravatt. I'm surprised Leo Muller salesman didn't take you up there on the test drive, as it's only about 3km from the dealer. They certainly know about it, as they take the photos for their car ads up there.

 

I don't have a problem with the Patriot's acceleration. Compared to the MILs Saturn (2.2 auto), Lil Ignatz (2.4 CVT) is a rocket. Took the Saturn to NY last weekend and with Wifey & me and a full trunk it was working pretty hard on the modest hills of western Connecticut, and only got 31MPG. I think Ignatz would have done better on those hills and delivered better economy on the overall trip. So why did I take the Saturn to NY? I wanted to keep the miles off Ignatz.

That said, my old Grand Prix (3.8) could have passed either one on those hills and still gotten the same fuel economy. If Pontiac hadn't dropped the Grand Prix when they did, I'd still be driving one. Still love my Patriot, though.

 

My big gripe about the patriot is the useless sun visors. I can't tell you how many sunny days I end up with a headache from the glare coming in through the drivers side window. I plan on getting the windows tinted soon and am hoping that will help some.

 

Yeah. Even fully extended they don't do the job.

 

The thing about the speed is that the Patriot not slow compared to the other 4 cylinder CUv's. It's slightly quicker than some, slightly slower than some. What's the big deal? It goes through snow like nobody's business......

 

I never worry, mine's a 5-speed and it's quick enough getting on the freeway. It's certainly not a drag racer, but it's about as fast as other CUV's.

 

My 5-speed, 2.0 package is fine, as long as you treat it like a sport motorcycle. Nothing much happens below 3k, but it's fine once you wind it up a bit. I have no anxiety entering the freeway. The fun ends at around 6k, wheareas the bike keeps going until 12k, so of course I never confuse the two. The bike actually makes more hp.

I really like the 2.0, and don't get why people call it unrefined. I need to look at the tach sometimes to know it's running, and its quiet and smooth right up until 5 or so, where the airbox noise increases. It's one of the smoothest 4-cyls I've had. The diff, trans and tires make more noise than the engine does, and that's still pretty moderate.