Well then, the diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee might be what you want. It’s medium sized, not quite small, but then again it seats only 5 so it’s on the small side.
(Roof rack and space case)
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(Camping by the Rome Pillars in Southern Oregon)
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(By the Rome Pillars in Southern Oregon)
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(On the Burning Man Playa, with a 40-gallon water tank strapped to the roof)
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Mine is a 2016 “JGC CRD”, 8-speed auto, with 255/70-18 A/T tires (32”) on a stock Quadra-Lift suspension, and a roof rack with small space case. JGC CRD = Jeep Grand Cherokee common-rail diesel — Jeep calls it the Eco-Diesel, but E.D. is something you buy little blue pills for so I call it the JGC CRD.
Using the paddle shifters to upshift a little early and hold a higher gear, and also by not driving fast, lately I’ve been able to get 25-30 MPG on the highway, and 20-25 MPG in the city. If I don’t do that, and if I drive “smartly to assertively”, I get 19-24 MPG in all-around driving.
But once, there was one time on a long trip that I tried hyper-miling it — on a flat I-5 from Los Banos CA up to Shasta and then south to L.A., using paddle shifters to set and hold 8th gear, I got 34 MPG for an entire tank. The tank holds 25 gallons, and 34 MPG means that I was able to go 835 miles between fillups on that drive. That 835 miles is the farthest I’ve gone on a single tank, so far.
30-34 MPG is not too shabby for a decently trail-capable 4x4 rig.
