Even at 1565kg the Patriot is actually pretty svelte by the standards of modern SUVs; it’s 200kg lighter than the Freelander TD4 and 75kg less than the equivalent Toyota RAV4.
The installation of the VW-sourced 2.0-litre diesel engine is also far quieter than when we tested it in the mechanically near-identical Dodge Caliber.
One thing the Patriot doesn’t feel is fast. We were surprised by the 9.9sec 0-60mph time we recorded at the MIRA test track (Jeep claims 11.0sec for 0-62mph). But on the road the Patriot never feels as rapid as the raw figures suggest. Peak torque arrives at 1750rpm, but the engine doesn’t give its best until beyond 3000rpm.
We would have been surprised if the Patriot didn’t turn out to be the best-handling vehicle to ever wear a Jeep badge, and so it proves.
But it is arriving in a segment packed with fresh new products that drive pretty much as well as the best conventional hatchbacks, and being merely halfway decent is no longer enough to stand out. The Jeep’s inoffensive, unexciting road manners fail to do anything in the way of bar-raising.
Softish springs give the Patriot a respectably compliant ride over rough surfaces, and the dampers are up to the job of keeping the body under control. The cabin is well insulated from road and wind noise, too.
Despite wide 215/60 R17 tyres, the chassis struggles with traction; 0.74g on the skidpan is poor even by soft-roader standards. Not that hard cornering is something the Patriot encourages in any way, with acute angles of body roll accompanying rapid progress on twisting roads.
But at the sort of speeds at which the chassis is happy, the steering is accurate and offers well weighted power assistance that combines easy low-speed twirlability with reasonable resistance at speed.
Once acclimatised to its slightly over-generous assistance, the brake pedal provides impressively strong retardation, with the all-round discs (ventilated at the front) resisting fade well.