Jeep Grand Cherokee debuts Chrysler V6

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee will be the first Chrysler LLC vehicle to feature the company's new Pentastar V6 engine. The new engine greatly simplifies Chrysler's powertrain offerings and helps the company save money by improving economies of scale.

The redesigned Grand Cherokee will appear in dealerships in spring 2010 as a 2011 model.

Chrysler said Wednesday that it was rebranding the engine the Pentastar V6. Until now, the new family of V6 engines has been known as Phoenix. But Chrysler officials said they could not trademark the Phoenix name.

The 3.6-liter V6 will replace seven Chrysler engines and can be used in both front- and rear-drive configurations, Frank Klegon, executive vice president of product development, said in an interview during the New York auto show.

Initially, the engines will be made at two Chrysler factories: Trenton, Mich., and Saltillo, Mexico.

The Pentastar engine to be used in the redesigned Grand Cherokee is rated at 280 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, compared with 210 hp and 235 lb-ft of torque in the current Grand Cherokee's V6 engine. That's an improvement of 33 percent and 11 percent, respectively, over the existing Grand Cherokee's V6, says Philip Jansen, Grand Cherokee chief engineer.

The Pentastar engine has 24 valves, dual overhead cams and cam phasers. It is designed to run on regular unleaded gasoline.

By Bradford Wernle- Automotive News