Just how slow would an XJ be?

I've just been browsing the list of Craig ( the Atlanta one) looking at Jeep Cherokees. This is more a daydreaming exercise, but I find a few with the 2.5 four, 2wd and a manual transmission. Sooo, how slow would these be? For a comparator I drive my wife's xB autotragic regularly and that doesn't bother me at all.
For example...
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/4925574372.html

Ive driven a couple wranglers with that combo. I think most if not all 4cyl came with 4.11 gears. Its not terrible around town but its not the most fun on the highway. Cant imagine it worse than an xb. But a 4.0 isnt a slouch by no means is the fastest small suv but its not the slowest either. Ive had 4 xjs with the 4.0 and automatic, great vehicles

Had a '85 XJ Sport 4X4 2.5L AX-5 w/ 3.73s. Not bad at rowing thru gears, kinda fun I thought, not buzzy at highway speed but didn't do any interstate FWIW.

Slower than Forrest Gump.

I dated a girl with a '98 XJ 2.5 5spd 2WD. I hated it so damned bad. I finally got her to get rid of it for a SHO. I loved her more after that.

DeadSkunk wrote: I've just been browsing the list of Craig ( the Atlanta one) looking at Jeep Cherokees. This is more a daydreaming exercise, but I find a few with the 2.5 four, 2wd and a manual transmission. Sooo, how slow would these be? For a comparator I drive my wife's xB autotragic regularly and that doesn't bother me at all. For example... http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/4925574372.html

Hey! You stay off Atlanta Craiglist, that's my secret place to look for XJs for my son!

i read a long way into this thread before I realized it wasn't about jaguars

I love love love that engine. So friggin easy to work on.

I enjoy slow cars you can drive the balls off of at all times and a 2.5 Cherokee is one of them. I talked some friends into buying an extended cab 2000 dakota with the 2.5/5spd and i dont think that is too slow in spite of it being probably 700-800 lbs heavier than a 2dr Cherokee.

I think the 2.5 Cherokee is an underappreciated vehicle. Super reliable, easy to work on, durable, good mpg, good cargo space, cheap, etc etc. The engine also takes well to turbo.

That one has the one piece quarter windows. That's cool. That's a real base model.

XJs are almost featherweight compared to most SUVs/CUVs today. The 2 door, 2wd, 5 speed, 4 cyl weighs just a whisker over 3000 lbs. Coupled with the 4.10 rear, I don't think it will be horrible to drive but the 2.5 was only rated at 125hp/150ft. lbs.

My 1993 XJ was, dare I say, sporty. But the 4L had a bit more torques.

Do it!

They're featherweights compared to most "sports cars" today.

As a 2.5l TJ, and 4.0l XJ owner, I would advise anyone I knew/kind of liked, not to bother. With the plethora of 4.0l Jeeps, there is no reason to suffer through living with a 2.5l that sees ANY highway use. Granted my TJ is further hobbled by an automatic, but no joke, acceleration is dangerously slow, i.e. people behind you honk their horn while you wait for a gap big enough in traffic to pull out into.

With a 2.5l you get all the fuel economy of the 4.0l with half the power.

Vigo wrote: I enjoy slow cars you can drive the balls off of at all times and a 2.5 Cherokee is one of them.

This, great fun to bang around town in with the 4.10 rear end. They get sideways shockingly easy on cheap rubber.

belteshazzar wrote: i read a long way into this thread before I realized it wasn't about jaguars

+1

You haven't experience slow until you have driven a CJ5 with the 2.2 and 5.38 gearing from Toledo to near Albany.

Granted my TJ is further hobbled by an automatic

'Further' is misleading. With such little power, going from 5spd standard to 3spd auto is ALL OF THE hobbled.

Same situation to the old non-turbo k-cars i used to own. A 5spd swap would drop THREE WHOLE SECONDS off their 1/4 mile time. A 5spd 2.5 is not bad, even on the highway. I drive that 2.5 Dakota every couple of months and it never has a problem at ~3700 lbs. I've even towed a car with it. A 2.5 TJ with a 3spd auto, on the other hand, probably should never have been built!

I would venture to say that a 2.5 Jeep with an automatic is more ruined by that automatic than an automatic rotary-engine car is.

In reply to Vigo:

No, it's not, we've discussed it before. I've had a lot of time in friend's YJs and MJs that were all 2.5l, 5 speeds. My TJ is a little more powerful being MPFI than the their TBIs. I had them on top speed, and they all had a slight edge on acceleration, except for the guy with 35" tires on his YJ. Another friend has a 4.0l 5 speed Sahara TJ, his 4.0l was orders of magnitude quicker both accelerating and top speed.

One of the YJs had every bolt on you can imagine, short of forced induction, and a .060 over bore, still not fit for Highway use, keeping up with traffic, on 31" tires. It eventually got a GM Vortec 4.3l, 700R4, and Atlas II, and Currie 9 rear, it was something then.

The other stupid thing Jeep did, other than the 3 speed auto, they kept 3.73 gearing in the auto trans TJs, even with the 2.5l. Not sure if that holds true for the XJs.

Dammit I keep thinking Jaguar when I see the X in the post title. Then dissapointment sets in when it's about a jeep.

t25torx wrote: Dammit I keep thinking Jaguar when I see the X in the post title. Then dissapointment sets in when it's about a jeep.

And I'm disappointed when it's about a Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag, so there.

Buy the 2.5 XJ with the 4.10's and swap in the 4.0.

And then stroke it using the 4.2 crank etc.

If you're looking at an XJ with the 2.5 because it has a manual, just know the AW4 auto behind the 4.0 is actually quite good.

RossD wrote: If you're looking at an XJ with the 2.5 because it has a manual, just know the AW4 auto behind the 4.0 is actually quite good.

This.

Arguably better than the manual. It's a GREAT auto. Mediocre-at-best manual.

In reply to Vigo: No, it's not, we've discussed it before.

I really can't understand the concept of someone's standards for acceleration being so much lower than mine. Even the 4.0 yjs with the 3spd auto are neutered. The 2.5/3spd is ridiculous. What kind of top speeds are you talking about?

I also agree that the AW4 is an unusually great 4spd auto, but i also dont think most people realize how much slower it is than the 5spds because they've never actually taken two stock ones and put them next to each other and raced them. The 5spd is noticeably faster even with 3.07s vs the 3.50s of the autos. I agree it doesn't shift that great, but if you actually care about acceleration it IS much slower than the 5spds. I think people rate them pretty close to the same because the auto one 'feels good' at normal speeds, but if you stay in it long enough the 5spd is a LOT faster. The auto stops feeling good right when you hit 3rd gear, whereas the first time you take 3rd to 85 mph in the 5spd you're kind of shocked that it's actually working out so well.

I like my 4.0L/Auto. I drove a low miles MJ with the 5-speed and it just felt loose and sloppy.

I enjoy the acceleration with the 3.55s I have.

I can't imagine a reason to own a Cherokee with no power, 2wd, and city mpg's that are probably on the teens. What's the point, the excellent build quality? Low low NVH? It should hold a lot of stuff, but that isn't exactly rare.