Jeep Compass review

The 1.2-litre turbo engine's mild hybrid low-rev shove amounts to an electric 68lb ft, which means it seldom feels caught off-boost even when you're driving in manual mode and you're in a high gear. Mostly it's quiet enough that it won't intrude over the radio, though there's a bit of a gritty three-cylinder thrum in the mid revs at wide throttle. 

The engine often drops out altogether at city speeds as the electric motor eases you along, albeit only for very short distances. The handover between engine and motor is seamless. The auto transmission chooses gears smartly, and the 'sport' gearshift map does make it feel more responsive rather than just more frantic. Or you can use the paddles for manual shifting.

But it only ever feels lively on small twisty roads. Once the carriageway opens out, you'll realise 143bhp isn't going to melt any tarmac; it does 0-62mph in 10.3 seconds, although it will keep going gamely on to outside lane speeds.

What about the chassis?

It feels like your fingers are anaesthetised, getting zero feedback from the wheel about the state of the tyres' grip. That said, it's accurate and the weight builds up sensibly as you lean into a curve. Roll isn't an issue and the damping keeps everything under control. 

The ride is a little tight at urban speeds but the damping helps over speed bumps, and it eases up nicely at speed. A smidge of wheel hop on when you're accelerating on a corrugated surface is no deal-breaker.

And the electric version?

Its 213bhp and instant e-torque make it good for 0-62 in 8.5s, so of the launch models, it's the performance winner. Its range is 310 miles WLTP, but we haven't tested that. We'd be surprised if it were far from 210 motorway and 240 in light mixed running.

Down a twisty road, it doesn't feel much clumsier than the petrol, despite the absurd weight difference: 1,670 v 2,200kg. So, yeah, the petrol is more agile but not to the extent you'd hope. And the electric is quicker to accelerate.

How are the driver aids?

Pretty well-behaved, and easy to control by shortcuts reached by a permanent button under the screen. Adaptive cruise control with lane centring is standard. Map-based predictive cruise, plus rear cross-traffic warning, and advanced blind-spot detection comes in an expensive option pack, but bundled with a handy HUD.

As well as the road drive modes you get a set of off-road calibrations for traction control and throttle, called Selec-Terrain. But the standard tyres are completely road biased.