Drivers Log.(News)(Product/service evaluation)

FLORADAY: Nothing about this Patriot is consistent with the Jeep brand as I understand it. Look past all the spin, and this is a Dodge Caliber, a vaguely station-wagon-looking creature that doesn't add anything to the age-old station-wagon formula. Maybe it can handle dirt roads and it doesn't get stuck in the snow. Wow.

It has no power on the highway. It seemed to take miles to get up to speed. It sits too low, and it rides like a car. I'm sure some product planner thought a smooth-riding Jeep was exactly what the world needed, but he is dead wrong.

Wait, there's Freedom Drive II! That's a real off-road toy! Not quite. I don't buy into this better-off-roading-through-electronics argument. Hill-descent control basically grabs the brakes for you, since there is no engine braking with a CVT and no low range. Real off-roaders use gear reduction to slow their descent.

The brand has wandered so far from its roots that I don't see longtime owners sticking around for very much longer.

RAYNAL: Okay, I'll play devil's advocate. So it's not a "real'' Jeep. The LR2 is not a "real'' Land Rover. The Cayenne is not a "real'' Porsche . . . blah blah blah. So what? Who's to say Jeep doesn't need a small ute to fight off the Honda CR-V and its ilk? How do we know gas won't soon be $4 or $5 a gallon? Jeep might look pretty dang smart if that happens. If Jeep never should have dipped its big toe into the small-SUV waters, we'll know soon enough-the market will say so.

What's it like to drive? It's noisy, it could definitely use more oomph (and ...