Jeep Compass review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

There’s only one body style in the Jeep Compass range, but the five-door hatch enjoys estate car-like practicality in spite of its sporty crossover styling. The Compass is built on an extended floorpan from the Renegade, so offers more interior and luggage space.

There’s no shortage of room up front, either, with plenty of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel to ensure drivers of any size should get comfortable. Visibility is good from the driving seat, too, although like any car of this size and type, the assistance of parking sensors and a rear view camera in suitably equipped models will be invaluable.

On the road, the Compass is far quieter, more refined and more comfortable than the smaller Renegade. The Compass also comes with reactive dampers said to improve ride comfort – although we’ve yet to try it on British roads.

Size

The Compass is 150mm longer overall than the Renegade it shares a platform with, and the extra length is shared out between a longer wheelbase and extended rear overhang. As a result the car is 4,420mm long, 1,820mm wide and 1,650mm high. This compares with the Nissan Qashqai which measures 4,394mm x 1,806mm x 1,590mm. 

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

Thanks to the extended rear section, the Jeep Compass performs well on both rear legroom and boot space. There’s plenty of headroom and shoulder room on the back seat too, although some may feel it’s a little dark due to the reduced glass area of the kicked up side windows.

Boot

The Jeep Compass has a versatile boot that will swallow 438 litres worth of luggage, which compares favourably with the smaller Renegade’s 351 litres. It’s not quite so good up against the Peugeot 3008 though, as the French rival will swallow 530 litres.