{"id":8422,"date":"2026-05-18T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/?p=8422"},"modified":"2026-05-18T06:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:58:07","slug":"jeep-grand-wagoneer-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/jeep-grand-wagoneer-review\/","title":{"rendered":"I Spent a Day in the 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer in Texas. The Twin-Turbo V6 Hits 60 in Under Six Seconds, It Tows 10,000 Pounds, and the Third Row Still Has Room for a Six-Footer"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you think Jeep, you probably think of a boxy, military-looking thing that can cross almost any terrain and win a war against the Germans. But the company has also made things like the Grand Wagoneer since the 1980s, and that is very much a practical, premium, full sized SUV rather than something you\u2019ll be keen to take the doors off.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Jeep<\/strong><\/a> Grand Wagoneer has undergone a significant mid-cycle refresh, which includes a streamlining of the vehicle\u2019s trim titles. Now instead of numbers like I, II, and III you have trim names like the Grand Wagoneer (base model), Upland (the off-roading one), Limited Altitude (mid-tier), and Summit Reserve (the fancy one).<\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s changed on the vehicle itself, the exterior has received an aesthetic tweak bringing it closer to the Wagoneer S in some ways and dumping the chrome for more sustainable materials. The infotainment system has also received an overhaul, with passengers getting their own screen to play with.<\/p>\n

I recently got to spend some time in the 2026 Grand Wagoneer (specifically the Summit Reserve trim) on a trip to Texas. If you\u2019re considering buying one, here\u2019s what you may need to know.<\/p>\n

The Hurricane V6 has all the power you need<\/h2>\n

Okay, let\u2019s start with the fun part. Jeep claims the Grand Wagoneer will go from 0-60 in under 5.5 seconds thanks to the 420 horsepower and 620 lb-ft of torque provided by the twin-turbo Hurricane V6 under the hood.<\/p>\n

In my experience, it was a little more sluggish than that. Admittedly 0-60 times do vary with things like location, elevation, and weight playing a part. The vehicle in question had a co-driver in it, which ups the weight by a significant 200 lbs or so. I wasn\u2019t sitting there with a stopwatch either, it just didn\u2019t feel like a sub 8-second vehicle.<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t really matter. Acceleration felt smooth and I didn\u2019t feel that V6 struggling to provide power at any point. More importantly, that 40-60 mph band you tend to hit when merging onto a highway was where the Grand Wagoneer seemed to excel.<\/p>\n

The transmission was also pretty smooth, which was somewhat a relief. I\u2019ve often been handed a sheet with some very impressive engine specs on it, only to have the experience ruined by a gearbox that had no idea what it was supposed to be doing. The Grand Wagoneer\u2019s transmission was responsive, whether I was driving aggressively or just coasting along at varying speeds. This is even more important, as the vehicle lacks a \u201cmanual\u201d option. So you\u2019re basically stuck with whatever the transmission chooses to do.<\/p>\n

Things did get a little punchier in \u201cSport\u201d mode, as you may expect. But again, don\u2019t expect a track day car here. Jeep has kept it all pretty sensible from the feel of things.<\/p>\n

The Jeep Grand Wagoneer offers best-in-class cargo space<\/h2>\n

While time is always somewhat limited on a first-drive event, it is good to get behind the front row and experience things from a passenger\u2019s perspective. Oddly enough, the further back you go the more impressive the Grand Wagoneer gets.<\/p>\n

Though you can opt for a second-row center console, if you leave that out then Jeep provides what might be the biggest gap between a set of captain\u2019s chairs I\u2019ve ever seen. While none of the vehicles on the first drive had this option, apparently you can get a second-row bench seat instead of the captain’s chairs, which ups the vehicle\u2019s capacity from seven to eight. If you do go for a bench seat, you\u2019ll be pleased to know a full-sized human will comfortably fit in that gap.<\/p>\n

Then we have the third row, a space full-sized humans (at least ones with legs) tend to have a bad time. Again, this wasn\u2019t an issue on the Grand Wagoneer. My trousers have a 32-inch inside leg, and I was quite comfortable when I took a short trip in the back row of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

That last part in particular left me feeling like I was going to pop the split gate and be greeted by about a foot and a half of storage space. Usually, even on \u201cextended\u201d SUVs, there\u2019s a trade off to be made. You get a hefty amount of cargo space, or a third-row fit for human habitation. You can\u2019t have both.<\/p>\n

Except on the Jeep. Stellantis\u2019 engineers seem to have weaved some Dr Who level magic and added a ton of space where there really shouldn\u2019t be any. I\u2019d go as far as to say that you could nudge the third row forward a few inches (admittedly ruining it in the process) and cram a fourth row in there if you really wanted to turn this SUV into a stubby little bus of some kind.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more unbelievable is, it doesn\u2019t feel that large or wide when you\u2019re driving it. Don\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s a big vehicle, but it doesn\u2019t have that driving a school bus feel you get from a QX80, or Ford Expedition.<\/p>\n

If you’re interested in raw numbers, the standard and extended (LT) versions of the Grand Wagoneer offer 27.4 and 27.9 cubic feet behind the third row respectively. Pop that third row down and the difference between the two starts to emerge with the standard packing 70.8 cubic feet and the LT offering 85.0 cubic feet. That difference is maintained when the second row drops with the vehicle offering 94.2 to 116.7 cubic feet of maximum cargo space.<\/p>\n