Jeep Compass Trailhawk is the first SUV to cross The Great Indian Desert [Video]

Jeep Compass Trailhawk has become the first SUV to cross the Great Indian Desert. It travelled for more than 1200 km off-road. The reason behind doing it was simple, to showcase what the Compass Trailhawk is capable of. The SUV climbed over sand dunes, rocky terrains and also went through salt plains.

The SUV was driven by Abhimanyu Alsisar who is the Prince of Alsisar. He took 72 hours to complete the journey. Compass Trailhawk had to go through extreme weather conditions with temperatures ranging from more than 40 degrees of heat to near-freezing temperatures during the night. 

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Compass Trailhawk travelled from Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, to Kutch, Gujarat. It travelled through cities like Alissar, Bikaner, Dhani, Army dunes, Small Rann, Kala Dungar, Virgin Dunes, Barner, Jaisalmer and Rann of Kutch. The SUV tackled sand dunes, abandoned routes, rocky cliffs etc.

Nipun J Mahajan, Head of Jeep Brand India, said, “The Jeep Compass Trailhawk epitomises the Jeep brand’s core DNA: an insatiable thirst to explore and go on exhilarating adventures and in this case, the SUV did not traverse tarmac even once. With the challenges we placed before the Jeep Compass Trailhawk, it proved and established itself as a bonafide off-road SUV. The Jeep Compass Trailhawk’s features and capabilities will certainly make it the most preferred SUV for off-roading aficionados and adventure seekers.”

Compass Trailhawk

The Compass Trailhawk is a more off-road focused version of the regular Compass. It is priced at Rs. 30.72 lakhs ex-showroom and comes with some off-road-focused upgrades. There are new 17-inch alloy wheels with 225/60 R17 Falken Wildpeaks all-terrain tyres, a visible red tow hook at the rear, a decal on the hood and revised front and rear bumpers to improve off-road angles.

The ground clearance of the Compass Trailhawk has been increased by 25 mm by lifting the suspension. The air intake of the engine has also been repositioned to increase the water wading capacity. There are driving modes namely, Auto, Snow and Sand/Mud. Being a more off-road focused version, the Trailhawk also gets an additional Rock mode which we can see in the video. Then there is the 4×4 system, low-range gearbox, Hill Hold Control, Hill Hold Assist, 4-wheel drive lock and Dynamic Steering Torque.

No changes have been made to the engine. So, it is still a 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine that puts out 170 Ps of max power and 350 Nm of peak torque. It is mated to a 9-speed torque converter automatic transmission only, there is no manual gearbox on offer.

Jeep Compass

When compared, the regular Compass is priced lower than the Trailhawk. The base variant starts from Rs. 17.79 lakhs ex-showroom while the top-end variant is priced at Rs. 29.34 lakhs ex-showroom. It gets the same diesel engine but you can get it with a 6-speed manual gearbox too. There is also a 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine available. It produces 163 hp of max power and 250 Nm of peak torque. It is offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

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