(from DaimlerChrysler)

Reporters travelled to Portland, Oregon this week to see for themselves just how tough, capable and comfortable the all-new 2007 Jeep ® Compass really is. Oh sure, the 150 mile drive started on a civilized note as we pulled away from the Hotel deLuxe in downtown Portland.

But we quickly escaped the city and found ourselves climbing and twisting through a heavily forested route that would prove challenging to a lesser vehicle—but the Compass, powered by a 2.4 liter, 172 horsepower World Engine.
Sure, we had second-thoughts about eating all that beef jerky, and other salty snacks during the pit stop, but the long and tortuous stretch was a gas.

The Freedom Drive I 4x4 system gives the Compass real assurance on all sorts of surfaces like logging trails and sand dunes—more on that in a moment. It’s an available full-time, active four-wheel drive system for everyday use including in rain and snow.

But when things get deeper, steeper and more slippery, Freedom Drive I has a lockable center coupling, giving drivers the option of putting the Compass in four-wheel drive lock mode.

After a quick pit stop at the Tillamook Forest Center we hit the road again, only this time “road” is a euphemism. It was a brutal, twisting, narrow dirt two-track logging trail, demonstrating the Compass’s off-road prowess.

From the logging trail we hit a stretch of blacktop leading straight to our lunch stop at Pacific City where we lined up the vehicles on the coast in the shadow of the magnificent monolith called Haystack a mile out to sea.

Stuffed with cheeseburgers, calamari and brownies (AKA reporter fuel) we headed down the coast 9 miles to the expansive sand dunes at the Sand Lake Recreation Area.

“Stand on it!” our guide ordered as we floored the accelerator and the Compass sliced across the sand field, up and over the dunes and ultimately right into the Pacific Ocean.

Seemed like a good idea at the time. Turned out to be a great idea. So we did it again.

Would have done it several more times, but it was time to head back to Portland. This time we’d take the quick way…all blacktop. But not too quickly. Oregon State Police troopers love their jobs and perform it often.