The Compass offered a comfortable ride, though road noise was excessive. Exceptional on rough pavement, the noise never quieted to a level we expected. Conversation between front seats and the spacious second row passengers was a bit difficult at cruising speed because of excessive road noise over certain road surfaces. Steering was light and predictable, with all-around disc brakes offering adequate performance. The ABS and ESP systems, calibrated specifically for the Compass, were unobtrusive on road and helpful over the rough two-track road.

Kudos to Jeep for making the manual available for Sport and Limited, 4x2 or 4x4, leaving buyers to choose more creature comforts without backing themselves into the CVT. Here Stephanie's assessment diverges from George's. She writes, "Our manual-transmission-equipped Compass provided a more spirited and involving drive than did the CVT, AutoStick or not. The clutch was light and predictable and it was easy to find a comfortable seating position. With the CVT, there was notable lag between shifts and it shifted for us about 5700 rpm (redline is 6000 rpm) when in the AutoStick mode. Left in drive, the CVT is a nice enough unit, as we found on the last leg of mostly highway driving." George has evolved into an auto transmission type of guy (given Southern California freeways) and finds the CVT more of the set-it and forget-it experience he has come to expect. At least he did not stall the Compass manual in any embarrassing places.