The Commander exists because of market pressure to invent it. On paper, there are very few reasons why you should pick this car over the Grand Cherokee, but that car has five seats and a relatively genteel appearance. Customers told Jeep they wanted something that looked a bit more rugged, and had seven seats, and with the Commander they've got it.We've dealt with the Commander before, both in a launch report and in a short test of the 3.0 CRD Limited which we've returned to here. If you want more details - particularly about the off-road ability provided by the Quadra Drive II 4x4 system - by all means read those.This time round we've spent a full week with the CRD to see what it's like to live with. Potential buyers who wanted a more butch alternative to the Grand Cherokee can be reassured that there's nothing pansy about the Commander. It isn't actually constructed from a series of right angles, but it looks more like it than almost anything else on the road.The effect is heightened by the use of exposed bolt heads on the wheelarches and dashboard. They give the impression that, with the aid of a chunky spanner, the Commander could be reduced to its component parts, fettled in whatever way seemed necessary, and reassembled again before the kettle on the bonfire had come to the boil. Actually, it couldn't. The bolt heads are fake. But this is the 21st century, and appearance is everything.Or perhaps not, because despite that appearance, the Commander is really quite refined. The boxy shape creates quite a lot of wind noise, but mechanical racket is kept to a minimum. The excellent 215bhp three-litre turbo diesel engine - transferred across from the Mercedes-Benz half of the DaimlerChrysler partnership, and also available in the best examples of the Chrysler 300C - is never allowed to speak of its presence more than it should. Even from a cold start, it provides little more than a background hum.For a large and none too subtle-looking SUV, the Commander also offers a surprisingly good ride. Looking back at my short test, I notice that I grumbled about its behaviour over a series of gentle crests, but I didn't notice any problem with that this time round. I was on different roads, of course, and the first car I drove might have been a pre-production model with issues which have since been fixed; I don't know, but what I do know is that in this test the Commander smoothed out bumps in a manner that would have put many other SUVs to shame.The foursquare shape provides one benefit for which I was very grateful. These days, manufacturers seem to be vying with each other to produce cars with the worst possible visibility; the Commander, in pleasant contrast, offers a large amount of glass, arranged in sensible shapes, which means you can actually see out of the damned thing.I did need to make one adjustment, though. The first time I sat in the test car I realised my rear view was being blocked by the headrests in the centre row of seats. The ones on the outer seats could be - and very quickly were - folded down, but the one in the middle couldn't be, so I had to fold the seat itself, immediately reducing the car to a six-seater in consequence.Passenger room deteriorates the further back you go. I dare say you could fit two sumo wrestlers into the front without loss of dignity. There is noticeably less space in the centre, and the two seats at the back are strictly for the kiddies only (though I don't imagine that the Jeep fans who demanded space for seven people were thinking of them all being adults).Luggage space varies from 212 litres with all the seats in place to 1940 litres with all of them folded. That sounds quite practical, but the tough appearance belies the Commander's true nature. When I tried to transport a bag of coal in the test car, I realised that it was going to be hard to do so without mucking up the light-coloured upholstery behind the rear seats. Eventually I had to put it in the front passenger footwell, which could have caused a problem if I'd had a full complement of guests on board.The Commander's off-road prowess is discussed elsewhere - suffice to say that, if it's not the ultimate in its class, it's at least a long way in advance of what most owners would dream of using. In more conventional conditions, the Commander does a good job of being the real SUV with extra soft-roader characteristics that its designers intended it to be. Engine 2987cc, 6 cylinders Power 215bhp Transmission 5-speed automatic Fuel/CO2 26.2mpg / 284g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.0 seconds Top speed 119mph Price £31,305 Details correct at publication date
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