The "Off Road Package" adds $1,999, and an upgraded exhaust goes for an additional $1,499.
The Sahara also can be had with a very robust "Off Road Package," which includes fog lights, aftermarket windscreen, extra luggage racks, engine and body guards, and an Enduro-style bench seat.
The full-fat Off-road Package will set you back a further £2000-odd.
Elizabeth Lynam, deputy research director of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit organization, was less moved, calling it "a middle-of-the-road package".
Buyers can choose a 158-horsepower 2-liter 4 or a larger 172-horse 2.4-liter 4 — along with a new off-road package that bestows the Jeep brand's coveted Trail Rated capabilities.
One factor that seemed to make a difference in the crash tests was an optional off-road package that included a skid plate, a thick metal shield positioned to protect the gas tank from rock damage in off-road excursions.
Either ML will tow a stout 7,200 pounds, though a special off-road package, including driver-selected modes for handling various terrains, won't be available until the 2013 model year.
The Titan's safety equipment also sets a standard for pickups, with available front-seat side-impact and side-curtain air bags, an option that costs $850 plus an additional off-road package.
That document — a solid, middle-of-the-road package, with nothing to offend anyone and a little something to please almost everybody, including, improbably, a salute to big business — was proposed, seconded, and accepted in no time at all, with only a perfunctory floor protest by disgruntled liberals.
The total sticker was $30,300, with a $900 package that included a split front bench seat and several audio and convenience features; a $950 off-road package; an $850 towing package with an electronic stability control; and the $900 cargo-bed upgrade.
I took a Sport version loaded with $10,000 of options (the 3.7-liter V-6, instead of a 2.4-liter 4; the SelecTrac full-time four-wheel-drive system; the off-road package; and the six-CD changer, among them) and headed here, into the Laurentian wilderness that my battered '96 Cherokee knows well.
