Jeep Grand Cherokee Features for Red Mountain and Downtown Birmingham

Full-size mountain bikes (2) | ~30 lbs each, up to 70 in. long | Yes. Both flat in the cargo bay with rear seats folded (70.8 cu ft); upright with pedals folded and wheels out when seats are up | | Camping kit for 4 (tent, sleep kits, 60-qt cooler) | ~100-120 lbs combined, bulky | Yes. 37.7 cu ft with seats up handles tent bags, sleep rolls, and the cooler without touching second-row legroom | | Kayak or canoe (solo) | 10-14 ft long, 40-80 lbs | Not inside. Roof rack or trailer needed. Towing capacity up to 6,200 lbs covers a loaded kayak trailer with capacity to spare | | Lumber and sheet goods (8-ft 2x4s) | Up to 96 in. long | No. The cargo bay doesn't accommodate it. A Jeep Gladiator is the honest answer for that specific load | | Weekend family luggage (4 people, 4 bags) | ~100-150 lbs | Yes. Easily, seats up, with room left for a dog crate or stroller | | Red Mountain Park day-use gear (packs, water, chairs) | ~30-60 lbs | Yes. Side storage pockets, under-floor bin, and the full cargo bay handle a day trip without folding anything |

Let's be straight on one point before you decide. The Grand Cherokee is a midsize SUV. If your regular load is sheet goods, long lumber, or a trailer over 6,200 pounds, it's the wrong tool. For that conversation, our Ram 1500 lineup is where we'd start.

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Loading It for a Red Mountain Run

Heavier items belong low and centered. The Grand Cherokee uses a unibody structure, so it's less sensitive to top-heavy loading than a body-on-frame truck. That said, putting the cooler and tool bags on the floor against the seatbacks and stacking softer gear on top is still the right move before you hit the expressway grade.

We'd prep for a Red Mountain Park run from downtown Birmingham like this.

1. Fold the rear seats if it's two of you. You get the full 70.8 cubic feet, and bikes, coolers, and gear slide in flat without a puzzle.
2. Mount bikes to a hitch rack before loading the cabin. The Grand Cherokee accepts a standard hitch receiver. Bikes on the rack keep your rear visibility clear and the cabin open for passengers.
3. Keep hydration in the second-row door pockets. Birmingham's September heat is real, and digging through the cargo bay at a trailhead gets old fast. The doors handle drinks without touching your main load.
4. Turn the Selec-Terrain dial to Auto before you hit the expressway on-ramp. In Auto mode the system reads the surface and sends torque where it's needed. On a wet fall morning on the Expressway grade, you'll feel it working.
5. Let Hill Start Assist do its job on steep exits. The 2026 Grand Cherokee includes Hill Start Assist standard. It holds the vehicle on a grade for up to two seconds while you build throttle, so you're not juggling rollback and traffic on a loaded merge.
6. Arrive at Red Mountain Park's Frankfurt Drive entrance early on fall weekends. The main lot fills up. Get there before 9 a.m. and you'll beat circling and unloading on a crowded street.

What the Hurricane 4 Engine Actually Does on the Grade

The engine choice is the detail that quietly decides how the Grand Cherokee behaves on the Red Mountain Expressway, and for 2026 the answer comes down to which of two very different engines you order, and the two could hardly feel less alike on a climb. One builds power gradually and stays smooth. The other hits hard and low. The grade is where you'll feel it.

For 2026, Jeep introduced the new 2.0L Hurricane 4 Turbo engine, which is standard from the Laredo Altitude trim upward. Jeep rates it at 324 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. The base V6 (3.6L Pentastar, standard on the entry Laredo and Laredo X) produces 293 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. The Hurricane 4 carries a 72 lb-ft torque advantage. And MotorWeek confirmed 23 mpg combined for the Hurricane 4 in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive configurations, which the V6 doesn't match.

The gap matters on a real Birmingham grade because the Hurricane 4 delivers 90 percent of its peak torque from roughly 2,600 rpm. It works hard before you've pressed the accelerator halfway down, which is exactly when you need it on a loaded merge up an expressway ramp. The V6 is smooth and linear but builds power more gradually. On flat roads you wouldn't notice the difference much. Climbing off a stopped ramp with a loaded cargo bay, you will.

There's a tradeoff, and we'll name it plainly. The Hurricane 4 has a brief moment of turbo lag at light tip-in. It lags for a beat before the boost arrives, no way around it. Buyers who've driven previous Grand Cherokees with the naturally aspirated V6 for years will notice that the first beat of acceleration feels different. It's quick once it's in. Just know it before you test-drive, because that first impression can catch you off guard.

On the 4WD side, the Summit trim comes standard with Quadra-Drive II, which includes a rear electronic limited-slip differential and active torque vectoring. That configuration is what makes wet-leaf fall trails at Red Mountain Park genuinely unfussy to handle, and you'll feel it most on a climb. The Laredo Altitude and Limited trims include Quadra-Trac I when equipped with 4WD. For daily expressway driving and occasional trail access, Quadra-Trac I paired with Selec-Terrain's five modes (Auto, Sport, Rock, Snow, Mud/Sand) is more than adequate. The Summit tier suits the buyer who wants the system handling every variable automatically, every time.

Job Done

The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee carries Birmingham's weekend loads, handles the grade on the Red Mountain Expressway, and fits downtown parking without the footprint of a full-size truck, provided your loads stay inside midsize-SUV territory rather than pickup-bed territory. Its 37.7 cubic feet of behind-seat cargo space (70.8 with the seats flat), 6,200-pound tow rating with the Trailer Tow Package, and the Hurricane 4's 332 lb-ft of torque starting low in the rev range give you real, daily-usable capability for the way this city actually drives. You'll feel it in normal driving.

The full 2026 Grand Cherokee lineup is on our lot at 1409 5th Ave N in downtown Birmingham. We'll match you to the trim that fits your actual use case, not the one with the biggest sticker. Come drive the Expressway in one.