Jeep Trail Rated Meaning: Here is all you need to know

Trail-Rated Badge in a 2017 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Signifies Skill

When you get right down to it, the Trail Rated badge is an indicator of superb skill. There are five basic areas that the original “trail rated” Jeep vehicles excelled at back in 2004 when it first came out. And things haven’t changed much since then. Traction, ground clearance, manoeuvrability, suspension articulation and water fording are still the signifiers of a Jeep’s ability to tackle the roughest terrain that the average SUV can’t even attempt. Toronto drivers know adventure when you see it, and in order to be Trail Rated a Jeep vehicle has to excel in all five critical off-road tests in order to be labelled as ready to take you there.

Take a Jeep’s articulation, for example. This is what comes into play when obstacles are in your way off-road and flexibility becomes a requirement that you can count on. In a Trail Rated Jeep, when one tire is up off the ground, the Jeep’s other tires are still giving maximum traction thanks to suspension that keep them firmly planted on the ground. This is when superior axle articulation, optimal wheel travel and flexibility are all activated.

Superb Ground Clearance a Requirement of Trail Rated Certification

Clearing large logs and rocks is a regular part of the daily adventure in a Trail Rated Jeep. You may not play off road every day, but your Jeep has been optimized and tested relentlessly to make sure that you can. The rigourous Trail Rated tests ensure that its breakover angles, approach and departure is up to snuff so that anything standing in your way can be clambered over with ease. It’s just part of what’s mandatory for the top off-road performance of your Jeep.

When you are off-roading, traction and manoeuvrability are as key as your dynamic style of driving is. Traction tests for a Trail Rated Jeep take place on steep grades and on untamed roads covered in slippery snow, mud and rain. When it comes to manoeuvrability, a Jeep comes through with the precision and exactness that comes with optimized wheelbases. This give you the ability to steer through the most precarious situations in your Jeep Trail Rated 4x4.

Part of the most fun of off-roading involves crossing water. What other SUV can get you through as deep a puddle or small river that appeared out of nowhere? It’s only Trail Rated vehicles that have an air intake that’s mounted higher up, and electrical and body sealing to keep water out. This is purposeful design with a mission.