2026 Grand Cherokee Beats 4Runner Hybrid in Cars.com Real-World MPG Test 

When you see the names Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota 4Runner in a headline, your mind immediately conjures images of trails and vehicles on exceptionally uneven ground, with one tire in the air and maybe one or more of them plowing through a deep mud puddle. But in this test by Cars.com, not a single blade of grass was trodden upon, and the vehicles were not compared side by side. It was quite simply a fuel economy test, and Stivers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram is happy to tell you that the Jeep Grand Cherokee came out quite well.   

Editors at Cars.com were apparently inspired to conduct this test because of the 2026 Grand Cherokee’s recent update. Along with revised exterior styling and updated interior controls, the biggest change made was underhood, as a new turbocharged 2.0-liter Hurricane four-cylinder engine effectively replaces the Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6, which has long been a staple of the Grand Cherokee line. 

Two liters may seem small for a model as grand as the Grand Cherokee, but with a power output of 324 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, this new forced-induction engine produces 31 more horsepower and a whopping 72 more pound-feet of torque than the outgoing Pentastar. At the same time, fuel mileage is essentially equivalent or slightly better than the previous drivetrain. Specifically, for the V-6-powered 2025 Grand Cherokee, the EPA estimated the city/highway/combined rating for both the rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive models at the same 19/26/22 mpg. For the 2026 model with its new small but potent engine, the rear-wheel drive Grand Cherokee sees its ratings bumped to 21/27/23 mpg. With four-wheel drive, the Hurricane-equipped Grand Cherokee is rated at with 20/25/22 mpg. 

But turbocharged engines can be fickle in their efficiency ratings depending on how they are driven, so Cars.com likes to test them separately. Editors have a designated route totaling 200.2 miles, which, in their words, “…features a mix of urban and rural driving, with most of the route being on roads with higher speed limits, like interstates and two-lane country roads. Here’s what our gas mileage was after 200 miles behind the wheel.” It is clearly a test to determine their own combined figure. The run was made in a 2026 Grand Cherokee Summit with four-wheel drive. 

After making the run with a topped-off tank and, at conclusion, measuring the amount of fuel needed to top it off again at the same gas pump, simple math yielded a real-world figure of 26.6 mpg. As Cars.com points out, that is “21% better than the EPA’s 22 mpg combined estimate and also 6% better than the Grand Cherokee’s 25 mpg highway rating.” It is also ever-so-slightly better than the 2025 4Runner, another similarly-sized SUV that recently ditched its previous V-6 for a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. On the same route, the 4Runner recorded 26.3 mpg.

According to the report, the temperature during the trip was 40–50 degrees, and editors drove close to the speed limit with the model in its default drive mode. The route started and ended in the Northern Chicago suburbs and reached just past the Wisconsin border before turning back, so elevation change was minimal.   

It is always nice to see a model perform better than advertised. And while fuel economy may not be the top priority when shopping for a premium midsize SUV that retains its off-road abilities, today’s gas prices may well make it an important consideration when you shop for your next vehicle.

If the idea of the very comfortable, always capable, significantly more powerful, and surprisingly fuel-efficient Grand Cherokee appeals to you, and you live anywhere near Prattville, AL, visit Stivers Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and check out our large inventory of Hurricane-powered Grand Cherokees.