If you're pointing a loaded SUV east on US-98 toward Apalachicola for Thanksgiving, or west through Panama City Beach toward Destin and Pensacola for Christmas, the road will test you. The Hathaway Bridge approach backs up. Back Beach Road through Panama City Beach has active construction squeezing lanes. And you've got five people, a week's worth of luggage, and a cooler full of someone's famous casserole somewhere in the back.
The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee is the vehicle we point toward that situation without hesitation. No single feature does it. Six specific things work together on exactly this kind of drive, and the Hurricane 4 Turbo engine is the piece that ties them together. We'll explain why below.
How the 2026 Grand Cherokee Ranks for US-98 Holiday Driving
Each feature below is ranked by how directly it changes the drive on the Panama City corridor during the Thanksgiving-to-New-Year's stretch, which makes this less a general capability rundown and more a route-specific one, built around the actual conditions you'll hit. We ordered it around the backups, the construction, and the full load.
| Rank | Feature | Best For on US-98 | Standout Spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hurricane 4 Turbo Engine | Fuel stops, confident passing on open highway | EPA-rated 21 city / 27 hwy mpg (2WD) |
| 2 | Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop and Go | Hathaway Bridge and Beach Road congestion | Full-speed range, holds gap automatically |
| 3 | Uconnect 5 NAV with 12.3-inch Display | Navigation through construction detours | Built-in GPS, no phone signal needed |
| 4 | 23-Gallon Fuel Tank | Long open stretches east of Panama City | Up to ~529-mile estimated range |
| 5 | Selec-Terrain with Mud/Sand Mode | St. Andrews Bay area beach access on either end | 5 drive modes via console dial |
| 6 | Grand Cherokee L Three-Row Option | Family of 6 or 7, full luggage load | Third-row seating for up to 7 |
Rank 1: The Hurricane 4 Turbo Changes the Fuel Math on a Long Panhandle Run
The 2026 Grand Cherokee's new 2.0-liter Hurricane 4 Turbo produces 324 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, per Jeep's published specifications, and it brings more power than the outgoing V6 while returning better fuel economy. Where it counts, the EPA rates the Hurricane-equipped Grand Cherokee at 21 city and 27 highway (2WD) or 21 city and 26 highway (4WD). The Pentastar V6, which stays the base Laredo powertrain, earns 19 city and 26 highway (2WD).
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On US-98 specifically, this matters in two ways. First, the 27-mpg highway figure at a steady cruise means fewer fill-up decisions on a drive from Panama City to Tallahassee or Pensacola. Second, the turbo's low-end torque at highway speeds makes passing on the two-lane stretches east of Tyndall Air Force Base feel effortless rather than planned. Our service team has noted that the Hurricane is noticeably more responsive in the mid-range than the V6 it replaces, which is the range you're leaning on constantly across a loaded holiday run.
One tradeoff is worth flagging before you set out. The Hurricane wants a little planning around a fill-up before the open stretch east past Port St. Joe. You'd make the same stop with the V6 anyway, which makes it planning you'd do regardless. Worth knowing, though.
Rank 2: Adaptive Cruise with Stop and Go Handles the Hathaway Approach
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Stop and Go earns this rank for where it works, and it's available on the Limited and above trims, operating across the full speed range, including a full stop. That span covers the Hathaway Bridge backup, which frequently turns into a complete standstill during holiday weekends when Panhandle traffic compresses at the Panama City Beach approach.
Standard cruise control does nothing in stop-and-go traffic. You disengage it every time traffic slows, which defeats the point on a holiday run. ACC with Stop and Go holds the gap to the car ahead automatically and brings the Grand Cherokee back up to speed when traffic opens. On the Back Beach Road construction corridor, where lanes squeeze and speeds fluctuate between 10 and 55 mph in a single mile, you'll actually feel the benefit.
Explore the Grand Cherokee Limited and Summit trims here
The Florida Highway Patrol has identified US-98 as a consistently congested corridor during the holiday travel period between Thanksgiving and New Year's. ACC won't clear that congestion, but it does cut the fatigue of sitting in it.
Rank 3: Uconnect 5 NAV Keeps You Routed Through Construction Without a Signal
The 2026 Grand Cherokee upgrades to a 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 NAV touchscreen on the Laredo Altitude package and every trim above it, and because it includes built-in GPS navigation, it doesn't lean on a phone signal to route you. That distinction matters on US-98 east of Panama City, where cell coverage thins out across the coastal stretches toward Carrabelle and beyond.
During the holiday season, when construction detours on Back Beach Road are active and FDOT has lanes closed along the US-98 widening project near Panama City Beach, a system that's updating in real time from onboard navigation rather than waiting for a 4G connection to resolve a reroute is a practical advantage. The Uconnect 5 interface also splits customizable zones, so navigation runs on one part of the screen while audio controls stay visible on another. You're not hunting through menus at a bridge backup.
Onboard GPS stays loaded on the device. No cell tower has to answer for a reroute.
Rank 4: The 23-Gallon Tank Buys You Flexibility on the Open Stretch
Jeep specs the 2026 Grand Cherokee's fuel tank at 23 gallons, and paired with the Hurricane engine's EPA-rated 23 mpg combined (2WD), Jeep's own estimated range figure reaches 529 miles on a tank, though the real-world number on a steady cruise will land somewhere below that. It still means the Panama City to Tallahassee run (roughly 100 miles) and back fits comfortably within a single tank, and a Panama City to Pensacola run (roughly 130 miles) gets done without a fuel stop if you start full.
The practical version is simple. On a holiday drive with kids in the back, fewer fuel stops win, and choosing your own stop beats getting forced into one by a low-fuel alert on a thin stretch east of Tyndall.
Rank 5: Selec-Terrain with Mud/Sand Mode for Both Ends of the Trip
US-98 holiday runs don't always start and end in a parking lot, so if the trip wraps with a morning on the beach near St. Andrews Bay before you head back north, or the destination is a coastal property with a soft sand approach, Selec-Terrain's Mud/Sand mode is the thing that separates a Grand Cherokee from a standard midsize crossover. The system offers five modes through a console dial, Auto, Sport, Rock, Snow, and Mud/Sand, per Jeep's capability page.
Most of your US-98 miles will run in Auto. The Gulf Coast sand is a real variable, though, and Mud/Sand mode tunes throttle response and traction control for low-traction surfaces where wheel spin just digs you in. You won't need it constantly. You also won't need a second vehicle, or a tow, when the drive calls for it.
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Rank 6: The Grand Cherokee L Solves the Seating Problem for Larger Families
The two-row Grand Cherokee seats five and no more, so once you're hauling six or seven people, the Grand Cherokee L earns the nod with a proper third row and an overall length stretched to 204.9 inches. The L is the call for a family reunion run where everyone rides together and cargo still needs a home behind the third row.
See the Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L at Bay Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
The L comes with one honest note. The third row is sized for kids or smaller adults on long trips. It's real seating, though it won't match the roomy third row of a full-size SUV. Put two adults back there for multiple hours on US-98 and the experience will ride on their patience. For family trips where the third row carries kids, it works cleanly.
The Feature That Ties It All Together
The 2026 Hurricane 4 Turbo engine lands at the top less for its horsepower number and more for what it does to everything else on this list, since better fuel economy lets you choose when to stop instead of reacting to a gauge. More torque at cruise speeds gives ACC with Stop and Go the muscle to re-accelerate smoothly out of a bridge backup. And a more efficient engine feeding a 23-gallon tank turns that 529-mile estimated range into a realistic planning number you can actually lean on.
US-98 during the holidays between Panama City Beach and the Hathaway Bridge is one of the most predictably congested stretches in the Panhandle. The Grand Cherokee earns its place on that drive through the specific combination above, tradeoffs included.
Come see what's in stock and let our team walk you through which trim and which engine makes sense for how you actually drive that route. Holidays and all.