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Few brands have guarded their identities like Jeep has. Since the second World War, it has become so ingrained in our collective subconscious as an off-road vehicle that its name has entered the colloquial, synonymous and inter-changeable with the term 'four wheel drive.' And it has remained true to its identity, still one of the only manufacturers in the world that insists on only making 4WD vehicles – no saloons, minivans or offshoots, please.

But now, the Jeep that has stubbornly steered off-road (even though most owners might never venture over a pavement) has introduced the Compass, one of the most remarkable in its line-up because it seems to bridge the gap between an off-road vehicle and – dare we say the word – car. Jeep purists will surely hiccup in their collective enthusiasm that usually goes hand in hand with such legends as the Wrangler. The Compass is still a 4WD – partly, at least – but this little Jeep is so much fun on city streets that you won't mind not venturing off them. The best part is: you can.

That's the real test here – is this enough Jeep to still get off-road? We hit a hard dirt track that winds its way from Al Amerat, up a half constructed road pummelled into submission by industrial strength machinery. Over the years, it will cross over into Bausher; for now, it's good to hammer a car into dust and go uphill. Hit the slope and two things immediately strike you (obvious from the beginning of course, but proved here). Firstly, you have to press down hard to get its 2.4-litre engine to tackle a loose uphill dirt track – a far cry away from the usual four-something litre engines of standard Jeeps. And secondly, the Compass is a lot lighter, so you don't have that reassuringly solid feeling as you bounce over loose ground. Thirdly, and most importantly, you also realise that this little offshoot is certainly enough for a typical venture off-road for a person who usually stays six days in Muscat. You don't need a trail rating and an open top to kill a wadi. A lot of things with a bit of ground clearance will get you through – and this Jeep is more than a lot of things.

Such inadequacies are forgotten the moment you step back onto tarmac. The Compass is a fantastic drive through the city: extremely fast and agile, with a nice stubby steering and a great tiptronic system that you will be tempted to dive into. It's an intuitive system, the visibility is great and the short wheelbase and low riding height (for a 4WD) means this is a riot within the city. That's unfair, actually – hit the highway and you will find it hard to keep to the speed limit. At 120 – and we would have loved to hit it harder – the car is absolutely rock steady. Certainly worthy of long journeys.

So, to buy or not to buy? This is a tougher issue, and we wish the argument in favour of the Compass could be as compelling as the car itself. This little Jeep is pegged at RO8,500-9,500, depending on which trim you want. The worst part about these numbers is that Jeep itself offers other models for around the same range which might compete for your wallet. For around RO10,000 you could have an iconic Wrangler with its fan clubs around the world – and for that price you can have the gargantuan 5.7-litre Dodge Durango, also sold by Zubair Automotive. Still, the Wrangler is much less comfortable, and the Dodge, in its characteristic style, might be an overkill for your purpose. Both are entirely different from the Compass – it's just that at this price, you need to know which class you fit into.

Not trail rated
The Compass will be the first Jeep offered in many years that isn't badged as ‘Trail Rated.’ This indicates that the Compass has not passed the same testing of off-road ability as other Jeep vehicles in terms of traction, ground clearance, maneuverability, articulation, and water fording.

How to cross over
A crossover SUV – like the Compass – is an automobile with a sport utility vehicle appearance but is built upon a more economical and fuel-efficient unibody construction.

Research showed that a vast majority of SUV owners never took their vehicles off-pavement, much less used them for crossing streams or climbing boulders, which was their original purpose. An opportunity to provide what this new type of SUV owner actually wanted was seized upon.

Customers liked the idea of all-weather traction provided by four-wheel drive, the ability to haul large items or a good number of people, and enjoyed the commanding seating position and sense of security that they believed the mass of an SUV provided. But mostly they liked the illusion of an active, outdoorsy lifestyle that an SUV suggested, and that minivans and station wagons implicitly did not.

Advantages over a traditional SUV

Handling
The unsafe handling characteristics of trucks with respect to sudden, evasive manoeuvres have been demonstrated and accepted. Their high centre of gravity, tall tire sidewalls and long-travel suspensions (designed for heavy cargo and off-road use) make designing a truck-based SUV to be resistant to rollovers extremely difficult. Car-based crossovers ride lower and feature more road-appropriate suspension designs, that while limiting their ultimate off-road utility makes them much more stable and responsive.

Economy
Car-based crossovers are much lighter than their heavy-duty truck based cousins. They also feature light-duty all-wheel drive or even just two-wheel drive rather than less efficient and heavy four-wheel drive, and use lighter unibody construction. This is in addition to coming equipped with more practical road oriented tires. As a result, most crossovers get only slightly worse fuel economy than sedans based on the same platform owing primarily to the fundamentally less efficient aerodynamics of the SUV shape.

Cost
Light-duty car components can be cheaper to build and in fact, many modern crossovers are based on small economy cars, driving underlying costs lower still.

Adding to a vague term
The term ‘crossover’ is a one-word phrase for a sport-utility that uses a car chassis. According to the automotive resource site Edmunds.com, there are now 41 crossovers in the United States alone. Automakers and the media alike insist on using the word to describe a group of vehicles that come in all shapes and sizes; and one that will multiply into even more shapes and sizes in the coming future.

As more of these vehicles, with their multitude of styles and uses, come to market, it will become even more difficult to lump them into one bunch like sedans — four doors define them. Yet forecasters predict that crossovers might well outsell traditional sport-utilities this year.