So while Jeep is changing to cater to the new on-road reality, the fact remains that all Jeeps still are made to conquer most any terrain. To further hammer home the point, Jeep recently invited us out for a little off- (and some on-) roading action in Malibu with its entire lineup.

The day began behind the wheel of a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit with Chrysler's 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 under the hood. The Overland Summit is the top tier Grand Cherokee, loaded to the gills with both luxury equipment and off-road kit, including Jeep's Quadra-Trac II four-wheel drive, its Selec-Terrain system, and its Quadra-Lift air-suspension system. Leading the posse through the dirt trail was a Jeep engineer behind the wheel of a Compass, followed by a duo of Wranglers, a Patriot, myself, and another Grand Cherokee, with another Jeep rep in a Liberty bringing up the rear. Each Jeep would have to traverse trails with steep climbs and descents, frame-bending ruts, and even a bathtub-like obstacle. Jeep instructed us to engage low range, and for good measure I raised the Grand Cherokee's air suspension to its off-road height, while leaving Selec-Terrain in Auto.

The trail started up a gradual dirt incline that quickly became steep and littered with foot-deep ruts that had the front left and back right tires of the Grand Cherokee see-sawing back and forth. No matter, though, the Grand Cherokee kept truckin' -- as did the rest of the Jeeps in my group. As the elevation climbed, the ruts got even worse, but the Grand Cherokee kept scrambling up the trail without so much as breaking a sweat.

Once over the top, the trail suddenly dropped what felt like at least 45 degrees, down a steep, rocky, washboard surface. Time to try out hill descent control. I pressed the button, and manually downshifted the automatic transmission to control how fast I wanted hill descent control to let me go. I pointed the Grand Cherokee towards the decline, took my foot off the gas and brake, and let the Jeep do its thing. Letting the Grand Cherokee work its way down the hill without any footwork required was an odd feeling. As I headed down a decline so steep it felt like the only thing holding me in my seat was the seatbelt, the vehicle crawled down that decline with no driver intervention. It was quite an experience.

After pulling back into the staging area, I was about to hop into a Compass when I noticed the Grand Cherokee SRT8 was free. Compass or 465-horse Grand Cherokee with a 6.4-liter V-8 under the hood? The choice was easy. I hopped in the super SUV (SSUV?) and headed for the tarmac of Mulholland Highway. Like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, the Grand Cherokee SRT8 just shrinks around you, making it easier to thread through the highway's famous tight turns. The best part about the Grand Cherokee SRT8 is its mean, raspy exhaust note. I blasted through a tunnel on my way back to the event's staging area, and the SRT8 sounded so good I had to turn back to do it again.

After the Grand Cherokee SRT8-supplied adrenaline blast, I was ready for more off-roading, and the Skittles-green Wrangler Rubicon (complete with a six-speed manual) was my ride of choice. I initially was apprehensive driving the manual-equipped Wrangler off-road. The limited amount of off-roading I'd done prior was in automatic-equipped SUVs. Turns out my worries were completely unfounded -- as is the case with most all driving-related activities, a manual is just better. The open-top Wrangler Rubicon was a fantastic companion on the trail, and as expected it didn't break a sweat over the route.

With the day ending, there was only time for one more trail run. I decided to get behind the wheel of the Liberty, the beloved Cherokee's spiritual successor that will undergo a transformation in the near future.

While its plastic-riddled interior, aging, 3.7-liter boat anchor V-6, and four-speed slushbox may make the Liberty far from desirable on-road, off-road was another story. The Liberty conquered everything without issue. Its only demerit would be its ground clearance, or lack thereof. It seemed to scrape just thinking about rocks. Thankfully, the Liberty's Trail-Rated badge means it was wearing underbelly armor, preventing any punctures and damage.

The Wrangler was far and away the most capable vehicle I sampled at Jeep's full-line drive. It's the vehicle of boyhood dreams (well, mine, at least), an American icon. It's immensely fun to drive off road, and most important, it makes you feel like you're a 10-year-old behind the wheel.

But the Grand Cherokee impressed me the most because of what it represents. This is a vehicle more likely to be found in suburban mall parking lots, or shuttling kids to early morning hockey practice. Jeep could have mailed it in and fitted it with a simple all-wheel-drive setup that would have satisfied 99 percent of its buyers. It decided to deliver the mail instead. The Grand Cherokee is just as capable of getting down and dirty as the Wrangler. Jeep is painfully aware of its iconic status as an off-road-focused brand, and continues to engineer every one of its vehicles to be immensely capable in that area. As Jeep continues its transformation to more of a mainstream brand, here's hoping things will stay that way.

To see the Motor Trend WOT Video about this Jeep event, skip to 1:30 below.