FINAL REPORT - November 2008 Our Wrangler has proven far easier to live with than we'd first imagined. While previous versions of the Jeep's rugged off-roader abused their occupants with wild head tosses and headache-inducing wind roar, the new one's ride and road manners are acceptable by everyday-car standards. And it's downright impressive considering what this mud monster can do in the dirt. We especially liked our four-door model because it turns the Wrangler into a suitable family rig. The second-row seats easily fold flat, revealing vast cargo room.We road-tripped the Wrangler 2280 miles from L.A. to Detroit. That's not a journey we'd have longed to take in any previous Wrangler. But we were pleasantly surprised at how smooth the ride was. We rolled into Ann Arbor, Mich., back pain-free, needing nothing more than a good stretch after the three-day marathon drive. Fuel economy on the interstate crept to just over 17 mpg. Certainly, fuel economy is the price one pays for the barn-door aerodynamics and 32-in.-tall off-road tires.
As tame as it has become, the Wrangler still doesn't coddle its passengers. The thin door armrests are rock hard and make for sore elbows, wind noise is still louder than in most SUVs and, yes, the 205-hp, 3.8-liter V6 feels taxed at speeds exceeding 75 mph. But these are minor quibbles, and the Wrangler asked for far fewer sacrifices in return for its legendary off-road prowess and on-road swagger. We're sad to see it go. DRIVERS' NOTEBOOK* Unbolting the whole hardtop is a time-consuming process. But the two sections over the front-row seats remove easily.* With four doors and plenty of cargo room, the family Wrangler is the ultimate anti-minivan.* Those beefy-looking BF Goodrich mud tires are surprisingly quiet.* Order your Unlimited with power door locks. It's a real pain to have to reach across the Jeep to unlock the rear passenger door. And it's easy to forget to lock that tailgate too. THIRD REPORT - August 2008 The stretch of Interstate 15 from Barstow, Calif., to Las Vegas is America's autobahn.
Maybe it's the anticipation of high-stakes poker, cheap buffets or the Blue Man Group, but motorists routinely cruise at 90 mph. And our Wrangler is no high-speed-highway hero. So, on our three L.A.-to-Vegas trips this Jeep spent its time in the slow lane. But hey, in a traffic jam we can peel off into the desert for some four-wheeling. Take that, Mr. Corvette. After 4 hours in the saddle, the front seats remained comfy. The back seats are large enough, but lack armrests--even on the door. When some shrapnel on Interstate 10's middle lane caused traffic to swerve, the Rubicon responded gracefully. Heck, we could have rolled right over that shrapnel in this thing. Off the highway, parallel parking on side streets is surprisingly easy. Must be that legendary Jeep maneuverability. DRIVERS' NOTEBOOK* The Rubicon's exemplary wheel travel (above) allows it to walk trails with ease.* The interior is large enough to hold another driveable Jeep--specifically, a Fisher-Price Power Wheels Barbie Jammin' Jeep.
Try fitting one in a midsize sedan. SECOND REPORT - April 2008 We're spoiled by the absence of luxury. Our Wrangler Rubicon, with its roll-up windows and simple radio and a/c controls, harks back to a time when vehicles were just vehicles--not Ritz-Carltons on wheels. That said, if we could order the Jeep again, we'd spend for the power locks. It's a real pain to unlock each individual door. But, hey, this is a Jeep--we can just unbolt those doors. We've already taken the Jeep on some challenging off-road trails in the hills near Bartlett Lake, outside Carefree, Ariz. The slippery, sandy troughs and gullies posed no challenge. The Rubicon crawled up and over just about every obstacle without spinning a tire. Only one section required both diffs to be locked. This is what real four-wheeling is all about. DRIVERS' NOTEBOOK* When it's loaded full of people and stuff, long freeway grades require a heavy right foot to maintain speed--and fuel economy suffers.* Change Oil light keeps appearing, even after we change the oil.
Hmmm.* Ride quality is amazingly good for a hardcore 4x4. FIRST REPORT - January 2008 The old adage among Jeepers is "real Jeeps have round headlights." Well, since many Jeep crossovers have round lights, too, we'd like to amend that to "real Jeeps have solid axles." And we're proud to relate that our fresh-out-of-the-Toledo-Ohio-factory, long-term Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon qualifies as a real Jeep. One big improvement was the addition of the four-door Unlimited. Two more doors add a level of practicality that these Jeeps have been missing. All Wranglers get a 3.8-liter V6. And we laid out $825 for a four-speed automatic. We made sure to order the $1585 Dual Top Group, too, which includes a removable three-piece hardtop and a soft-top. Our Jeep is Spartan inside; no power windows or locks. Instead, we spent the money on hardware. The Rubicon package is designed to tame the worst 4wd trails. The two beefy Dana 44 solid axles are each equipped with 4.10:1 gears and electronically operated locking differentials, and are capped with a 32-in. mud tire at each corner.
Rubicons get a new transfer case, with ultralow 4.0:1 gearing. So when you pull the 4wd lever all the way back into Low range, the Wrangler can crawl at John Deere-like speeds. But the neatest part of the equipment group is the electronic sway-bar disconnect. Hit the dash-mounted button (in Low only) and the front sway bar loosens its grip on the axle and allows for extra front-wheel travel to keep tires in contact with terrain. We can't wait to put all those tools to use in our favorite mudhole. VITAL STATISTICSTotal service costs: Estimated Monthly Payment2 will depend on vehicle make and model and will be determined upon actual vehicle inspection. All payments are estimates. Tax, title and any other fees are extra. 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV V-6 cyl 2014 Ford Explorer XLT SUV V-6 cyl 2017 Ford Escape Titanium SUV I-4 cylI can speak to the soft top, as I’ve rolled my 2013 Wrangler with the soft top in place.There’s nothing inherently unsafe about the soft top.
As with any vehicle, the seat belts and airbags will protect in collisions. With respect to my particular rollover, though, the roll cage was the thing that protected me.I rolled over in soft dirt and was suspended upside down by my seat belt for a few short minutes. After shutting the engine off, some members of my 4WD club pulled me and my passenger out of the vehicle. Both of us were unhurt. They were able to winch the Jeep over within a few minutes and other than some minor cosmetic damage (under $5K), everything was fine. The soft top got a bit of a scuff in it, but no structural damage and I still have it on my Jeep today. I sold my hard top and run the soft top year round.I wouldn’t rely on it to keep a driver or passenger contained in the event of an accident or rollover, but that’s what seat belts and roll cages are for. But there’s nothing unsafe about the soft top.The warning sticker on the visor says it all:"WARNING: The top and doors on this vehicle are designed only for protection against the elements.
Do not rely on the top and doors to contain occupants within the vehicle or to protect against injury during an accident."While I haven’t seen a Jeep wreck on the street where the top was a factor, I have seen several rollovers while four wheeling.In one rollover, the guy was in a new JKU with the freedom tops removed. He had one tire on a large rock and tried to climb just a little higher for a photo op and the Jeep rolled slowly onto its side, and then totally upside down. After a few folks winched him back upright, you could see a few marks on the top from where the winchers drug the Jeep a little bit, but other that that - there was no real damage.The second rollover I saw was on a particularly steep and rocky uphill where a lot of serious wheelers hang out. There was a guy in a TJ on 37’s making his way up the hill and got stuck in the middle of it. He tried multiple times to get up a set of rocks, but gave up and was backing down and I guess he had his wheels turned the wrong way and he rolled about 3 times down the hill and landed on all four tires.
The soft top was completely torn from the Jeep, his windshield was busted, and it looked as if the hood was dented. Later that day I saw him in the parking lot and his top was back on, and other than the dented hood and missing windshield, you couldn’t tell the Jeep had just rolled down a big hill.The third rollover I really didn’t see. I just came around a section of trees and there it was, in the middle of the trail. The guy had a JKU on stock tires and I cant for the life of me figure out how he rolled his Jeep in the middle of a trail with no obstacles or rocks anywhere around. Another guy told me that he’d been trying to get a tire up on a tree to take a picture, but seriously - you’d have to be an idiot to roll your Jeep doing that. His Jeep was laying on the drivers side, and when they picked it up I could see that while the top was still on the Jeep, there was a crack near the rear door and both the side and rear windows were broken. Oddly enough, this Jeep had way more damage than the other two Jeeps that I saw roll over.