It's growing on me. I mean, I'm not much of an SUV type of person, but our Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has that "fun-to-drive" aspect about it that makes you want to hit the dirt trails for some off-roading fun, and which I had to do when I drove to Phoenix, Arizona.
The Wrangler is truly a sport/utility vehicle. I wouldn't say it's your typical soccer-mom SUV. If anything, it's far from that, unless you're an adventurous soccer mom. This SUV was built to be played with and used in ways that are far from the norm. Let me explain: It's like my Mini Cooper. It's a great car, but won't fit the needs and wants of the average buyer. Like the Mini Cooper, the Jeep is a great vehicle for a targeted buyer base.
The Jeep Unlimited has been outfitted with two extra doors on a longer frame to appeal more to buyers with families. When I picked the Jeep up last Thursday, I noticed the rear seats were folded down. Before I left the parking lot, I lifted the seats back to their up-right positions. It wasn't until I relocated my rearview mirror that I realized why the people who drive the Jeep before had those down. The large headrests on the second-row seats block about half the view from the rear window on top of six inches of tire from the rear spare located on the back hatch. It bothered me a bit that my rear vision was blocked, so the seats remained down for my trip.
Even though our Wrangler is equipped with touch-screen navigation, Sirius Radio, an auxiliary input adaptor for an iPod, and USB connection port to upload photos and music to the internal hard drive, it's still a bare-bones SUV able to handle most anything that gets in its way. It has the luxury features found on most SUVs but lacks the "bling? factor. Most the interior consist of hard plastic, a great feature for quick clean-up after a day spent on dirt terrain roads. The dash is simple and masculine-looking.
Once I mastered the correct way to activate the "Electronic Speed Control," I set my course between 70-75 mph on my way to Phoenix with an "ECO Avg? of 16.6-17 mpg. I was discouraged with those numbers since I've read the average was 19 mpg on the highway. Something I'm not much familiar with since my Mini Cooper gets about 29 mph on the highway.
Our V-6 engine lacked the power needed to get around slow big-rigs on the highway. It was sluggish at times. The automatic transmission was smooth even when stepping on the throttle hard.
I arrived to Phoenix late in the evening and let the Jeep retire in the 100-degree night heat. When morning came around, I had a friend help me remove the 2/3rds cover to experience the convertible effect on the Jeep. That only lasted for about 30 minutes as we pulled over to put it back on. Maybe Phoenix in the summer isn't a good time to drive with the top off. It was only 8:30 in the morning, and the temperature had already hit the triple digits.
Later that day, we took the Jeep out of town and found what looked like a small ranching community hidden along the hillside. We drove down a paved road for about a half-mile before the road turned in to a riverbed wash. We continued down the dirt road looking for a spot to test the Jeep's off-roading capabilities. By the end of the road, we'd found nothing that caught our eye.
A local man in a 1969 Ford half-ton pickup just happened to be taking out his trash as we where heading back to the highway. We stopped to ask him if he knew of any local trails to take the Jeep on. He said we'd come to the right place. His name was John, and he hopped out of his truck to clear some branches out of a pathway. Just beyond the branches lay an off-roader's playground with rocks and holes to challenge any off-road vehicle. John's son, Bud, built this track to take his custom 1983 Toyota pickup out to practice. We wasted no time, as John and Bud were helpful in navigating our Jeep through the track. They've done this a lot.
We ended up getting the Jeep high-centered, but Bud and his beast of a pickup were able to pull us back on the track. The Jeep was in its element. It handled the track with ease and confidence. I wanted to go again! But the hot-hot sun was more than I could handle. I jumped back in the Jeep and cranked the A/C on high.
All of a sudden, John jumped back in to his Ford pickup, drove out of sight and amazingly came flying up and over a steep hill. It was like "The Dukes of Hazzard." Bud jumped into his Toyota and proceeded to climb his rocky track like a monster. They showed off their skills and their lack of off-roading fear as tires and suspensions twisted on the rocks.
Bud suggested we add a four-inch lift and change out the tires for a larger series to keep the Jeep from getting high-centered again. I wonder if this can be a future project for Truck Trend.
As the sun was setting, we said goodbye to our new friends and headed home for the evening. The Jeep rested for the night as it was about to hit the highway once more for our trip home the next morning.
Highway driving was seamless for me. The cabin had a bit of noise that seemed to be coming from the dash, but it went away once I turned up the radio. I do have to say the Jeep does have a nice sound system. Since I was on the road for hours, I was quite happy with it.
The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is a fun and exciting SUV to drive as a playtime vehicle. That's what it's built for and that's what it's best at. As a daily family workhorse, it might be just a bit much to handle if you demand more creature comforts out of an SUV.
On a Scale of 1-to-5
(1 being bad-5 being good)
Interior: 3
It's not bad and it's not the best. It's designed to be simple and used as an SUV. It's easy to clean after a day in the dirt.
Exterior: 4
It's a great-looking SUV. It has a boxy-rugged look that makes it stand out as a sporty 'Ute.
Powertrain: 3
The V-6 engine was sluggish when needing the power, but the automatic tyranny was smooth. I'd opt for the V-8 for more power.
Entertainment: 4.5
This Jeep gets a 4.5 from me. It has all the creature comforts you want in an SUV and then some. All though it's not the fanciest-looking setup, it's still functional and nice.
If you want to learn more about our Long-term Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, check out these past updates: