Base price: $28,235
As tested: $32,680
3.8-liter, 205-horsepower V6
17 city / 19 highway
More info: www.jeep.com
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The four-door Wrangler's newly extended back end gives it an entirely different line. The look parallels one of our favorite SUVs, the Benz G-Wagen (and for well less than half the price). The Wrangler's basically a big box on wheels, but it looks anything but clunky. The roll bars in the back don't extend to a full 90-degree angle, making the truck look truncated with the top down. That's a real shame, because topless cruising is what this machine was designed to do best. The Wrangler Unlimited does offer a happy medium -- the three-piece hardtop allows you to create a massive sunroof without exposing the rear roll bars.
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You expect the inside of a ride like this to be spare and spartan. The spacious interior is covered in durable all-weather material that begs to be muddied. Speakers inserted into the roll bars blast down into the cabin. On the downside, the rear seats are a little tight, the pop-up speakers in the dash are irritatingly cute, there's no dead pedal and the window controls are almost impossible to find.
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The ride is what you would expect -- it feels like you're sitting on a slab of cement tied to a set of box springs. The four-door Wrangler did maneuver better in tight spots than we expected and it handled Chicago ice and snow like a champ in 4 hi. However, we felt too much body roll, and running through the manual 6 felt like captaining a Kenworth. Our 4x4 Rubicon tester sported a 3.8-liter, 205-horse V6 that churned out 240 ft-lbs. of torque. As a contrast, a Hummer H3X has a 3.7-liter, 242-horse inline 5 that puts out 242 ft-lbs. of torque. This Jeep certainly isn't underpowered, but those extra ponies would help it wrangle in the open spaces even better.
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Delicate flowers won't dig it, but girls who like to get a little dirty will.
-- by John D. Thomas |
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