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In the early days the Willys Jeep CJ mainly used by the military was much smaller in size, to facilitate easy movement over fields, rough roads, slushy and muddy surfaces, and mountainous terrain.
Now we have the Jeep Wrangler, an icon of the SUV world. The Wrangler is aesthetically very much similar, but larger in comparison to the small military vehicles of yesteryears.
As times had changed, the need arose for a vehicle with Jeep characteristics that had the elements of comfort and space, like a car. Since the early Jeep model did not fit in, the answer was the Jeep Wrangler, which combined both requirements.
Thus, we have the current Wrangler which is much larger. Although not very long (4.22 metres), it is wide and very tall (1.84 metres). It reproduces the classic round headlamps and retains the characteristic front, seven vertically slatted air slots of the early jeep model, has large fins and the external front bumper now features inbuilt fog lamps. But, it is the huge wheels giving a more robust appearance to the Wrangler that attracts one's attention to this off-roader.
Robust and highly equipped
The interior of the Jeep Wrangler is designed in American style with little interest shown in the aesthetics of the vehicle, but with more importance for durability and practicality.
The front seats are not very comfortable, the steering wheel is huge and the distribution of controls is correct though, just like a Yankee, has its peculiarities. The area of the front seats is just enough with 54.6 cubic feet of space even though the shape of the dashboard and roof bars give the impression that it is smaller. The rear passenger seats are not positioned comfortably but offer 49.4 cubic feet space with very little head room and leg space making it difficult for passengers to move in and out. It is more for younger people who are more agile. As for luggage space the rear seats can be folded to create 83 cubic feet of storage area.
The Wrangler also comes with a three-piece modular hard top or a soft top with various options like sunroof, or top-down.
As for "surprise equipment", the rugged Wrangler has electric windows, central locking with remote control (new for this model), power steering, cruise control, air conditioning, ESP, ABS, two airbags and a stereo with MP3... features unthinkable in this model a few years ago. You also have the option of completely removable doors and hard top or soft top that can give you the thrill of enjoying the softly blowing wind rushing by, with a true experience of open air driving. Adding thrill to this open-air experience is the curved windshield (flat in the earlier models) improving the aerodynamics of the Wrangler that folds forward on to the bonnet to give you that disheveling experience of the wind.
The good and the bad
Unlike the four-wheel-drive-only configuration of the standard Jeep Wrangler, a two-wheel drive is also available with the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited edition.
The standard engine fitted to all models of the Wrangler is the 3.8 litre V-6 developing 202 horsepower and 321 Nm of torque with a 6-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic transmission. This engine is not available with the two-wheel drive Wrangler Unlimited model.
There is also a 4-cylinder 16 valve, common rail 2.8 litre turbo charged diesel engine, developing 177 hp at 3800 rpm and a maximum torque of 400 Nm at 1600 rpm.
The Wrangler, although developing fairly good low torque with the automatic gear box is not capable of responding to quick acceleration on the highway. The brakes of the Wrangler are also not effective, requiring longer stopping distances compared to other SUVs of similar scale. The vehicle does have a bit of stagger traveling at high speeds but not much of body roll while negotiating curves.
The consumption was recorded at 9.9 litres/100 km on urban roads, 10 litres/100 km on the highway and 14-15 litres in the city. The Wrangler with its new aerodynamic styling accelerates from 0 to 100 in a decent 11.7 seconds, reaching a top speed of 180 km/h.
The vehicle is designed mainly for off-road driving where you find it responding efficiently and climbs the steepest of inclines with ease. But the Wrangler is not a vehicle for city driving unless you want attention. In which case we would suggest going with the Hummer H3.
The acoustics inside the cabin, which was rather bad in the early Wrangler models, has now been improved a great deal and you can now converse quite comfortably without having to shout.
Overall
Leaving aside all other demerits about the Wrangler, if you take the vehicle off-road to compete against other SUVs, you can be very confident that your Wrangler will outdo most of them... when it comes to driving on the beach, or climbing steep inclines or riding over rough hilly terrain. It can go through all these maneuvers with ease, exhibiting great superiority over the rest, what with its powerful engine and automatic transmission and bigger wheels, designed for such terrain. Take it on the asphalt and you will be very disappointed.
