The new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon reviewed

Jeep Wrangler

It isn’t often you think, as you drive up the M6 towards Windermere in the wind and rain, that it’s perfect weather for a 4x4 launch, but in this case, with the promise of plenty of green-lanes to drive, it was.

The Jeep Wrangler needs no introduction, especially if you’re reading The Mud Life, but now in its fifth generation it’s had quite an overhaul, and although everything about it is new, you have to applaud Jeep for keeping its instantly recognisable and iconic silhouette. Unlike anything from the current Land Rover stable, you aren’t gonna mistake it for anything else!

So what’s new? Wow, where do I begin?

Well, the elephant in the room is a good start, and that’s the price. Starting at £44,865 for the 2 door base model, it’s a chunk more that the outgoing model, and by some margin. I fear that it’s priced out of the market for most

4x4 enthusiasts and primarily aimed at households with a hefty disposable income.

For the UK market the Wrangler gets 2 new engines, a 2.2ltr turbo diesel and the 2.0ltr turbocharged petrol, both are Euro 6/D compliant and linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The former delivers 200 horsepower and returns around 29mpg whilst the latter delivers 272 horsepower and returns around 26mpg. Both feature Stop Start technology.

Depending on which model you choose there’s two fourwheel drive systems are available: Command-Trac, on the Sahara and Overland trim level, and Rock-Trac, standard on Rubicon trim.

The Rubicon, as you can imagine, has a few more goodies, like Tru-Lock electric front and rear-axle lockers, Trac-Lok limited slip differential and electronic front anti-roll bar

disconnect. This makes me smile, especially the 32”mud terrain tyres.

Inside the new Wrangler you’ll find a refreshed and updated interior with increased storage capacity and a new Uconnect 8.4-inch touchscreen system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Improved safety content, including Blind-spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Path detection, ParkView reverse camera, electronic stability control (ESC) with electronic roll mitigation and four standard air bags.

The instrument cluster features a 7” thin-film transistor (TFT) information LED display in full colour and allows the driver to configure information in more than 100 ways. Integrated buttons on the steering wheel control audio, voice and speed functions, allowing you to keep your hands on the wheel at all times.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Wrangler if you couldn’t fold down the windscreen, remove the doors and strip the roof, which I’m looking forward to doing when I borrow the 4 door Rubicon sometime in June!

That’s all well and good, but what’s it like to drive?

You would imagine that driving the Hellayella (yellow) 2-dow Rubicon would be a bit of a handful on the road, but it wasn’t, not one bit. The Rubicon’s handling felt well accomplished, despite its serious intent. The narrow A593 heading south beside Coniston was wet and flooded, yet at no point did the 255-75R17 BFGoodrich Mud Terrains feel out of place or a hindrance to its onroad handling.

At this point it could be argued that, as someone who drives 4x4s everyday I’m accustomed to sloppy and vague steering, but that isn’t the case at all. The driving position, though no way as snug as a Defender, felt limited for this 6ft 2”, 19 stone writer. Don’t get me wrong here, it wasn’t uncomfortable, just a tad cozy.

Arriving at our first green-lane, the infamous Parkamoor, we had the knowledgable folks at Ardent Off-Road who had organised the routes on hand to guide the less experienced ‘off-roaders’ amongst us up the gnarly rocks one by one.

At this point I jumped out to watch how the various models tackled the terrain. The long wheel base Sahara fought for traction on a few occasions on the wet and slippery rocks, but once the electrics realised what was

happening they soon found grip to haul the street biased Wrangler to the top.

The Rubicon on the other hand, with 32” muds and disconnected sway, or anti-roll bars simply flexed its way up the challenging terrain as if it was merely mounting a curb! As an experienced ‘off-roader’ it was poetic to watch.

On reaching the top, or at least as far as you go on Parkamoor, we stopped for a brew and a chat and discussed the relative ease in which all the Jeeps managed the climb, including a bog standard Grand Cherokee driven by Jeep’s PR team.

Jumping back into our Hellayella Rubicon I eased our way back down the rock strewn lane towards the main road and onwards to our next green-lane which, by comparison, was a cinch.

At this point we figured we needed a change of vehicle and swapped to the 5-door Sahara.

Inside, apart from more room in the back and the lack a ‘Sway-Bar Disconnect button’, it was pretty much the same.

The Sahara's on-road manners really surprised me as I thought it would be better than it was compared to the Rubicon. Now let me put this into perspective, the Sahara handled really well around the narrow Cumbrian roads, with the 8-speed auto doing a fine job at finding the right gear. This reinforces that fact that Rubicon is a lot better than you would imagine it is.

After a couple of tarmac miles we turned onto our final green lane of the day, a rocky Unclassified Right of Way that takes you through Grizedale Forest. Despite not having the same ground clearance, the 5-door Sahara walked it, and felt a little more comfortable than the 3-door due to its extended wheelbase. There were a couple of occasions, when driving down towards Windermere, that I caught the running bars, but in fairness they were quite severe rock steps.

After boarding the ferry across Windermere we made our way back to the hotel which signified the end of our Jeep adventure.

So, what are my thoughts? Simply put, I want one. I want a 2-door Rubicon in Ocean Blue, thank you very much. That said, I will probably have to wait a decade or so before their

prices my drop to my level! The overall aim of this launch was to prove that the Wrangler is still one of the most capable out-of-thebox 4x4s that money can buy, and it certainly proved that it is, without a doubt.

UK pricing (OTR) for the new 2019 Jeep Wrangler is as follows:

DIESEL Sahara 2.2 MultiJet II

200hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

2-Door

£44,865

Sahara 2.2 MultiJet II

200hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

4-Door

£46,365

Overland 2.2 MultiJet II

200hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

2-Door

£46,865

Overland 2.2 MultiJet II

200hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

4-Door

£48,365

Rubicon 2.2 MultiJet II

200hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

2-Door

£46,865

Rubicon 2.2 MultiJet II

200hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

4-Door

£48,365

PETROL Sahara 2.0 GME

272hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

2-Door

£44,865

Sahara 2.0 GME

272hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

4-Door

£46,365

Overland 2.0 GME

272hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

2-Door

£46,865

Overland 2.0 GME

272hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

4-Door

£48,365

Rubicon 2.0 GME

272hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

2-Door

£46,865

Rubicon 2.0 GME

272hp 4x4 Automatic 8-Speed

4-Door

£48,365