Any word on the new Jeep Wrangler 2 doors?

[ChrisBlair]

Good bad awful crap great unreliable or what?

I also do not easily understand what the point of the various trim levels is. OK yes they cost more money...but why? A sticker on the hood?

Jeep's website makes this less than intuitive which makes me suspicious.

[shank0668]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Good bad awful crap great unreliable or what?

I also do not easily understand what the point of the various trim levels is. OK yes they cost more money...but why? A sticker on the hood?

Jeep's website makes this less than intuitive which makes me suspicious.

Mostly, all packages are aesthetic except for the Rubicon, which is locking diffs, different transfer case (or at least last gen it was).

Reliability, probably decent. One of my friends has one, had a ton of issues and just turned out to be an o2 sensor.

Jeep people love them?

[motorhead]

They are great vehicles. Which one you get depends on what level of luxury, off road capability or combination of both you are looking for. It also depends on what look you are going for. There are so many ways to configure them. It's crazy.

[SimpleGreen]

Dont kill me....

BTW this is a novel.

But I traded my 2013 SS Camaro in on a new 2016 Wrangler 2DR.

Honestly, aside from (slightly) missing going fast and shifting gears, after two months and 3500 miles I am still loving my new Wrangler.

I've drove it to Missouri and back so far and found it to be more comfortable on long hauls than my 1LE. Rides pretty nice (about like an average half ton truck) though rough roads get it a little out of whack since solid axles just cant deal with the back and forth bumps like independent suspension.

Honestly it's getting about 18 MPG on the interstate at 74 MPH with one passenger and the back end full of camping gear. Averaging 18.6 right now going back and forth to work (6 miles each way, 35-50 MPH). Put an empty 5x10 trailer on it and it drops to 16.5 at 70 MPH.

Hood bounces at highway speed if you get by an 18 wheeler or in a cross wind. I was right along a storm on I55 in Arkansas and at one point the hood got to bouncing so hard I could almost hear it/feel it inside. It doesnt bounce far, the factory hold downs just have a little stretch to them. Folks say if you take the hood pop up spring off the bottom of the hood it will stay down tight and wont bounce an ounce.

Has a little bit of wind noise due to the windshield being vertical and having no insulation in the roof but to me personally it's nothing bad. Stock radio isn't anything to write home about. Not as good as the stock unit in my Camaro, thought the Alpine option in the Jeep rocks pretty nice.

Everything is easy to reach and pretty intuitive. No complaints in the controls and comforts department. AC is better than my Camaro and the heat is hot as hell. Mine is a basically a Sport model so its all basic AC controls and all manual seats but i do have keyless entry and power mirrors and locks.

Headlights are OK. You HAVE to drive around with the fogs on with your headlights or the visibility sucks. Lots of people make amazing LED headlights for the Jeeps.

Brakes are good. It's surprisingly stable given its shape and weight. It's no rocket ship but I have find myself doing 80MPH on the interstate because I wasn't paying attention and she wasn't trying too hard. I think the 1/4 mile time is like 15.4 seconds at 89 MPH.

So far commons problems I heard of is the top leaking if you don't put the freedom panels back in correctly, and then when they changed the oil filter housings to a composite material they started cracking and leaking. It uses a cartridge type filter on top. Supposedly the newer ones have a newer part number that doesnt have the problem. Also earlier Pentastar Jeeps sometimes needed a new cylinder head at 25,000 miles (I think it was passenger side almost always) but that was supposed to have been revised a couple times as well.

All in all I love mine and in research doesnt seem to have any more issues than anything else new on the road.


pics of mine...

[rebelyell22]

I had a 2012 2 door sport with a 2.5" lift on 33's before I got my SS. It was my first car. I'd highly recommend the Rubi or Sahara. The Sport/S are just too basic on the inside. I never had any problems with it, and drove it hard. Went everywhere my cousin' ZR2 on 35's went. Pretty harsh ride on the road, and they drift pretty bad when you get a strong crosswind.

[Donald]

When I worked at the Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealer the OE recommends a diff service @ 11k. Sooner if you off road. WTF.
Oh and the 3.8l is a turd IMO. Minivan motor adapted for mpg. Sorry, but not my cup of tea.

Now those with the hemi swap... very nice

[SimpleGreen]

Originally Posted by Donald

When I worked at the Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealer the OE recommends a diff service @ 11k. Sooner if you off road. WTF.
Oh and the 3.8l is a turd IMO. Minivan motor adapted for mpg. Sorry, but not my cup of tea.

Now those with the hemi swap... very nice

12 and up has the 3.6. Vastly better motor. Still no rocket lol. But yea the 3.8 in the 07-11 is a boat anchor. Can't get out of its own way.

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by SimpleGreen

Dont kill me....

BTW this is a novel.

But I traded my 2013 SS Camaro in on a new 2016 Wrangler 2DR.

Honestly, aside from (slightly) missing going fast and shifting gears, after two months and 3500 miles I am still loving my new Wrangler.

I've drove it to Missouri and back so far and found it to be more comfortable on long hauls than my 1LE. Rides pretty nice (about like an average half ton truck) though rough roads get it a little out of whack since solid axles just cant deal with the back and forth bumps like independent suspension.

Honestly it's getting about 18 MPG on the interstate at 74 MPH with one passenger and the back end full of camping gear. Averaging 18.6 right now going back and forth to work (6 miles each way, 35-50 MPH). Put an empty 5x10 trailer on it and it drops to 16.5 at 70 MPH.

Hood bounces at highway speed if you get by an 18 wheeler or in a cross wind. I was right along a storm on I55 in Arkansas and at one point the hood got to bouncing so hard I could almost hear it/feel it inside. It doesnt bounce far, the factory hold downs just have a little stretch to them. Folks say if you take the hood pop up spring off the bottom of the hood it will stay down tight and wont bounce an ounce.

Has a little bit of wind noise due to the windshield being vertical and having no insulation in the roof but to me personally it's nothing bad. Stock radio isn't anything to write home about. Not as good as the stock unit in my Camaro, thought the Alpine option in the Jeep rocks pretty nice.

Everything is easy to reach and pretty intuitive. No complaints in the controls and comforts department. AC is better than my Camaro and the heat is hot as hell. Mine is a basically a Sport model so its all basic AC controls and all manual seats but i do have keyless entry and power mirrors and locks.

Headlights are OK. You HAVE to drive around with the fogs on with your headlights or the visibility sucks. Lots of people make amazing LED headlights for the Jeeps.

Brakes are good. It's surprisingly stable given its shape and weight. It's no rocket ship but I have find myself doing 80MPH on the interstate because I wasn't paying attention and she wasn't trying too hard. I think the 1/4 mile time is like 15.4 seconds at 89 MPH.

So far commons problems I heard of is the top leaking if you don't put the freedom panels back in correctly, and then when they changed the oil filter housings to a composite material they started cracking and leaking. It uses a cartridge type filter on top. Supposedly the newer ones have a newer part number that doesnt have the problem. Also earlier Pentastar Jeeps sometimes needed a new cylinder head at 25,000 miles (I think it was passenger side almost always) but that was supposed to have been revised a couple times as well.

All in all I love mine and in research doesnt seem to have any more issues than anything else new on the road.


pics of mine...

This review is what I'm looking for, thanks.

What do you see real-world mpg at 60 with no cargo?

[SimpleGreen]

Honestly couldn't say. The best estimate I can give you is if I'm running errands a lot between my moms place and mine, it starts getting around 20MPG. This is factoring a little city driving. Otherwise thats 60MPH 10 miles there and back on a 2 lane highway. Some folks swear their stock JK Wranglers get low 20's when daily driving after they are well broke in.

[Netslave]

It's the only american branded car we will own anymore. The wife and I have had jeeps since we were both in our 20's, hell it's how we met. She had a TJ (2dr wrangler) and I had an XJ (cherokee, before sergio fukd it up)

The are rock solid and IMO the lego of the car world. Old jeeps pre-2006 were bomb proof with the 4.0l inline six, they had minimal computer or engine issues. You could beat the shit out of them all weekend and drive them to work all week. Enter the 3.8 as mentioned above, it was a failure from the start and finally died off in '11 It was designed as a power plant for minivans and should have never been in the wrangler.

This current gen of jeeps are pretty much back to being bomb proof. Sure the 3.6 doesn't have the punch the 4.0 had but motor swaps are extremely common all the way up to the 6.4 and superchargers have dramatically come down in price and offer great gains. The cost break down for some s/c equal a better cost to power gain over a 5.7 hemi swap. Again as mentioned the options run the gamut from base model sports with a single cd radio and cloth to rubicon's with heated leather, alpine speakers etc. You can even get heated cloth, it just depends on what you want really. If you will never take it offroad there is no way I would recommend someone spending the money for a rubicon. A sahara model will get you a few creature comforts and you add things like a dual top group that comes with the hard and soft top, a 430n nav system which does everything from xm traffic alerts/music to a built in 30 gig hard drive to tow packages etc.

Between the wife and I we have had 15 jeeps of different flavors ranging from bespoke custom jeeps to an willy's MB from the 40's. If I had to break it down like this to a potential buyer I would list the pro's and con's as this -

Pro's - dual tops totally worth it, best of both worlds. Hard top is great in winter, soft top fun for the summer.
- more aftermarket support than any vehicle on the earth and most modifications can be done in your driveway. it's real life lego
- if something fails after the warranty expires a for example the motor, a new engine can be had for 3k or less and be swapped in a weekend with minimal tools and a cooler of beer.
- almost indestructible driveline
- with good maintenance it's the US version of the toyota hilux. you can't really kill one
- comes with it's own subculture. event's of every type is available for jeepers from cruise in's, rock crawling, beach driving, overlanding, etc.

Con's - mpg, lol yeah right
- not great for a lot of gear
- ride quality... it's a jeep not a benz
- mpg or gas stations per mile
- headlights are abysmal. driving at night is a game of wtf is the road? it's an easy mod and the first you should make
- brakes are ok up to about 32"" tires which comes std on the rubicons. past that I would invest in better pads or honestly a larger brake system.
- soft tops can be targets for quick break in's so never leave anything of value in there. the next gen of jeeps won't even come with a soft top because their research says most buyers never use it
- you might have a leak here or there, easily fixable by both the dealer and the owner

You are going nowhere fast in a jeep but the fun you have getting from point A to point B for the smiles per gallon factor is worth it to us. So much so we have three at the moment. From bone stock to heavily modified. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer to the best that I can. I've done just about everything you can do or to a jeep as well as worked for DC/FCA etc for events all over the US.

[ChrisBlair]

Thanks.

I've owned a classic convertible since '89 and have put 200K miles plus on it; I know the dangers of the soft top well.

I am curious as to impressions of the manual trans JK in particular; I don't know how to drive an automatic

I also thought the rear seat could be removed for cargo space.

I'll have to take a couple for a drive.

[SimpleGreen]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Thanks.

I've owned a classic convertible since '89 and have put 200K miles plus on it; I know the dangers of the soft top well.

I am curious as to impressions of the manual trans JK in particular; I don't know how to drive an automatic

I also thought the rear seat could be removed for cargo space.

I'll have to take a couple for a drive.

Never drove a manual. I hear they drive fine but have unreliable throwout bearings. Probably no different than the throw out bearing issues Camaros have.

The back seat folks forward against the front seats, then you can release the mount and take the whole seat out leaving just the two little mounting cleats sticking out of the floor.

[trashmanssd]

My wife got a Jk 2 weeks ago, one year old used Rubicon with 2500 miles on it. So far she is loving it, fun midlife crisis car. Hoping she wants a JLU when they come out wait for second year to buy. Then I can take the Rubicon and go crazy with it, ift tires wheels lights ..... the works.

[Netslave]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Thanks.

I've owned a classic convertible since '89 and have put 200K miles plus on it; I know the dangers of the soft top well.

I am curious as to impressions of the manual trans JK in particular; I don't know how to drive an automatic

I also thought the rear seat could be removed for cargo space.

I'll have to take a couple for a drive.

The six speed manual is pretty reliable, off the top of my head I can't think of anyone thrashing one hard enough to do serious damage. If someone was eating TO bearings or clutches and the like I'd question their competency in driving a manual trans vehicle. Had three manual trans jeeps, an 08, 10 and a 14 with some hard driving on the 10 and 14 and never had an issue. In my totally honest opinion the shifts are a mile long and the clutch requires engagement like no other manual. Like damn near to the floor. I liked choosing my own gears but I got tired of it and for the overlanding I do an auto just makes more sense.

The seats can be fully removed. A couple of companies make seat delete kits that are coming to market in the next few weeks that give you the ability of deleting the 60 portion of the 60/40. It gives a stable platform for cargo tie downs and different set up's for maximizing gear transport. They are form fitting, line x'd and very nice yet spendy. If one was skilled they could easily duplicate something similar over a weekend or two.