JK-Forum Reviews the 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4X4
The Jeep Wrangler has been traveling for 30 years. It’s gone through “Jurassic Park,” changes in its parent company’s ownership, different engines and transmissions, and three generations of alterations and improvements – all in two-wheel drive. In 4L, it’s been through hellish natural conditions and reached peaks just below the heavens.
JK-Forum has driven the JK version of the Wrangler through the mud and over the rocks of the Texas Hill Country, on a journey of sharing, and up and down the roads of Toledo, Ohio.
Fans of the Wrangler have been on the move, too. According to an email we received from an FCA representative, “Wrangler logged its best annual sales in 2015 with over 200,000 units sold. Wrangler sales were up 16 percent in 2015.” Even before those numbers came out, Jeep took the Wrangler’s Sahara trim line a step further for the 2016 model year, adding cosmetic touches such as a body-color front bumper section, polished 18-inch wheels with Granite Crystal pockets, and high-gloss metallic silver accents around the grille slots and headlamps.
A while ago, we got the keys to a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4X4 for a week. We discovered that as far as the Wrangler has come, it can go further in many ways:
Under the Hood
The Wrangler is the only model in the Jeep portfolio that’s available with only one engine option. Its 285-horsepower/260-lb-ft 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 is adequate on low-speed trails, but feels overworked by the Sahara’s 4,294-pound curb weight out on the highway. If only it were as strong on the road as it is off of it. More thrust would make the Wrangler even more of a “go anywhere” machine, whether that means up a mountain or downtown. We’re looking forward to next-generation power plants in the JK’s replacement and how much further the potential availability of more than one engine option will move Wrangler sales.
At the Pump
The EPA rates the 2016 JKU Sahara capable of traveling 16 mpg in the city, 20 mpg on the highway, and 18 mpg combined. We averaged 18.3 after mixed driving in Austin and Marble Falls, Texas. That not only adds up at the gas station, but it also keeps the driving range lower than we’d like. Boo! We enjoy being in the Wrangler, not outside of it having our ears assaulted by the trunk-rattling bass of the ’90s Cadillac next to us at a Shell station.
Jeep gave the Grand Cherokee’s gas V6 the slightest of bumps in both horsepower and highway fuel economy for 2016. It’s a shame it didn’t do the same for the Pentastar in the Wrangler, a vehicle which could use every bit of efficiency Jeep can muster up. A gearbox with more cogs in it than the current five-speed auto would give it some. That’s another thing we’re looking forward to in the JL version of the Wrangler.
In the Dash
Our test vehicle rode like you’d expect any off-road-focused, four-wheel-drive, body-on-frame vehicle to ride. We were OK with that. If that’s the price to be paid for the Wrangler’s capabilities on unpaved roads, so be it. The shaking and shimmying are part of its charm. What was more frustrating than being jostled by a lump in the pavement was the convoluted way we had to go about pairing a smartphone with the infotainment system’s Bluetooth connection. The lack of a hard button for the navigation function was bothersome, too. More irritating is the fact that we know FCA has better technology. We’ve experienced it firsthand.
Clearly, Jeep can still improve the Wrangler, but it has to be careful to not do it at the expense of its icon. While the JL must be more capable off-road and on-road than the model it’ll replace, Jeep must go beyond the quantifiable.
The JL needs to nail an X factor, and strike a balance between engineered and enjoyable. Over many years, Jeep has succeeded in making a seemingly niche vehicle a mainstream hit, thanks to the bright people behind it. However, they need to be kept in check to prevent burning out the Wrangler’s fun and simplicity. While the next Wrangler can be improved in certain areas, we don’t expect it to get Prius gas mileage, ride like a Cadillac, and arrive in showrooms stuffed with Tesla tech. We do expect it to make us itch to go anywhere in it at any time. We want it to light the fire of inspiration in us at the dream of traversing the Alaskan tundra and trekking across the rest of the world on its four knobby tires.
Please, Jeep, make the JL a better Wrangler than the JK, but keep it a Wrangler. Although capturing something unmeasurable and making it a part of glass, rubber, and metal may seem impossible, through listening to your customers, you’ve been doing just that, and getting better at it for 30 years. You’re on the right path, Jeep. Keep the Wrangler rolling down it.
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via [FCA]
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