Playing in the Mud with the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392
Wrangler Rubicon with 392 V8 power is just plain more fun at an off-road facility.
This past weekend, the Detroit 4Fest off-road festival was held at Holly Oaks ORV Park in Michigan and the Jeep Wrangler was obviously very well represented. In addition to the scores of privately owned Jeeps on hand for the festival, the brand had a collection of new and custom models on display, along with the newly released Willys Xtreme Recon. While we were there for the introduction of the Willys Xtreme Recon, the folks from Jeep asked if we wanted to take a Rubicon 392 for a spin through the off-road course.
As you might imagine, I jumped at the chance to play with the Wrangler Rubicon 392 in the mud. I have previously driven one for a week on various surfaces including harsh unpaved roads, but I didn’t go to an ORV venue like Holly Oaks. This seat time would give me a chance to experience the off-road abilities in an extreme environment – one that is designed to push four-wheel-drive vehicles to their limits. This also happens to be the same venue where I recently tested the new Ford Bronco, so I am familiar with the layout of the grounds. More importantly, it was raining when I tested the Bronco and it was raining when I tested the Rubicon 392, so I got to experience these vehicles in very similar situations.
In short, the power and sound of the 392 cubic inch V8 leads to a more entertaining, more engaging off-road experience than the Bronco can’t deliver.
Climbing Hills with the Rubicon 392
There have been comments made online that the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 is pointless, as the extra power is only good for spinning the tires and the added weight makes the V8 more of a hindrance than a help. Those people clearly don’t know what they are talking about and that was apparent as soon as we hit the first hill.
As mentioned above, it was raining when we hit the trails at Holly Oaks ORV Park and it had been raining for a few days, so there wasn’t a dry spot anywhere in sight. In many places, portions of the trail had washed away and the trails that were there were lined deep with thick mud. As soon as we left the parking area, we hit our first uphill climb and at first, I took it easy, careful to not just start spinning the tires.
After clearing the first hill without much power, I hit the second hill hard, letting the tires spin and the 392 V8 roar as the Wrangler effortlessly climbed to the top of the hill. Whether the path was mud or a mixture of mud and smaller rocks, the Rubicon 392 effortlessly climbed every hill without any issue.
There was clearly no issue with the V8 Wrangler having too much power to be a good off-roader, but there was one key obstacle which I thought might pose a challenge. Holly Oaks has a large, manmade “rock pile” that has a very smooth surface and no edges for the tires to grab from bottom to top.
If there was any place where the 392 power was going to cause traction issues, this was it. However, after watching the vehicles in front of me easily make their way up, it was clear that even smooth, slick rock covered in mud and steady rain wasn’t a slippery enough surface to make the V8 power a liability.
In fact, in some places where we had very loose footing, I was able to just keep the hammer down and the 392 would eventually dig down deep enough to get traction. Of course, in addition to easily climbing every dirt and rock hill, this off-roading fun was completed with an accompaniment of the sweet, sweet roar of the 392 cubic inch Hemi.
Slinging Mud with a Roar
In addition to climbing all sorts of hills with the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, we covered several big, open areas where we could safely use all 470 horsepower.
As you can imagine, when you are driving through six inches of mud and you hammer the throttle, all four big mud tires create huge rooster tails of mud. You can also drift around while slinging mud, but if you work to keep the nose pointed straight ahead while spinning the tires at near-wide open throttle, the Rubicon 392 builds speed in a hurry. We only had so much space to the other vehicles around us, but if you off-road in a big, open area, this Wrangler will be the fastest stock vehicle, shy of the Ram 1500 TRX.
Sure, how fast you can cover ground isn’t a big concern of most off-roaders, but for those who like to drag race in the dirt, mud or sand, the Rubicon 392 will be a tough vehicle to beat. More importantly, the ease with which this Wrangler spins the tires and slings mud, all with the wonderful roar of the 392 V8, makes this Jeep a hell of a good time. You don’t really need to go fast in many off-road situations, but the ability to go fast makes some situations much more exciting.
392 Versus Bronco
When I tested the Ford Bronco at Holly Oaks, it was a two-door Badlands model with the Sasquatch package, the 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and the 10-speed automatic transmission. In other words, it was quite different from the Wrangler Rubicon 392, with far less power and a shorter wheelbase, but the biggest difference between Bronco and Wrangler is the width. This Wrangler is a few inches narrower than the Bronco that I tested in terms of overall width while also being a couple inches narrower at the tires.
As you can see from the images, Holly Oaks has many paths carved into the hillside, so you often find yourself driving through narrow hallways of mud with those walls being just a few inches from each side of the vehicle. There are also many tight turns along those deep trails and with the Jeep, it felt less like the vehicle was wedged into those situations. The Wrangler obviously got up hills more easily with all of the extra power and it sounds much better doing it, but the key advantage for the Jeep is the smaller exterior dimensions. On the same trails, in the same conditions, the four-door Rubicon snaked its way through the mud more fluidly than did my Bronco test vehicle.
That seems like a pretty minor advantage, but this in this battle of inches, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has a clear advantage before the 392 engine. The Bronco is good, but the Wrangler is great and the 392 V8 makes the best off-road vehicle that much more fun to drive off-road and on.
Photos: Patrick Rall
Join the JK-Forums now!
You must be logged in to post a comment.