Omar Brannstrom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv2DKDinfj0

GJeep

In one of the other videos here, there' a Lamborghini Gallardo with/without traction control.
About a year ago, I drove a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Ferrari 458, hundreds of miles each. Tried the Lambo with the traction control off. It was fun for a few minutes, but I preferred driving it as it was meant to be driven...
BTW, we all thought that the 458 was better in every aspect, traction control off included.

Back to Jeeps --
Nothing equals the performance of lockers.
However, with locked diffs, when you turn the steering wheel off-center -- unless the surface is completely slippery -- there's a lot of stress on the steering system. Traction control avoids that heavy stress.

Stubicon

I went through this back in 06 when I bought my Subaru Impreza WRX. For $10k more I could have had the Subaru Impreza STI (the rubicon of the Subaru Impreza world). But I thought I'm just going to upgrade everything anyway and I'll run circles around the STI. Six years later I've got a nasty WRX but everything was aftermarket, and the STI guys had little to upgrade to get to the same level utilizing more stock components. Long story short, aftermarket stuff can lead to bigger issues and I would have been better off starting with the STI. That's why I chose the Rubicon. It's very capable off-road and really doesn't need much whereas a Sport or Sahara would require dropping some serious cash just to get it to the level of the Rubicon.

MD GP

This is the difference between the vehicle's lowest gear available, and its highest gear available.

I prefer having the lower gears that are available with the Rubicon transfer case (4.0/1 reduction vs. 2.7x/1 reduction), but I'm glad that you're satisfied with what you've got. It sounds like the original poster feels the same way as you, and I hope he'll be happy with the Sahara. They're all great jeeps, and too each his own!

syn-ack

I learned this exact same thing, in the exact same arena, performance cars... Except mine were always Camaros and Mustangs.

I think I've said it before on this forum, the more you mod, the more stuff seems to break.

JakeMech

Strange, I've had the oppostie expeirence. I also had a wrx, but thought about an sti. For a fraction of the price I built mine better than a sti. It was an 08 and I ran the piss out of it from day one until a month ago when I traded it in on the JK. Not a single problem arose, but I also do the work myself and am very anal about how stuff gets done.

Chefbrujo

OP I'd go with the Sahara if I were you. You don't need a rubicon for what you're going to do. Wise choices and good driving are going to make a bigger difference than lockers in the long run. Save the money on the rubicon and use it for recovery gear. Btw you cant even have a winch? I could see if the limits on mods are suspension or engine related but seriously, you can't do "anything"?

Mostly I suggest Sahara because:
-You need the hard top
-gas is expensive
-the interior luxuries are nice to have. I must say tho I am a fan of not having power anything for survival reasons, but the Jk is a rolling computer anyway and I would think the probability that something electronic failing will be much more likely in the drivetrain than the windows or door locks. Why not have some interior luxuries with your very capable off roader?

I would also choose an auto, as while manuals are fun, I'd rather have my hand free and not have to shift all the time while off road and particularly while on-road. Manuals suck in traffic. I also agree with an earlier post. I don't believe there is any driving situation a manual could get you through that an auto wouldn't either. The ability to push start a manual is nice, but if you are alone you aren't going to be able to do it. And I think if you were overlanding/offroading/etc.. And needed to oush start, 1) these jeeps are heavy and 2) you'd have to be fortunate enough to have your dead battery in a location conducive to being able to push start it. I.e. a flat or downsloped straight strip of earth. Also, you can't/shouldn't shift a manual when the axles are underwater. Which may be a situation that would pop up before a dead battery.
Just my opinions. Take em or leave em. I have a Sahara lol, but I am being objective. If the Rubi was the same price as a Sahara I would get the Rubi. But alas, money is an object for most.

Jeepstin12

Confused here.

Rubicons can be ordered, bought, fit with a hard top
MPG is about the same for JK's regardless of a Rubicon or Sahara (depending on mods mostly)
My a Rubi is loaded. Pleather, power everything, all the "luxeries" ??? Not sure what the Sahara has that the Rubi does not.
And, an auto, also available on a rubicon.

No shifting while axles are under water? New one for me. Never heard that. The auto will shift regardless. It has no way of knowing when it's under water.....

Battery location in regard to push starting? Mi don't see the correlation.

Just trying to understand and make sure you don't steer the guy wrong.

rob_engineer

Shifting underwater is about the clutch being depressed. Has nothing to do with the axles. The clutch has a vent. When you push the clutch in the vent can allow water and mud to get inside the clutch.
Regarding MPG. All Jku's do not get the same MPG. Gearing in the rear makes a difference. I get an average over 47,000 miles of about 17.4. A coworker has the rubi with 4.1 gearing and gets around 16mpg. I have the 3.73 rear.

Stubicon

That's great. I've seen a lot of guys do the same thing and have great success. My friends EVO is built to no end and he runs the piss out of it and it runs like a champ. However, I wasn't so lucky with my WRX. Coilpacks were constantly going bad, dirty plugs from running rich (bad tune) which lead to a cracked stock piston, coilovers having to be rebuilt, etc. Even after I rebuilt the short block with forged components and got it retuned I still had troubles. My point was, the more stock the vehicle remains, the easier it will be to maintain it. Warranty and what not. As it's been said before on this forum and many others, the vehicle was designed to run as it came from the factory. Once you start to modify it, you raise the risk of the upgrades affecting other areas of your vehicle.

PS: what all was done to your WRX?