Spotted JK8 & MW3... Pics here!
 

Let me start with a quick background:
I have read many articles and opinions about the new 2012 JK Pentistar 3.6 and I have wanted to get my own personal experience with one to see if it is worth all the HYPE! I live in a relatively small place and have yet to see a 2012 in person, nor get the pleasure of driving one. I travel quite frequently for work which requires me to have a rental vehicle and recently I have been considering "springing" for the rental upgrade to get that "butt in seat" personal review of the new engine... There in-lies my motivation, now onto the story and pics.

During a recent trip I decided I would try to see if there was a 2012 JK available for me "test drive" for a few days (hey I'm gonna have to drive a rental anyways, so might as well kill two birds with one stone right!?). So to the rental counter I go; obviously the guy behind the counter did not know what he was talking about because I asked him if the Jeep would be a 2012 and he said it should be, got the keys and as I entered the Jeep the first thing I did was check out the registration and to my disappointment it was a 2011. Now don't get me wrong, I was very pleased to drive the 2011 but it was not what I requested but oh well. Here is the vehicle I drove for 2 days:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10142727.jpg

This pic I took because I like the reference to the heritage of Jeep "Since 1941"
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10142709.jpg

Fast forward to the end of the week, the customers were leaving at noon and my flight did not leave until 5:00pm; so what am I to do for the few hours before I must return to the airport. Sure enough I looked up the nearest Jeep dealership to see what they might have, to my surprise VZNavigator told me it was only .6 miles away, so on I go.

As I enter the dealership lot this is the first thing I see; pretty decent looking rig:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135303.jpg

Driving around the lot I spot the two rows of JK's:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135406.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135322.jpg

I stopped to check one out and sure enough a salesman comes out to greet me. I explained to him my situation and that I was not at all in the market to purchase today but if he wasn't busy could I test drive a 2012; to which he agrees (thanks Mike!). I then ask him if instead of a 4 door, can I test drive the JK8 conversion (I'll get to these pics in a bit), he tells me they are trying to keep the miles low on it and whether or not that is the truth or if it was because he knew I was not interested in buying, either way, considering my situation, I was not going to argue too much. Here's the 2012 I got to drive:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10140115.jpg

My review:
From the exterior, looks like any other JK. But, I cannot lie the interior is fairly luxurious; it flirts with crossing the line of being "too nice" to be a Jeep, not sure I would want to purchase a Jeep similar to this knowing the punishment I would subject it to off road. Now yes, that's what these vehicles are made for and of course they are "Trail Rated" but still. Would be nice though to have heated seats on the trail for those cold wheelin' trips in the snow and wind! Haha! (My apologies I have no pics of the interior, was kind of caught up in the moment). As far as the Pentistar 3.6L; my initial honest review... Yeah, I could feel a slight difference between a stock JK but I cannot say that it lives up to all the hype that has been conjured up over the new engine. Not that my '09 JK (with CAI, exhaust, and tuner) is a rubber laying dragster, but I could not justify trading it in for a 2012 just for the new engine and I would like to go toe-to-toe with one on the strip. Sure it was nice but not as much a difference as I would have expected... That being said I do love where Jeep has gone with the new engines; progress!

Just had to throw this pic on as well... I'm not a fan of chrome but it was on a few of the JKs on the lot:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10140142.jpg

So the test drive concludes and we part ways, as he's walking away I tell him that I will be spending a few more minutes on the lot checking out and taking pics of the JK8 and MW3 they have. Here are those pics:

MW3:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135030.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135056.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135041.jpg

A few other JK's accompanying the MW3:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135238.jpg

Another good lookin' rig with fender flares and sliders:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135203.jpg

Now onto the JK8 conversion! Man, was I excited to see this... Have read articles and seen many a pictures of this but have not had the opportunity to check one out in person. After showing them to my gf, she said she'd drive one... Maybe Jeep will come out with a pickup JK during their redesign come 2015 & 2016:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135455.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135503.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135543.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135558.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135611.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135621.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135715.jpg

The did a good job and the hard top and bed look great!
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135652.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135517.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135702.jpg

Check out this price tag! YIKES, I understand there is a lot of labor that goes into this conversion but $14,500 in labor... :eek2:
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...2-10135528.jpg

In conclusion, I have to say this dealership does a great job on their mods and thanks to Mike for letting me waste some of your day!

:cheers:

Good write up and read. However, you said you would like to go toe to toe with a 12 in your 09. I hate to sound like a hater on the old engine because I am not. A Jeep to me is a Jeep. They aren't built for speed or racing unless its to see who can get to the trail head first. With that said a 4 door 2012 JKU 3.6 would walk all over an 09 2 door 3.8 JK's ass in the 1/4 mile. Not being a pot stirer it's just fact. Stick to stick, auto to auto or vice-versa. I have an auto 12 with the 4:10's and I can turn tc off and roast my 35's like they are a set of bicycle tires. Again, not trying to stir anything but you just need to have a 3.6 and live with it for awhile to realize what you are missing.

looks sweet but 1300 for rock rails? and that much for those rims?

Great pics!

$3500 for wheels? :rotflmao2:

Couldn't agree more with your statements about Jeeps not being for racing, I am a firm believer that they are meant for off road use coupled with good on road handling (to get you to the trail head). Also, I am not new to Jeeps, my '09 JK is my fourth Jeep and I still own three of them ('85 CJ7 and '77 Cherokee Cheif round out my collection to date). I guess I should have made my point more clear and this is what I was referring to when writing the "toe-to-toe" comment; In every article I read the writer stated upgrades to performance in regards to the boost in speed, acceleration, etc... To me I just didn't "feel" the difference that everyone was hyping to and again this is all just my opinion. Oh and I'd LOVE to see a video of you "roasting your 35's like they are a set of bicycle tires." So feel free to post one! Appreciate you reading my post and value your opinion as well! :cheers:

Agree with both of you, those sliders I believe are only about $350 and the wheels should have read, wheels and tires (the wheels were 20's)... They are definitely over charging for labor IMO, but who doesn't these days!?

Great thread. It looks like the dealer was in OK. They had a nice selection of rigs!

Oh, I added heated seats to my 08 JKU for $120 and two hours of installation time.

You can get the factory heated seats for your JK for about $350 + install time. I went generic because I'd had the same brand before in my Tundra.

I would like to see a vid of that as well but I doubt we ever will.:yawn:

I also would like to see this

Great write up. I like the JK8

$995 for Bed Liner! LOL AND A SMALL FORTUNE FOR LABOR!!!