Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
A Wrangler is not a small SUV, Unlimited or 2-Door. It's not a car. It's not a truck.
A Wrangler is a Wrangler.
A Wrangler has no competition.
A Wrangler is a Wrangler.
A Wrangler has no competition.
more evidence that the Wrangler may be in for a change
- Thread starter haven
- Start date
Omar Brannstrom
Adventurer
Howdy from Sweden
I find it odd that Outback Travel Australia list the 4 door Jeep Wrangler as a Small Wagon. The also have Wagons medium and Wagons Large. Intresting Buyers guide
http://www.outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/buyers-guide/wagons-small
I find it odd that Outback Travel Australia list the 4 door Jeep Wrangler as a Small Wagon. The also have Wagons medium and Wagons Large. Intresting Buyers guide
http://www.outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/buyers-guide/wagons-small
RubiconGeoff
Adventurer
Hallelujah! The Wrangler truly has no competition in the United States:
The 70-Series Land Cruiser would be a competitor, but it isn't sold in the United States.
The Suzuki Jimny would be a competitor, but it's no longer sold in the United States.
The Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen would be a competitor, but it's priced three times higher than the Wrangler in the United States.
I never would have bought my JKUR if it wasn't available with a proper pair of solid axles front and rear. I've built and owned numerous different 4x4s over the years, and I've never been happy with IFS/IRS. Sure, it's okay on the road but to date nobody has built a consumer vehicle with an independent suspension that can perform as well (or be as durable) in the variety of terrain that a solid axle can. I've learned my lesson the hard and expensive way, so from now on my offroad vehicle will ALWAYS be equipped with solid axles front and rear.
Beside the head-toss issue, my Wrangler rides and handles every bit as well as my lifted IFS vehicles ever did. Even the recirculating ball steering box's notorious "mushy steering" has been eliminated by upgrading the track bar, its axle- and frame-side mounts, and adding a sector shaft reinforcing kit. My other two cars are a Morgan Plus 8 and an R53 Mini, both of which are defined by their go-kart handling; yet I am consistently impressed with how well my Jeep rides and drives, how flat it corners, and how precise the steering is despite a 3.5" lift, 35x12.5x17 mud tires, and long-travel solid-axle suspension. And on trails where my independent-sprung vehicles were white-knuckle tippy teeter-tottering rides and blew ball joints and CV axles and diff gears fairly regularly, my JK is absolutely point-and-shoot, never lifting a tire, feeling tippy, or having ever broken anything.
I don't doubt that a properly-engineered independent suspension could work decently off-road in stock form if Jeep applied themselves as well as Ford did with the Raptor, but it'll never have the aftermarket capability that a solid axle does, nor the appeal to (or affordability for) the "average Joe" who wants to bolt on his own suspension upgrades at home in his own garage over a weekend. Jeep already offers a full line of independent suspension crossovers, yet mall-crawlers continue to buy the Wrangler hand-over-fist not because of its on-road comfort but because of its offroad capabilities; wanna-be offroaders are happy to deal with the downsides of the Wrangler in exchange for the REPUTATION of the vehicle. If Jeep emasculates the Wrangler with independent suspension, a fixed hardtop, and non-removable doors, they will kill the vehicle's reputation and it will no longer appeal to either the wanna-be's or the enthusiasts.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
I've had 3 MINIs but I've never driven a Morgan.... :drool:
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
Very well stated Sir! :beer:
I just purchased my first Jeep... a 2014 JKU Sport. I absolutely am in LOVE with it!!
I came from an FJ Cruiser and a Tundra...
Now, to compare the JKU to the Tundra is just silly... like a water pistol versus a 20mm chain gun. Ummm... yeah
Compared to the FJC... well, now, thats more fair!
I don't know why people complain about the ride quality of the Jeep. Really... its quite comfortable and roomy. Unless you have always sat on a feather cushion and wipe your *** with linen sheets, its completely fine. Really. Seriously. My wife even commented that the Jeep was more comfortable than the Tundra in many aspects.
Wind noise... sure, there's some. Okay. How quiet do you want it? I thought it was fine. But these opinions are all subjective I suppose, but that's my view.
Why else did I buy a Wrangler? Because it is a Wrangler and the last of the truly cool, modifiable vehicles on the market! The solid axles, easy to work on and simplicity in the vehicle make it a winner. I want simple. Easy to maintain. Jeep.
Versus the FJ... The Wrangler has more usable room, better visibility and a little more sure footed. According to my mileage notes/logs, even on break in, the Wrangler is getting slightly better mileage.
Wrangler has better access to the rear seating and is more family friendly, which is an important factor.
Not to knock my FJC... I drove it for 6 years and loved it, wheeled it and played with it. I will always regret trading her off. But wow... this Jeep is something else!
I really hope they don't mess too much with it. Diesel option... for sure! Leave everything else alone.
Oh, and if anyone at Jeep is reading this... Please get rid of your silly UConnect Engineers, call up some one who knows what the heck is going on with smart phones and has an idea of programming and make the dang thing work better. Even my buddy's KIA has a better interface. Its garbage.
I came from an FJ Cruiser and a Tundra...
Now, to compare the JKU to the Tundra is just silly... like a water pistol versus a 20mm chain gun. Ummm... yeah
Compared to the FJC... well, now, thats more fair!
I don't know why people complain about the ride quality of the Jeep. Really... its quite comfortable and roomy. Unless you have always sat on a feather cushion and wipe your *** with linen sheets, its completely fine. Really. Seriously. My wife even commented that the Jeep was more comfortable than the Tundra in many aspects.
Wind noise... sure, there's some. Okay. How quiet do you want it? I thought it was fine. But these opinions are all subjective I suppose, but that's my view.
Why else did I buy a Wrangler? Because it is a Wrangler and the last of the truly cool, modifiable vehicles on the market! The solid axles, easy to work on and simplicity in the vehicle make it a winner. I want simple. Easy to maintain. Jeep.
Versus the FJ... The Wrangler has more usable room, better visibility and a little more sure footed. According to my mileage notes/logs, even on break in, the Wrangler is getting slightly better mileage.
Wrangler has better access to the rear seating and is more family friendly, which is an important factor.
Not to knock my FJC... I drove it for 6 years and loved it, wheeled it and played with it. I will always regret trading her off. But wow... this Jeep is something else!
I really hope they don't mess too much with it. Diesel option... for sure! Leave everything else alone.
Oh, and if anyone at Jeep is reading this... Please get rid of your silly UConnect Engineers, call up some one who knows what the heck is going on with smart phones and has an idea of programming and make the dang thing work better. Even my buddy's KIA has a better interface. Its garbage.
Let me begin by saying I wholeheartedly agree the Wrangler is a class all it's own. If you lose the youth and adventure of the Wrangler, you destroy the reason many buy it. I for one though would like to see either a pickup variant. The market for mid size trucks still exist but has little competition in the U.S. With only 3 trucks available. So add the adventure of the Wrangler to a pickup bed and surely the model will help the bottom line.
2 things. one, I agree, the tundra is a water pistol compared to the JK. and 2. I think the uconnect is the best system out there, I have owned and used LOTS!..
aristobrat
Observer
The UConnect in my buddy's 2014 Grand Cherokee is leaps and bounds better (in terms of screen quality, interface design, and speed) than the crap in the Wranglers.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
My UConnect battles my Samsung Galaxy constantly.
phone not available ---- ummm, yes it is...
misrecognition ---- ummm, I said "call mom at home"...
did you say delete address book? ---- jeez, what? I said call home...
calling star star pound four four pound star star star, is this correct? ---- no, dammit; I said call HOME!...
It takes me 15-20 minutes of trying sometimes to place a call.
phone not available ---- ummm, yes it is...
misrecognition ---- ummm, I said "call mom at home"...
did you say delete address book? ---- jeez, what? I said call home...
calling star star pound four four pound star star star, is this correct? ---- no, dammit; I said call HOME!...
It takes me 15-20 minutes of trying sometimes to place a call.
Omar Brannstrom
Adventurer
Howdy from Sweden
Think of me with my swedish-english for the uconnect to understand
Howdy from Sweden
Think of me with my swedish-english for the uconnect to understand
Just great. Now I'm going to hear the Muppets Swedish Chef every time I read one of your posts! Hahahaha!
Jurfie
Adventurer
Yeah, other than the hands free answering/talking/ending call, I've given up on my uConnect. I even dislike the GUI of the music player (why can't I just delete a song directly from the tracklist?). And my wife and I share the Jeep...she doesn't like my music, and I can barely tolerate her hippity-hop pop crap. Using separate folders works, but then it displays the file name rather than the song title. Either it is dumb, or not intuitive enough for me to figure it out.
If I were to order another Jeep, I'd skip the 430N all together and use a tablet (an iPad, since I already have one) on a Ram mount, external GPS receiver (like the Bad Elf Gps for Lightening Connector), and offline PDF maps for navigation (Avenza PDF Maps for backroads), and play music (iTunes). If I didn't already have an iPad, I'd probably just buy a cheap tablet I didn't care about in case I was too lazy to remove it when parked and someone stole it.
Edit: I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and it still sucks.
If I were to order another Jeep, I'd skip the 430N all together and use a tablet (an iPad, since I already have one) on a Ram mount, external GPS receiver (like the Bad Elf Gps for Lightening Connector), and offline PDF maps for navigation (Avenza PDF Maps for backroads), and play music (iTunes). If I didn't already have an iPad, I'd probably just buy a cheap tablet I didn't care about in case I was too lazy to remove it when parked and someone stole it.
Edit: I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and it still sucks.
aristobrat
Observer
The only thing I like about the MyGig (conceptually, I haven't done this yet, but am about to pull the plug) is that it supports multiple cameras (with the Lockpick product).
I look forward to having a backup cam and a front cam (to lessen the need to get out and spot myself up hilly terrain).
I look forward to having a backup cam and a front cam (to lessen the need to get out and spot myself up hilly terrain).