After the WWII, the Jeep Wrangler has become the defacto 4-Wheel-Drive hardcore wannabe back in the United States. Designed for the war, it is known for its tough and reliability, adding to the fun factor where it could be driven without the door and the top. After many years of missing any representation in Malaysia, finnaly, the Jeep is back and the Wranglers are available in 3 flavours, namely the Sport, Sahara and 2-door Rubicon. It is a good news for the rich hardcore owners, as the Wranglers has nothing good, but designed for the real gravels, rivers, and sand storms if we were to have them here. Starting price for the Sport edition is marked at almost RM300k, Sahara at RM340k and Rubicon at a hefty RM348k. Comparing the sticker price of similar model in US, our distributor here has really mark up the price a lot. Even comparing to prices from our neighbour Singapore, the Wrangler is not for anyone. Well, the Wrangler definitely looks much better than the Land Rover Defender and it is the unit we get here is a true American made unit from Chrysler America.
The engine compartment is being hold on with a latch at the front sides of the cover, and it is rugged. Most owners might want to upgrade to the Mopar's latch which is in stainless steel instead of the original plastic. As usual, American likes car with big engine, and all Wranglers are powered by the Pentastar 3.6-litre V6 VVT engine. It could only produces 284hp/347Nm of power from a 5-speed auto transmision, which is not impressive at all, a typical American number...as long as it sip petrol like water...they love it.
The dash and meter cluster the Wrangler is pure simple, where the most basic Sport edition getting a simpler audio head unit and the Sahara and Rubicon get the 6.5" touchscreen head unit with in-built HDD. The rest of features are similar, and all models will have the Sub-Woofer int the boot floor - enjoying music in the middle of wild jungle? Of course, only 2 airbags for Sport and 4 for the other two models. By the way, the Sport edition is kind of bare, even without the footstep to assist one getting up and down from it. If you were to ferry your wife or girlfriends or even daughters with the Wrangler, make sure they are not wearing skirt. This Jeep is high above ground, and with this, it is good to tackle our flood prone country!
The design of the Jeep Wrangler has stay put as what it is, which could be describe with one word - Classic! The visible door hinges, the petrol cap, the engine hood latch, the big button door handle and the roundish headlamp. Wonder what the local law here state if one choose to take the doors off and drive it on the road, will it be legal still? We knew we could drive it without the top, which is a mutiple parts that need 3 person to take them off. For limited time, the Sport edition get the soft top bundled together with the car, which is located at the trunk area. Be prepared to find space in your house to store the hard top and get screw by the wife! Once the hard top is off, most time, it will stay off since it has a soft top which is easier to open and close. Time to enjoy some drop top driving!
For those hardware off-roader, the Wrangler uses the Dana axle system, and the Rubicon enjoys Front and Rear Tru-Lok differentials. Wow, these are real tough system that could pull the car out of any adverse condition. Driving the car on normal road is really a waste with the Wrangler. But at almost RM300k a pop, wonder how many owner will really bring it off road. A short drive with speed over road bump shown the car is real solid. It sails through any pothole, uneven road, hump and bump at high speed without any hiccup, not even a knock of sound!
So, fancy getting a Jeep Wrangler so that you could use it when WWIII strikes? There is a RM10k discount now for 2014 unit and with 10 colours available, you could be spoilt for choice. Though only selected colours are available now. Those in bright colours such as orange, red, blue and yellow are really eye-catchy. The Wrangler is built in America for the American, thus the dricing position could be at odd for our smaller Asian size fellow. A final comment, it is definitely better looking than the Hummer which looks like it was built for the gangster land! The Jeep Wrangler does make a man the real man! Go for it, if you have extra cash under the pillow or in your bank. For me, a Jeep Renegade would make more sense in our concrete jungle...DRB Hicom...we are waiting!
