you know how hard it is to redesign an American icon it's every automotive
designers nightmare and dream job because if you do it right you're a hero
to millions and if you screw it up your name will be reviled for decades to come
well guess what here is the 2018 Jeep Wrangler it's the jl model it's the
fourth generation to wear the Wrangler nameplate now jeep has been dating back
to 1941 with the original Willy's but it's come a long way since then and for
2018 they've really stepped up their game we came here to beautiful old
Tucson Arizona to drive the thing and see if the changes they've made have
really improved it that much first of all full disclosure time I'm a little
uniquely qualified among my cars.com colleagues to talk about this thing
because I'm an owner I have a 15 that I've owned for about two years and I
have a number of complaints with the thing but the cool thing about this is
that Jeep listened to a lot of these owners registered these complaints and
made those changes for the 2018 they've made this thing much more accessible for
both new owners and people who've had one for years things like this the
headlights are now LED optional so the brightness issue that a lot of people
had with the old model pretty much gone the hood latches are different they're
easier to use you can fold the windshield down a lot more easily it's
only four bolts instead of twenty eight bolts and a bunch of trim pieces inside
now this one is a Sahara model so that's the mid-level luxury model and that's
going to be appealing for a lot of new buyers as well because it's got things
like a power retractable soft top with some rigid panels on the side that also
come off so they've listened to both of these groups of people and the changes
have been pretty extensive this one drives a lot better than my 15 model
does they've changed a lot of the stuff under the skin you've got a new revised
suspension with different control arms and wider axles front and rear you've
got new powertrains as well this sahara model that I'm driving now has the 2.0
liter turbocharged four-cylinder and it's made it up to the 8-speed automatic
transmission which is also new for 2018 now you can still get a six-speed manual
transmission but that can only be had with the 3.6 liter v6 the base model
engine both engines are perfectly powerful both have a lot of torque but
I'm really quite pleased by this 2-liter it's got tons of torque all around town
it's got plenty of pepper out on the highway you put your foot down no
problem whatsoever even taking two people along and a bunch of camera gear
there's really no problem with this 4-cylinder at all and as a bonus I'm
looking at my mileage right now I've got 29 miles per gallon and around town
driving that's not an official number yet but it's gonna be close definitely
they've made a fuel economy improvement with the 4-cylinder the updates to the
interior are also really quite welcome from an owners perspective they've
changed the orientation of the - it's more horizontal now instead of the
vertical stack like we've seen so it feels wider you've got a little bit
higher weight so the visibility is better the only problem I have with it
is that the gauge cluster this seat is all the way down but if you're in any
way kind of tall you're gonna see some of the top of the electronic age cluster
cut off maybe that idea the temperature gauge can't quite see all of it that's
really the only problem with that the rest of that really is quite good you've
got the retractable soft tab on this model and wind noise really isn't much
of a problem it is loud I mean it is a canvas top but it's not nearly as loud
as a fall soft top and the usability the ability to actually put this thing back
at up to 60 miles an hour really makes it a neat option for people who've
always kind of feared having a Wrangler and the complexity of a soft top
upfront you've got pretty much the same amount of room the doors are redesigned
to be a little bit more comfortable to put your arm on it but in fact there's
an inch more legroom the ride itself is improved because you've got a longer
wheelbase for both the two-door and four-door models that translates into a
little bit more space for passengers and the more comfortable ride what it
doesn't mean is that you're turning circle is longer because it's not
they've changed the suspension geometry so the turning circle is actually a foot
shorter despite the fact that you've got a longer wheelbase so on road
improvements have definitely been made off road improvements have also been
named this is the top Rubicon spec and it is really the
ultimate offer of the vehicle you've got larger tires we've got a higher ride
height and that fenders that are actually an inch to taller as well so
you can put 35 inch tires under this thing without the need of an actual lift
kit you've got locking front and rear differentials you've got a better crawl
ratio than before and with this 2 litre turbo and the 8-speed transmission you
can still do things that no other off-road SUV
one of the areas of biggest complaint from both Wrangler owners and
prospective buyers was the operation of the top well now you've got a couple of
different options for the top there's a sliding retractable power top with some
removable rigid side panels that you could get as an optional extra
there's the three-piece freedom hardtop it has two panels up front and a larger
one on the back that you have to take off with some screws but the biggest
news really aside from the power tab is this the soft top they've made it so
much easier to use it no longer has any zippers whatsoever everything fits
together with a kind of tongue and groove style thing just makes it so
simple to grab and slide right off the changes that they've made for the 2018
Wrangler are formidable and they've really created a vehicle that's going to
appeal to the traditional buyers the owners and people who've always thought
that the Wrangler was a little too difficult to get into because maybe it
wasn't quite user-friendly enough or wasn't really good for a family or
wasn't just all that civilized they've really made a lot of improvements and
they've made it appeal to a lot of different people now you can get these
early in 2018 and they come a couple of different ways the two-door comes as a
sport for about 27,000 or the Rubicon for just over 37,000 which is quite a
jump and the saw and the the 4-door comes three different ways you can get
one as a sport which comes at about 30,000 the Sahara which comes
thirty-seven thousand and the Rubicon which starts at just over $40,000 now
none of that includes the $1,200 destination fee which is a pretty hefty
fee to get your Wrangler to you but apparently it's starting its adventure
before it even gets to you you can learn more about the 2018
Jeep Wrangler at cars.com
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