CARLOS LAGO: Edmunds.
Home of serious car reviews.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CARLOS LAGO: Hey.
Carlos Lago with Edmunds here.
And that's a V8 Jeep.
More specifically, it's the 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392.
A Wrangler with 470 horsepower that you can just
go buy from your local dealership like that's
a totally normal thing.
In this video, we're going to explain
what that engine is, how it fits,
how quick it makes this Jeep Wrangler, how glorious it
sounds, and how it feels on and off road.
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an instant cash offer on your car, truck,
or V8 Jeep Wrangler.
Cramming a 6.4 liter V8 into a Wrangler Rubicon
isn't an easy or inexpensive process.
For starters, the 392, that's the displacement
of cubic inches, it's only available
in the off-road Rubicon spec, and it has
a starting price of $75,000.
That's approximately 30 grand more than a four-door Rubicon
without options.
Seems steep, right?
But remember, there's no way you'd probably
be able to do this in the aftermarket for the same money
and retain the factory functionality.
The engine is fundamentally the same one
that you'd find under the hood of that Dodge Charger or Dodge
Challenger that's always driving way too
fast in your neighborhood.
On top of 470 horsepower, it also
makes 470 pound feet of torque.
And it's connected to an eight-speed automatic
and a two-speed transfer case.
I would also just like to take a second
to recognize that this is a Jeep Wrangler that,
in terms of displacement, has a larger V8
than you'll find under the hood of any full-sized pickup.
I love this country.
Now, how did Jeep actually fit this engine in here?
Well, it took a lot of adjustments and modifications.
The accessory drive system on the front, for example,
had to be changed.
The alternator now sits at the top passenger
side of the engine.
At the bottom, you've got an oil pan that's
kind of been flipped around.
You've got a new oil filter.
You've got new exhaust manifolds.
And then you have this whole plastic thing at the top here.
What is that?
Well, when you have an engine this big in a tiny engine bay,
air supply becomes very important.
The engine, of course, needs to breathe air to run,
but it also needs air to cool itself down.
But when it's in a Jeep, you also
need to expect it to be able to drive-through, I don't know,
a river, a lake.
So, maintaining the fording depth
is very important, as well.
So Jeep designed this system to separate air from water
and evacuate more water than intakes normally
have to deal with.
Jeep says that the system can run with the hood scoop totally
clogged.
And essentially, this means you don't
need to run a snorkel, which is kind of a shame
because snorkels look cool.
So the first question people will ask you
when you're telling them you've got a V8 Wrangler is,
will it do a burnout?
And unfortunately, the answer is no.
No, this American 470 horsepower SUV cannot do a burnout
because it's full-time all wheel drive, or four-wheel drive.
It's a real tragedy.
But you know what isn't a tragedy is the acceleration.
The second question people will ask you is, how quick is it?
And it turns out, quite quick.
We've already tested it.
I'm going to do an acceleration run now
to show you what it looks like as we put the specs up
in graphics.
I've turned on the exhaust, or the performance
exhaust by hitting the button.
The next step is just to hit the gas.
[ENGINE REVVING]
CARLOS LAGO: Just listen to that.
And there's the speed limiter.
So, is it quick?
Yes.
Is it quicker than it has any right to be?
Yes.
But that's what makes it so amazing.
And if you couldn't tell by my face,
I absolutely adore how fast or quick this thing
is in a straight line.
And that sound.
That sound is fantastic.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CARLOS LAGO: And now we're off road.
Ahead of me, of course, is our infamous Ziggurat of Integrity
that the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon will
have no trouble climbing up.
We're doing this, though, because there's
a key difference in the drive train
between this 392 and a regular Rubicon,
aside from that V8 engine.
And that has to do with the low range ratio.
This doesn't have numerically as high of a ratio
or short of a ratio.
However that works out in terms of language.
So the crawl ratio overall isn't as high as what
you get in a standard Rubicon.
But when you have 470 pound feet of torque from a V8 engine,
does it really matter?
I would say not.
Also, how is the throttle control at really low speeds?
When you're in four low, which I'll get into now.
When you're in four low and you're climbing up
something that needs a lot of careful control at low speeds
to meter out all that torque, what's
the throttle control in a V8 engine going to be like?
Let's find out.
I'll put it in four low.
I'm going to lock the front and rear differentials,
because you still have those in this 392.
And I'm going to disconnect the front sway bar, which you still
have in the 392 Rubicon.
All right.
So just going to leave it in drive
and see if I can't run over this GoPro.
A bit of throttle and we're up on the first step.
Second step.
Third step.
And that's the top, yeah?
We're checking with Casey on the outside
to make sure that's the top.
That was really easy, as you would expect a regular Rubicon
to be.
But the throttle control was really smooth as well.
Yeah.
This is still a Rubicon, even though it has a V8.
Let's get out and take a look.
Oh, boy.
Can I actually get out?
Don't do this at home, kids.
You know, I'm just doing some truck stuff.
I think I'm getting all right at this.
So, Rubicon 392 is still a Rubicon, surprise surprise.
But there are some key differences between this
and a non-V8 Rubicon.
Let's look at the front.
Hi, there.
So, front end.
It's actually pretty similar up here.
But we do get an opportunity to look at some of the things that
were changed on this V8 to make it fit in here, specifically
the oil pan, which has a sump in the back.
Apparently, on normal 6.4 liter V8s in the Stellantis lineup,
which it's called now, that sump is closer to the front.
But you got this front solid axle here blocking the way,
so that wouldn't really work.
And hopefully, the oil filter is right up here,
which makes for changes really easy.
Or, let's say, parking lot pranks if you really
want to ruin someone's day.
Don't do that.
As for suspension and clearance differences,
we'll talk about them at the back
here because that front wheels kind of jammed up
in the fender.
But as you can see, the Fox shocks are proudly displayed.
Those are standard on the Rubicon 392.
But you don't get them factory on other Rubicons.
This has a 2 1/2 inch lift relative to standard Rubicons,
as well.
And that improves the clearances, specifically
the approach and departure angle, by half a degree,
I think.
Wheels and tires.
They're 17 inch wheels all around
with a beadlock capability.
So you have a means of mechanically fixing the tire
to the rim of the wheel if you plan
on doing really gnarly stuff.
And the tires themselves are 33 inch BF Goodrich KO2.
But you can option mud terrain tires, as well.
I believe they're Falkens.
Lastly, we have to call this out.
If you've been watching this channel for a while,
you've known that we've driven a lot of SUVs and trucks
up the Ziggurat of Integrity.
And the Jeep Wrangler is always the one
that leaves its driver's side rear tire on the ground.
Why is that?
Well, it's because this Jeep has better
articulation than pretty much anything on the market.
You can disconnect the front sway bar electronically.
And that allows the chassis and suspensions to flex.
And why it's important to keep this tire on the ground
when that tire is way up in the air
is because that means this tire can still keep applying power
to the ground.
And that's important because it means that all of your tires
are still touching the ground.
That's generally a good thing when you're trying to crawl.
[ENGINE REVVING]
CARLOS LAGO: The Rubicon 392 does what you
would expect a Rubicon to do.
Obviously, it's appropriate for the name.
It has the clearance.
It has the articulation.
But what makes it so special is that V8 engine.
And it's not that it becomes suddenly a sporty SUV.
That's not the point at all.
And yet, that's what a lot of people
assume when I tell them that, yeah, this Wrangler has
got a 470 horsepower V8.
Does it handle?
No.
Does it stop well?
No.
It's about delivering that Rubicon capability,
but with a fantastic soundtrack.
Listen.
[ENGINE REVVING]
CARLOS LAGO: And that will make you laugh every single time
you experience it.
That's really what makes this Wrangler so special.
I'm driving at moderate speeds through a sand wash.
And yeah, this is not a Baja-destined Wrangler.
It's more for all-purpose off road.
And yet, the experience is so much fun in this thing.
It's not made to be the fastest for speed,
but it's that combination of just incredible power
and soundtrack in something that, it appears,
was not necessarily intended to have it.
And that's why it's so much fun in every situation.
It's that merge of, yeah, we did an engine swap in this things.
Not because we should, but because we could.
And what becomes really weird out of this Frankenstein-ish
experiment is that what benefits the most is the on-road driving
experience.
I've logged a couple hundred miles in this Wrangler,
and I can tell you by far it's been the nicest one
to drive on city streets and freeways.
The additional weight of this engine and all the supporting
hardware, and the new shocks and whatever changes else
they've made, have quieted down the ride,
have made the steering easier to control,
have made the interior quieter, as well.
This is a more refined, dare I say it,
version of the Wrangler Rubicon.
That's by no means to say it's comfortable.
That's by no means to say it's going to be
anything other than a Wrangler.
It still has a lot of those elements.
But it is so far improved versus the Wrangler Rubicon
that it's based on.
And that on-road improvement makes this thing the best
Wrangler yet, for sure.
Yeah, it comes with a price tag.
Yeah, it comes with a hefty fuel economy issue.
But you know what?
I'd say given how this makes me feel from behind the wheel,
I'd trade off all of that.
This makes everybody who gets in it, everybody who experiences
the acceleration and the capability off-road,
it makes people smile.
And hey, this is a Jeep.
That's what it should be doing.
It should be fun.
This is one of the remaining few unabashedly characterful
vehicles that you can go buy new.
And I'm so happy it exists.
And I'm so happy that it is this ridiculous.
Are their competitors?
Kind of.
Yeah, there will be a V8 Defender.
Yeah, there's a Bronco coming out soon.
And there might be a version of that with the V8.
Yes.
There is the G-Wagon.
But none of them, based on what I've been able to drive so far,
are going to match you--
give you exactly what this offers.
Ultimately, this is still a Jeep.
You can still take the doors off.
You can still drop the windshield.
You can still take the roof off.
And that experience, outside of the forthcoming Bronco
potentially, is completely unique, especially
with this soundtrack.
To put it simply, I adore this thing.
It's just fun.
The Wrangler Rubicon 392 is fantastic.
Big surprise, right?
But it's great because it merges the capability
you'd expect from a Rubicon with this V8 soundtrack
and acceleration you'd expect from a 6.4 liter, 470
horsepower V8.
And it also adds a bunch of on-road improvements,
from ride quality, to refinement,
to steering feel, and all that.
And passing power, of course.
How could we forget?
On top of that though, this is a really fun vehicle
to drive no matter where you drive it.
I swear, I've laughed more behind the wheel of this thing
than I have in most sports cars I've
driven in the past few years.
Whenever you get a first timer in the passenger seat,
get a camera on them when the first time you nail the gas.
It's really that much fun.
Are there downsides?
Of course.
It's $75,000 to start.
And that's a lot of money.
But I'd argue that this is a wholly unique experience
that you can't really find or get from a competitor.
Also, 14 mpg combined by the EPA.
That's not great.
But if you really care about fuel economy,
you probably stopped watching this video a long time ago.
And if you haven't it and you're hate watching it,
maybe get a new hobby.
I don't know.
Or talk to somebody who cares.
Anyway, thanks for watching this video.
If you want to know more, check the links in the description.
Edmunds.com/sellmycar.
Like, comment, subscribe.
I'm out of here.