About to pull the trigger on a Rubicon, any reasons why I shouldn't?

[JeepJLNC]

Was looking at the Sport and Sahara originally. Sport is most wallet friendly, but it gets expensive with options. I like the way the Sahara drives, but for almost the same price, you can get a Rubicon which is in every respect better off-road than the former. Is sacrificing the on-street ride quality worth it if I want to do the occasional wheeling? What is the % of clubs that run Rubicons vs Sahara?

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[Muzzle of Bees]

Nope. You will be able to get much further from humans in a Rubicon.

 

[tcadaniel]

Nope. You will be able to get much further from humans in a Rubicon.

What he said. lol

 

[NCSUSTATS]

Never drove the Sahara but the Rubicon rides almost as nice as my Mercedes GLC...its actually a softer ride than it.

 

[old8tora]

Was looking at the Sport and Sahara originally. Sport is most wallet friendly, but it gets expensive with options. I like the way the Sahara drives, but for almost the same price, you can get a Rubicon which is in every respect better off-road than the former. Is sacrificing the on-street ride quality worth it if I want to do the occasional wheeling? What is the % of clubs that run Rubicons vs Sahara?

Three obvious points : (1) Since you bring up your wallet , the size of your wallet is paramount as in : nothing else matters ; (2) If your wallet is self-filling up all the time , then the Rubicon is the obvious choice ; (3) If the wallet is limited , and you still want a Jeep , the Sport is more healthy fun than any other vehicle brand out there . Myself , I could barely afford a stock Sport , and I am very happy to have it .

 

[Saejin]

If you can afford it go for the Rubicon. Regardless if you wheel alot or not, you’ll be glad you had it when you do wheel. Lockers alone are worth the price of upping to the Rubicon. Plus with the JL you get higher fenders, larger wheels, better tires, etc.

 

[Rockmaninoff]

Nope. You will be able to get much further from humans in a Rubicon.

Rubicons are for people who do rock crawling and others have said the extra low gearing makes things a bit challenging for other types of off-roading like river crossings.

However, people who want to modify their Jeeps don't bother with Rubicons and get other models and put much more heavy duty axles, etc. than what comes in the Rubicon.

Rubicons are heavier too, if that makes a difference. Combine that with lower gearing and you get it affecting the fuel consumption.

Doesn't the Sahara come with more luxury-focused interior options than the Rubicon? Not sure if these are options in the R.

The Sahara can get a full time auto option in the transfer case in addition to the 2h 4l 4h (full time). This is very useful in slippery on-road conditions.

 

[JeepJLNC]

Yes but there is also a segment of the population that want to do little to no tinkering and spend more time Off-Roading; hence Rubicon.

 

[Wanderingwheelz]

Three obvious points : (1) Since you bring up your wallet , the size of your wallet is paramount as in : nothing else matters ; (2) If your wallet is self-filling up all the time , then the Rubicon is the obvious choice ; (3) If the wallet is limited , and you still want a Jeep , the Sport is more healthy fun than any other vehicle brand out there . Myself , I could barely afford a stock Sport , and I am very happy to have it .

I can afford to buy a fleet of Rubicons if that’s what I wanted to do. Instead, I bought a lightly optioned 2 door Sport. Why, you ask? Because that’s all I needed.

A Wrangler is no different than anything else you buy in life.. Buy only what you need.

In my view, you buy a Rubicon for 1 of 2 reasons.
1.) You intend to use it for SERIOUS off road duty. Doing things a Sport w/Anti Slip and Dana 44 cannot do- which can do most anything asked of it. Or...
2.) You wish to try to impress others with stickers on the hood.

 

[Carbonalpine]

These type of threads have been beaten to death already. And it always seems to start rubicon vs sahara vs sport argument. Buy what you want, and if you’re interested in comparing what a rubicon offers that a sport doesn’t...use the search feature (one of the many perks of using this forum).

The sport owners will always say they bought a sport because that’s “all they need” or because they don’t do “heavy trailing/climbing” or because they don’t need “the hood stickers”

And the rubicon owners will always say they “buy whatever they want” or because the extra “mechanical features a sport doesn’t have”

At the end of it all...if all wranglers were priced the same across the board, the sport will be non-existent. It is 100 percent a”money thing” when someone buys a sport over rubicon. I own a sport and a rubicon, and no matter how hard I drive it or lack of...I would chose a rubicon over a sport. I guess I’m into hood stickers ‍haha

 

[Wingman]

We are on our first JEEP, I have always had 'fun sports cars, early on I would buy older versions of my favorite cars, later I was able to get them a year or two out; Finally 2 years ago I bought MY first new car; (not including new family SUV's) What I wanted, exactly how I wanted it. I ordered it and waited for it
Last year, it was time to get a new family car, We didn't need a full size SUV anymore now that 2 out of 3 of my kids are driving age
When I brought up a JEEP, my wife was interested. I steered her towards a Sahara as it was closer to our outgoing Durango in terms of more of an on roader
We drove a Sahara, she liked it, and we were sold on getting a Wrangler
She looked at the Rubicon, and kept saying, "That looks like the Jeep I always imagined". We drove it and she didn't mind the minor compromises in handling. and we ended up with a Rubicon. I think part of it had to do with her seeing me get my dream car and thoroughly enjoying it and knew it was her time
Will we ever rock crawl?, likely not, We do intend on hitting some light trails if we can. I am praying for 3 feet of snow at some point this winter. But she is happy, and I love having a new toy that I have visitation rights on the weekends

Get what you want

 

[Rockmaninoff]

Yes but there is also a segment of the population that want to do little to no tinkering and spend more time Off-Roading; hence Rubicon.

So let me try to figure out your logic...

Wrangler Sport < Wrangler Rubicon, because Rubicon is more capable.
But a modified Wrangler which is more capable < Rubicon because Rubicons are readily available. (The < sign means "less than")

If capability is not the priority and if you just want to go off-road (btw, it shouldn't be capitalized) with a readily available vehicle, why not go for a Wrangler Sport which is even more readily available than a Rubicon? If you don't like tinkering, the Sport is even better because there are fewer things to break in the long run.

Logic is a dangerous thing in the wrong hands and you open yourself up to criticism as soon as you use it. Just say you want a Rubicon deep down inside you. We can't criticise what people do with their own money and own bodies or both.

 

[Covfefe]

You can always build a Sahara up to a Rubicon, but you can never get Full Time 4WD in a Rubicon

 

[ralphwiens]

Cost wise, if you take resale in consideration, the rubicon costs no more than the sport, just more money up front. I have a 13 jlu sport, which I fixed up. Looks and works great. I will be ordering the 19 rubicon 4 door soon for my next vehicle.

 

[Sorbs]

Lockers and sway bar disconnect...you’ll be surprised how often you’ll use them off-roading.

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