Another "Deciding Between Willy's and Rubicon" Thread

[JT1]

I have never used the e-disco and I have had 4 Jeeps with it! I love the Anti Rock.

Agreed. With a tazer you can disable the reconnect speed thing, but still. And evidently the willys now comes with Falken M/Ts instead of KO2s.

Add a winch and you are still cheaper than a rubi. It definitely has its place in the lineup.

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[Old Jeeper]

Agreed. With a tazer you can disable the reconnect speed thing, but still. And evidently the willys now comes with Falken M/Ts instead of KO2s.

Add a winch and you are still cheaper than a rubi. It definitely has its place in the lineup.

I am a Rubi guy, having owned the first one delivered to the public as confirmed by Jeep.

 

[JT1]

I am a Rubi guy, having owned the first one delivered to the public as confirmed by Jeep.

I hear ya. But if you have a specific budget and you can't get a rubi for it, but you can get 85-90% of the capability at a price you can live with, the willys is an option. I won't buy a sport because of the M186 and the 3.45s, but the willys is a viable option, and is only a few hundred bucks more. Way better value for me..

 

[Old Jeeper]

I hear ya. But if you have a specific budget and you can't get a rubi for it, but you can get 85-90% of the capability at a price you can live with, the willys is an option. I won't buy a sport because of the M186 and the 3.45s, but the willys is a viable option, and is only a few hundred bucks more. Way better value for me..

Good on ya brother...

 

[flanders]

My opinion only disclaimer. If, like you said, your Jeep is mainly a pavement princess getting a Rubicon is only for the "status" of having one since you don't use the features you would get in a Willys, much less a Rubi. The only thing you're really doing is paying extra for a sticker since every Jeep has all the functions you need on pavement with the difference being creature comforts on the higher trim levels. I do light off-roading and got a Willys Sport XR and it can do a hell of a lot more than I can right now.

We need to remember to be kind to the pavement princesses. Hardcore jeeping is just 'niche' enough that if only hardcore guys were buying wranglers/rubicons, there wouldn't be market enough for stellantis to continue producing them. Jeep has to cater just enough to the hardcore guys to keep the Jeep name cool. The things the hardcore guys do with their Jeeps is what makes the pavement princess feel cool. But Jeep/we can't alienate the casual because we depend on each other. All the casual guys pumping money into stellantis is what keeps Jeep alive.

So buy a Rubicon/Willys if it makes you feel cool. It helps us all.

 

[zaimer]

I am a Rubi guy, having owned the first one delivered to the public as confirmed by Jeep.

What, that's pretty insane! I hope you at least kept the window sticker and photos.. cool memorabilia

 

[exilepa]

I guess I’ll be the devils advocate here, but for a “pavement princess” why would you want either? Sahara with full time awd is a lot better street Jeep than either. (but hey, I’m old. I still can’t figure why a person would want a Jeep if you don’t take it off pavement on a somewhat regular basis-there are a lot better “cars” and “suvs” than any Wrangler for the $$$ a Jeep costs.?

I considered a Sahara as well, but not a fan of a few things. Biggest think I don't like is the boy colored hard top on hydro blue. I think some colors can pull off the body color hard top, but blue isn't one of them. I could probably trade with someone for a black one, but no guarantee on that. Also, not a fan of the body color fender flares; can live with them, just not a fan. Considered having the hardtop vinyl wrapped to look like a black hard top, but after the cost of that, I might as well have just gotten a Rubicon at that point. Also, I don't believe the full time AWD is offered anymore on the Sahara.

 

[Old Jeeper]

What, that's pretty insane! I hope you at least kept the window sticker and photos.. cool memorabilia

Yep, still got the Window sticker and lot of pics..

Here it is... should have kept it but after 10 years I moved it on.

 

[SoK66]

The '24 Willys is a step up from the '23. Highline fenders, 33s, rear locker, not sure about the t-case gearing but with the 8 speed you don't need the 4:1 anyway. They've made it more than what went before, soret of "Rubi light." Since I have an older JK Rubi for the trails (frankly, all that's left of the Rubicon package is the lockers and the t-case) I opted for a Willy JT as my daily driver. I though about getting a Riubi, the prices were attractive, but decided I'd spend nearly $10k on stuff that'd never get used.

 

[longfiredragon]

I know they have made some nice changes to the 24 Willys. I am not up on all of the changes.

I bought mine in 2021. The price difference between my Willys sport with the few options I added and the Rubicon with the same options was $14,796.

In 2021 the willys package has different gearing in the transfer case, the bigger brakes, m220/d44 rear with LSD Rubicon shocks, Rubicon wheels, Rubicon rock sliders, Mopar slush mats and then the graphics of course.

I listened to the jeep people on here. For the off roading I do, my willys sport does everything I had hoped for, and everything people said it would. I have no regrets about not getting a Rubicon.

Plus I am slowly modifying my jeep the way I want it and am no where near the $14,796 I would have spent on the Rubicon.

Of course price was an issue for me. Get the jeep that will make you happy if you can afford it.

 

[KCSgtMaj]

I wanted a Willys, until I couldn’t get the V6.

 

[Shibadog]

I considered a Sahara as well, but not a fan of a few things. Biggest think I don't like is the boy colored hard top on hydro blue. I think some colors can pull off the body color hard top, but blue isn't one of them. I could probably trade with someone for a black one, but no guarantee on that. Also, not a fan of the body color fender flares; can live with them, just not a fan. Considered having the hardtop vinyl wrapped to look like a black hard top, but after the cost of that, I might as well have just gotten a Rubicon at that point. Also, I don't believe the full time AWD is offered anymore on the Sahara.

Just know up front that lockers are NOT the hot ticket for driving in snow (getting unstuck sure, but NOT driving). I know a lot of places near the lake get some fairly serious white stuff. The AWD option is worth its weight I. Gold in that stuff.

 

[mcaltitude]

I guess I’ll be the devils advocate here, but for a “pavement princess” why would you want either? Sahara with full time awd is a lot better street Jeep than either. (but hey, I’m old. I still can’t figure why a person would want a Jeep if you don’t take it off pavement on a somewhat regular basis-there are a lot better “cars” and “suvs” than any Wrangler for the $$$ a Jeep costs.?

Thank you for posting this. There are much better rides available for less cost than a Wrangler that meet 90% of the requirements for the occasional fire road princesses. The debate here should be Wrangler vs not, not Rubicon vs Willy’s. Will go hide in my foxhole as internet warriors smash those keyboards in response.

 

[John VonJeep]

Just know up front that lockers are NOT the hot ticket for driving in snow (getting unstuck sure, but NOT driving). I know a lot of places near the lake get some fairly serious white stuff. The AWD option is worth its weight I. Gold in that stuff.

Indeed. My Subaru is far better in packed snow than my Jeep will ever be. Modern AWD is smart as hell about torque distribution in snow.

As for the Willys/Rubi question, I say get a Willys and install manual disconnects. I LOVE the e-disco in my Rubi and use it all the time. But now that the Willys has a rear locker and 35s, I have a hard time justifying the Rubi’s price. Front lockers are a very specialized use case. Sucks about the 4-cylinder, tho.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I posted this on FB and thought I'd post here as well to see how the opinions/answers align.

Currently going back and forth on which 2024 model to order to replace my 2019 Sport S.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Willy's over the Rubicon. The ~$7k price delta is hard for me to justify with my current Jeep currently being a pavement princess. Something about the Willy's when I build it on the Jeep website just calls to me, not sure what it is.

However, I see it said a lot that "If you were even thinking Rubicon and don't get it, you'll regret it!" I do have a few questions that I'm hoping this group can help.

Does the 2024 Willy's come with the bigger brake setup that the Rubicon and Sahara get?

What are some of the other things I'd potentially miss if I don't go Rubicon?

A few items I can tell are more off-road inclined suspension, front facing trail cam, auto dimming rear view mirror, front lockers, cool looking Rubicon hood, and non-blacked out grill and wheels. What else am I missing?

It seems that if I really wanted a colored grill, Rubicon hood, or the Rubicon wheels I could just buy them after the fact and still come out ahead in the $$$ department?

I feel like there must be something else I'm missing in that $7k price delta?

It's very simple:

Are you going off-roading somewhere where you might need lockers? If so get a Rubicon.

If not, get a Willys.

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