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I got my orange, 3.6 manual Sport S Unlimited on May 16th last year. I switched out of an '08 JKU X that I bought new. It's still practically bone stock [edit: with about 9500 miles on it]. I figure it's time for a full review.
Overall: 9/10
Exterior:
- The only thing I don't like looking at is the pinch seam. Everything else is great. I'll eventually get Rubi rails. Was considering Rock Hard rails, but I don't like the extra step-out width that adds, plus in snowy winters they collect slush that'll get on the back of your pant leg.
- The color is great. I've only seen a handful of other orange JLs in the Detroit area. I like its rarity.
- The proportions of the 4dr are better than the 2dr, imo.
- The bottom-mount rear wiper is an improvement, as are the mechanical check straps on the doors and tailgate.
- Hard/Soft tops: I got both. The hard top is a little lighter, so I could remove it myself last summer; just walked it off the back. I built a new cart to store it, too. The soft top is better in every way than the previous one: front latches, fold-up geometry, time to raise/lower it, spring assist, no zippers (though I had no problem with them before), even staying folded up when off the vehicle.
- Headlights (maybe doesn't deserve a mention, but the old ones bothered me ...) no longer have such a big difference in elevation angle between hi- and low-beams. They work like they're supposed to. The old ones were a pain; set the low-beams right and the hi-beams would light up someone up in a tree blind.
Interior:
- One thing I don't like is the slightly narrower driver's seat width. Otherwise, the seats are comfortable and everything is in easy reach.
- Love the two-level console with cord openings, the coin tray under the hand brake, the lit cupholders, the extendable visors with mirrors, the usb plugs, and the fold-down rear headrests. I haven't yet used the AC power outlet, but I like knowing it's there.
- The other thing I don't like is all the buzzes and rattles that are showing up in recent months. New ones, among many, are a creak in the visor mount when it's extended and an almost constant buzz from the tailgate area. This is added to (again, among many) woofer mount and dash rattles that my dealer did a crappy job of finding and quieting.
Sound/electronics:
- Love the upgraded Alpine sound, though at some point I might switch out the speakers for something higher-end. All of my digital music library is saved with lossless compression and the stereo does a good job of reproducing it.
- 7" Uconnect 4.0 works great for me. I have it set with speed-sensitive volume (set at 3) and this works well, unlike those reporting problems with the 8.4" version.
- CarPlay works well, but every once in a while it stops recognizing my phone for a while, and then the problem just magically goes away.
- All the possible displays on the dash have their usefulness, but I'd like an option to have nothing between the round gauges. Right now I go with "No Stored Messages".
- Love the backup camera.
Performance:
- The 3.6 has less than adequate torque under 1500 rpms, passable torque from 1500-2000, then it really kicks in at 2000. I do like having that known quantity in reserve when I need to pass.
- However, the limited low end torque combines with my least favorite characteristic of all -- the very limited range of clutch pedal travel between not engaged and fully engaged -- to make starting up more of an issue than it should be. I always have to pay attention to my left foot travel when starting out. If they allowed another 1/4" of travel (like the old one) it would be mindless, as it should be.
- Gas mileage is great for a Jeep. I'm getting 22 mpg overall, more in summer, less in winter. (The '08 JKU with the minivan 3.8 and a manual gave me 20 mpg overall.) ESS is ok with me.
- Turning radius is even better than the JKU, which was impressive in itself.
Things I'm slightly embarrassed I haven't done with it yet:
Doors off, top off, towed a trailer, ran a two-track, run with the top down in the rain, hit 100 mph (don't comment; I've had this discussion on here before), gotten a bike mount.
Things I have done, though: Yanked a small tree out, yanked another car out, towed a large tree trunk across a park, piled a bunch of high schoolers (none mine) in for a ride, gotten 24 mpg on a full tank, ran out of gas (don't comment; I've had that discussion on here before), and had the only orange vehicle among several hundred cars at my workplace for over a year now.
Overall: 9/10
Exterior:
- The only thing I don't like looking at is the pinch seam. Everything else is great. I'll eventually get Rubi rails. Was considering Rock Hard rails, but I don't like the extra step-out width that adds, plus in snowy winters they collect slush that'll get on the back of your pant leg.
- The color is great. I've only seen a handful of other orange JLs in the Detroit area. I like its rarity.
- The proportions of the 4dr are better than the 2dr, imo.
- The bottom-mount rear wiper is an improvement, as are the mechanical check straps on the doors and tailgate.
- Hard/Soft tops: I got both. The hard top is a little lighter, so I could remove it myself last summer; just walked it off the back. I built a new cart to store it, too. The soft top is better in every way than the previous one: front latches, fold-up geometry, time to raise/lower it, spring assist, no zippers (though I had no problem with them before), even staying folded up when off the vehicle.
- Headlights (maybe doesn't deserve a mention, but the old ones bothered me ...) no longer have such a big difference in elevation angle between hi- and low-beams. They work like they're supposed to. The old ones were a pain; set the low-beams right and the hi-beams would light up someone up in a tree blind.
Interior:
- One thing I don't like is the slightly narrower driver's seat width. Otherwise, the seats are comfortable and everything is in easy reach.
- Love the two-level console with cord openings, the coin tray under the hand brake, the lit cupholders, the extendable visors with mirrors, the usb plugs, and the fold-down rear headrests. I haven't yet used the AC power outlet, but I like knowing it's there.
- The other thing I don't like is all the buzzes and rattles that are showing up in recent months. New ones, among many, are a creak in the visor mount when it's extended and an almost constant buzz from the tailgate area. This is added to (again, among many) woofer mount and dash rattles that my dealer did a crappy job of finding and quieting.
Sound/electronics:
- Love the upgraded Alpine sound, though at some point I might switch out the speakers for something higher-end. All of my digital music library is saved with lossless compression and the stereo does a good job of reproducing it.
- 7" Uconnect 4.0 works great for me. I have it set with speed-sensitive volume (set at 3) and this works well, unlike those reporting problems with the 8.4" version.
- CarPlay works well, but every once in a while it stops recognizing my phone for a while, and then the problem just magically goes away.
- All the possible displays on the dash have their usefulness, but I'd like an option to have nothing between the round gauges. Right now I go with "No Stored Messages".
- Love the backup camera.
Performance:
- The 3.6 has less than adequate torque under 1500 rpms, passable torque from 1500-2000, then it really kicks in at 2000. I do like having that known quantity in reserve when I need to pass.
- However, the limited low end torque combines with my least favorite characteristic of all -- the very limited range of clutch pedal travel between not engaged and fully engaged -- to make starting up more of an issue than it should be. I always have to pay attention to my left foot travel when starting out. If they allowed another 1/4" of travel (like the old one) it would be mindless, as it should be.
- Gas mileage is great for a Jeep. I'm getting 22 mpg overall, more in summer, less in winter. (The '08 JKU with the minivan 3.8 and a manual gave me 20 mpg overall.) ESS is ok with me.
- Turning radius is even better than the JKU, which was impressive in itself.
Things I'm slightly embarrassed I haven't done with it yet:
Doors off, top off, towed a trailer, ran a two-track, run with the top down in the rain, hit 100 mph (don't comment; I've had this discussion on here before), gotten a bike mount.
Things I have done, though: Yanked a small tree out, yanked another car out, towed a large tree trunk across a park, piled a bunch of high schoolers (none mine) in for a ride, gotten 24 mpg on a full tank, ran out of gas (don't comment; I've had that discussion on here before), and had the only orange vehicle among several hundred cars at my workplace for over a year now.
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