Potential New owner question on Wrangler highway ability.

[guarnibl]

My sister's 4 year old does nothing but scream Jeep ! Jeep ! Jeep ! when riding in one. Kids seem to love it. He also has one of those miniature Jeeps they can drive themselves.

But overall, it'll have more noise and steering sway than other vehicles. I find it totally fine, and I think most owners do as well for highway.

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[Carolina Jeeper]

I've had my JLUR for about 2 years and 3 months and is relatively stock except for bumpers. On long highway trips it performs ok. Feels a bit cramped after an hour and a half though. Gusty cross winds will keep you on your toes. It actually drives very straight on most highways and my KO2 tires are decent for off road and highway. Not noisy at all, but I rotate them regularly. Like someone already mentioned, KO2's are not great performers in rain. Heavy downpours will quickly convince you to slow down.

I do not like any 4 cylinder engine and don't like the definite future failure of turbochargers which is why I have the 3.6 V6. It actually does ok with the 4.10 gearing in my Rubicon with the 8 speed transmission. I have no idea how the 3.6 performs with the higher gear ratios.

I have leather seats and like them mostly. I do actually like the cloth seats equally well. leather will get hot on sunny days so I keep a beach towel on hand to cover my seat when I park in the sun. tenting the driver and passenger door glasses is my next item to do to reduce the interior heat. Well, maybe after a hardtop headliner which also reduces interior heat and noise.

Go test drive some of them. Do it on hot days too to get an understanding of hot seating for both leather and cloth. Also try to find a way to compare tire noise of different types of tires. In my opinion even mud tires aren't that bad so long as you rotate regularly. Don't even worry about getting any of them if you are not inclined to be off-roading on those kinds of trails. My KO2's are no slouch when off-roading. But they do fall short on the extreme stuff.

Just my two cents.

 

[Getmadboy]

Like a lot of people, we've been looking a new Wranglers. Wow.... what a crazy market we are in. My question stems from the intended use of the purchase. We are looking at the sky one touch roof as a must have. Other than that, we are open.
My question is this. We would be potentially using this Wrangler Unlimited for 4-6k miles of vacation highway use a year. I have two boys 8 and 11. How highway capable is the Wrangler now days? I'm assuming a Sport or Sahara are the two more road friendly models. Any advise is welcome.

I did a 3600 mile road trip with my fiancé in July that took us across 7 states, through 5 national parks, and into 3 major cities. Our 4xe Sahara performed beautifully. I swapped the stock wheels/tires with rubicon wheels and tires and have noticed increased road noise over 65mph, but I’ve since gotten used to it. I didn’t really notice too much wandering on the highway, but it did require minor steering corrections frequently enough that I couldn’t just mindlessly coast down the interstate. We were comfortable in the front seats, can’t really comment on the backseat except that we did ask take another shorter road trip from SoCal to Sequoia national park with my fiancé’s 14 year old niece in the backseat and she was perfectly fine back there with no complaints.

 

[WOwen]

I do 80 on highway in my travels on 35's no problem. Make sure to alternate arms while driving so you get a workout in both arms! Haha. Not that bad. Hey I just felt at home in her so much sold my Hellcat to order my 392. Road Trips with her opened up just going is about as good as it gets.

 

[Killed by Death]

4-6k trips per year? Go for it!!! Long daily interstate travel find something else.

 

[Will]

My wife daily drives our 2018 Rubicon on 37s and we undertake ~ 800-mile round trips about 3 to 4 times a year to the beach/mountains with 3 kids in the second row and a dog on the center console. I will say that from my 15 years of Jeeping, some folks are made for it and some just aren’t Jeep people. God willing, we will always have a Jeep in our family.

 

[Deleted member 59498]

Only difference I notice is the jeep takes more attention when driving, I used to own a 4Runner and it might have been mildly better after upgrading tires for 1300 dollars. Stock tires are garbage on 4Runner, even the TRD Pro could use an upgrade.

 

[txj2go]

I have a JLU Sport, I do very few miles other than highway miles. I've done a lot of 700 mile days and a couple of 900 mile days. The ride is not bad, there is more wind noise than in most other vehicles. I don't have a problem with the ride in the front seat, the backseat is bouncier than the front because it is so near the rear axle. I didn't have a problem riding in the back but my wife didn't like it that much. If you're contemplating a Wrangler for long trips I would suggest renting one and driving about 2-300 miles in it.

 

[Joe98]

How highway capable is the Wrangler now days? I'm assuming a Sport or Sahara are the two more road friendly models. Any advise is welcome.

Very comfy on a long drive. Yes, get the Sport or Sahara.

The one touch roof is fantastic!

Go for it!
.

 

[Joe98]

As I mentioned we have been looking at some lifted JLs with 35s... but really leaning towards stock ones.

Do not get a lift. Do not get 35s. Keep it stock and it will drive better on the highway.

 

[omnitonic]

Do not get a lift. Do not get 35s. Keep it stock and it will drive better on the highway.

I agree with this. I did go with a lift and 35s. It rides a lot more like a semi tractor than a car now. It has a lot more body roll, and can't handle curves at the same speeds I used to run on a stock suspension. I would totally do the lift and tires again, and I am not really bothered that I have to drive more like a big truck now. I drive a big truck for a living, so what do I really care? In exchange for not being able to just blow through the curves going off the mountain, I get crazy clearance on the trail, and it's totally worth it to me. Having said that, highway manners are not my priority. If you want highway manners, a lift and big tires is not the way to advance that goal.

 

[stickling9]

Like a lot of people, we've been looking a new Wranglers. Wow.... what a crazy market we are in. My question stems from the intended use of the purchase. We are looking at the sky one touch roof as a must have. Other than that, we are open.
My question is this. We would be potentially using this Wrangler Unlimited for 4-6k miles of vacation highway use a year. I have two boys 8 and 11. How highway capable is the Wrangler now days? I'm assuming a Sport or Sahara are the two more road friendly models. Any advise is welcome.

new jeep owner here, just took delivery yesterday (4xe sahara). This is the same question that kept us up at night. The few we were able to test drive off of lots were not quite the same as what we ordered. 4xe sahara. Has 20in rims and 275s. not what you want for level 4-5 trails, but thats not our thing. Here is the surprise....it drove great at highway speeds. NO deadband, very fast steering response. Was nothing like the other jeeps we drove, but none were the 4xe as none were available to drive when we ordered. No centering as expected without camber or toe. But really didnt miss it that much. we are coming from a 15 yukon denali so got use to really good highway manners. WE are thrilled with it. The 40 plus MGP helps too...
was ready to put in a upgrade to allow camber and toe and upgrade the steering damper - but really was good out of the box!

 

[aro]

The last few weeks I had to drive 100 miles daily for work, getting reimbursed by the company. I drove both my wife's Outback and the Jeep.

There is absolutely no comparison. The Outback is objectively much better on the freeway.

Having said that, we're selling the Outback on Vroom next week... lol The Jeep isn't going anywhere.

On this forum we are Jeep enthusiasts and love them in spite of their shortcomings. In the real world, I know people who sold their Jeeps because it just wasn't the right vehicle for them.

 

[ReimundKrohn]

I just came back from a 5 hour day trip on the highways and secondary roads around home (both asphalt and gravel). I LOVE my JLU; perfect comfort and road manners in my books. I couldn’t ask for more; and I have owned and driven a number of “high end” vehicles in the past (2010 Cadillac Escalade, 2013 Toyota Sequioa Platinum). I wouldn’t trade my Wrangler for any of them. They lack the Wranglers spirit…. The Jeep isn’t a “car” and it isn’t an SUV. It is a state of being.

 

[TravisRogers]

Honestly, the Wrangler is exhausting on the highway. It takes 100% of your attention to keep it straight and in your lane. In a normal car, when you drop your sandwich, there’s a reasonable expectation that you’ll maintain a relatively straight trajectory — at least long enough to scoop the tomato from your crotch. In the Wrangler you’ll look up to find you’ve crossed four lanes of traffic and are now launching off of an embankment (“O’Doyle rules!”). And that’s with the fixed steering box.
And riding top/doors off on the highway is another thing. You feel like a weather reporter standing in a hurricane with truck tires screaming at you and other drivers looking at you like, “Why is that guy putting his family through that?” You can’t talk to each other and you can’t listen to music. You also can’t hear your kids constantly complain that it’s too much wind, so that’s the good part.

Aside from that, it’s great on gas, it’s not uncomfortable, and it’s not as loud as you’d think with the top/doors on.

The Wrangler is most fun around town, on back roads, on the beach, and on trails. This wouldn’t be my first choice for a road trip unless there’s a Wrangler-friendly activity at your destination.

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