Reviews Compilation: 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL Sport, Sahara, Rubicon (w/ Videos)

[jeppesen.io]

Here is what FourWheeler says...

The manual-equipped JL was the rock star in the group, with that super-low crawl ratio allowing the JL to pick its way through boulders and ledges with ease.

Love it! I can't wait to try it myself!

I'll take FourWheeler over C&D any day.

Sponsored

 

[Eugene the Jeep]

Love the flood of reviews keep 'em coming. I'm only through half of them! Anyone here read and watched every review on the list yet?

 

[Aaron]

The Bestop rep on this forum said the production version of the soft top has the windows aligned. Every soft top you've seen so far is pre-production. They are just entering production now, including mine this week. From what I've seen, the JL has MANY more features than the JK and is improved on and off the road. If they offered a package on the JK that gave you all that plus improved gas mileage for 3 grand, most people would buy it. I know I would.

I'm not calling into question whether or not the $3k mark up is worth it. I'm saying it is unacceptable to have a vehicle in this price range with such a hokey, unprofessional window misalignment. If you are talking about Cassie at Bestop, she said all these current, Jeep reveal tops are production, and she speculated (without seeing them) that the window misalignment issue was fixed. After having gone through all the reviews posted above, I have now seen two intact JLU soft tops. Both most definitely had misaligned windows. If you can point me to where someone else said these are still pre-production and the windows will be fixed, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[CantThinkOfAHandle]

Interesting. We shall see. I'd like to know what experienced driver means. How many manuals have they driven off-road. Driving a Vette or a Mustang isn't even remotely similar to driving a manual off-road. It is an entirely different skill set. These guys also are used to Raptors and vehicles with power in an entirely different category, in vehicles with entirely different purposes. I've driven Pentastars in Jeeps off road with autos and manuals, and I think they do just fine.

This from Motor Trend:

"...the clutch take-up on the six-speed manual transmission is so vague even our office mates at JP and 4-Wheel and Off-Road were stalling."

I expect the Car and Driver folks were in the same caravan.

 

[The Great Grape Ape]

I've driven Pentastars in Jeeps off road with autos and manuals, and I think they do just fine.

I also wish they’d shut-up about their touchey feely bits ‘it’s great’, ‘it’s bad’, and provide actual metrics like torque curve, mid-speed intervals, and true depth.

One or two reviewers mentions turbo lag, yet, most the others bypass it by mentioning that with some pre-loading it is responsive, but that’s not what most people do either off-roading or in daily driving where people are going to brake-stand at every intersection like Roman’s 0-60 run.
Some were impressed by the turbo, some prefered the Pentastar without much true insight into what made either better, some just mentioned they were essentially the same. Again much of that will be the driving style of the reviewer not the characteristics of the transmission, engine, etc.

There’s little mention of the mid-range passing power or moving the bigger tires between test vehicles, etc. NO one has mentioned or tested braking distance which should be improved both by the bigger brakes, and also the softer more on-road-biased tyre choices.

A lot of these reviews are great for people new to the Wrangler, but there is only a few tidbits here and there for anyone replacing their existing Wranglers looking for true depth and comparison to the older models versus everyone seemingly talking from the same playbooks about the surface elements and re-hashing details already known from LA.

For all the Embargo talk “wait for our review...” the level of new info seems very low.

 

[CantThinkOfAHandle]

Love it! I can't wait to try it myself!

I'll take FourWheeler over C&D any day.

FourWheeler also had this to say about the manual:

"However, we did note that the clutch on our preproduction Jeep felt artificial and difficult to modulate the friction zone. Jeep engineers tell us that there is a fix for that coming to production builds, so we didn’t put too much weight behind it."

Heaven only knows why they would show off their first new Wrangler in a decade with a defective clutch.

 

[jack snakeskin]

some serious rock crawling action in this video

 

[The Great Grape Ape]

Isn't it visible only for a limited number of seconds, though? I thought I read that it couldn't be left constantly on?

I have not seen it as an ‘always on’ update within Uconnect itself vs an outside / aftermarket option from MyGig, etc.

I want the ‘always on’ option that would be nice for those of us wanting to see behind when the rear plastic window is obscured by mud or frost or road grime, but I haven’t seen that mentioned anywhere.

It’s detailed info like that that most of the reviews are missing.

 

[Rumblefish]

I have not seen it as an ‘always on’ update within Uconnect itself vs an outside / aftermarket option from MyGig, etc.

I want the ‘always on’ option that would be nice for those of us wanting to see behind when the rear plastic window is obscured by mud or frost or road grime, but I haven’t seen that mentioned anywhere.

It’s detailed info like that that most of the reviews are missing.

I have that same system on my WK2 Trailhawk, not all that useful when there is a lot of road grime, it obscures the camera pretty easily. Pretty easy fix although temporary, is wipe off camera with a gloved finger.

 

[The Great Grape Ape]

I have that same system on my WK2 Trailhawk, not all that useful when there is a lot of road grime, it obscures the camera pretty easily. Pretty easy fix although temporary, is wipe off camera with a gloved finger.

Yeah, I use a bit of rain-X on my JKs’ rear cams, and it helps, but still need to wipe it down every once in a while.
I just feel more confident of wiping the cam down occasionally with a lense cloth/wipe than trying to continually clean the rear scratch-prone plastic.

 

[DanW]

Here is what FourWheeler says...

The manual-equipped JL was the rock star in the group, with that super-low crawl ratio allowing the JL to pick its way through boulders and ledges with ease.

4 Wheeler staff drive manual off road vehicles all the time. They have vastly more experience than car focused media. I can't help but wonder, though, how someone can repeatedly stall a machine with the gearing and power of the JL Rubicon and Pentastar. I never stall my JK Rubi with the anemic 3.8, taller gearing, and the mushy clutch on the NSG 370.

 

[DanW]

Here's an interesting take from Road & Track, "The clutch is light, and there's enough low-end nudge to easily start from stop without touching the throttle..."

 

[MotoOverland]

I'm not calling into question whether or not the $3k mark up is worth it. I'm saying it is unacceptable to have a vehicle in this price range with such a hokey, unprofessional window misalignment. If you are talking about Cassie at Bestop, she said all these current, Jeep reveal tops are production, and she speculated (without seeing them) that the window misalignment issue was fixed. After having gone through all the reviews posted above, I have now seen two intact JLU soft tops. Both most definitely had misaligned windows. If you can point me to where someone else said these are still pre-production and the windows will be fixed, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I think some perspective is called for. By any modern definition this is one of the most comprehensive and detailed redesigns of an automotive product I have witnessed (very little carryover). Think back to the overly cautious redesigned Tacoma and this is better by a factor of 3. I would characterize the redesigned Tacoma as a cynical and lazy effort by Toyota.

I don't see anything that cannot be tweaked and improved as production begins on the Wrangler. Maybe I'm old school but I don't get the negative attitudes when someone sees something wrong. A misaligned window should not be a deal breaker and I suspect FCA will put a correction in-place.

It is hilarious how flawed individuals (we all are) seek perfection on something as complicated as a totally redesigned Wrangler. Be part of the solution and not looking for something to be upset about. Send a polite message to Jeep asking them when the issue you see will be remedied it production - be part of the solution.

 

[Oceanjeep1]

Why is it that NO one has talked about the "Active Noise Cancellation" (ANC) feature listed in the JL Wrangler Order Guide ? .... I mean it's a major feature to improve on-road comfort.

Because that does not mater. Ill just disconect it anyways. Like road noise and engine sounds.

 

[Cal_JLU]

Autoblog

Sponsored