Ride Comfort - Sahara vs Rubicon

[jlang]

Get the Rubi if all things are equal. The resell value later will be worth the additional $ now. I sold a 2 door 2016 manual JK Rubicon for 32K with 50000 miles on it last year before the used car boom. I paid 30K for it in 2018 and put $5k in it.

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[JeepinPete]

When I was shopping, I test drove a sport, Sahara, and Rubicon back to back. The sport and Sahara both rode better than the Rubicon. I feel it is mostly a matter of unsprung weight. The Sport and Sahara both have light axles, lighter tires, and road oriented tires.

A stock Sahara will out wheel a GC. Just the nature of a solid axle suspension vs independent suspension.

Until I bought my Rubicon, I was driving a '93 Land Cruiser on 37's. Surprisingly similar to a modern day Wrangler. Anyway, I was out with a group wheeling at a local off road park that I have been to too many times to count. A group of Wranglers were coming up the trail we were heading down. We pulled over and let them make their way up, so I got out and watched.

The group was mostly near stock sports. The trail is a series of bumps that twist up the suspension, enough that tires are coming off the ground. The wranglers would start up a mound, get a tire in the air, the traction control would kick in and the Jeep would proceed up the trail to the next mound. It was rather impressive what a stock Sport could do.

Are you going to go crazy with tire size, ie 35's or 37's? If yes, Rubicon. Rock crawling? Rubicon. Trail running on 33's? A Sahara would be a real nice choice IMO.

Pete

 

[sixspeed]

Hello, I am planning on purchasing a wrangler and am debating if I should get a Sahara or a Rubicon. I tested drive on both last week and I felt that Rubicon has a much rougher ride on the highway compared to the Sahara. 90% of my time on Wrangler will be city and highway driving with no more than 5-8 times a year going on off-roading in Southwest Colorado (Ouray, Lake City, Telluride). I understand that Rubicon has a different suspension system from the Sahara and I wonder if the rough ride feeling on the Rubicon on the highway and in city is caused by its off-road suspension or if the rough ride is caused by its KO2 off-road tires? I like the look of the Rubicon but the rough ride on the Rubicon is tuning me off hence I am also looking at the Sahara. Can you comment on the ride quality of the Rubicon for city driving and whether rough ride on Rubicon is simply caused by its off-road suspension? Thank you !!

if you are going to do the type of off roading that requires turning off the sway bar, locking the differentials and a beefier suspension, get the Rubicon. The rougher ride is the price you pay for this. If not, the Sahara is not exactly the poor cousin of off roading itself and might serve your needs well. You can also modify it. A compromise might be a Willys with all of the options. You’ll get better than Sahara off roading prowess and might build it to whatever see valuable in a Sahara. Willys have a lot of options although not leather seats.

 

[Francis405]

The Sahara does have a smoother ride. Both the Rubicon suspension and KO2s add to the rougher ride. Try to drop the air pressure down to 32psi on both models and test them out again. Personally for us the Rubicon ride and tread wear is perfect like this. But do know that we just bought another set of brand new KO2s and wheels from another Rubicon owner whose wife complained also about the ride being too rough. They bought a tire that provided a much smoother quieter highway ride as that is her daily driver. So everyone does have a different perspective on this.

The Rubicon with lockers and disconnect is designed for hard core off-road use so these compromises are expected. If it still doesn’t feel right, get the model and tire combo that makes you the happiest.

It is all relative. Our 265/35-19 Z tires ride much much firmer as the other Porsche owner noted. Enjoy whatever you end up with. The JL really is an excellent little beast in a lot of varied conditions.

I keep my air pressure at 32 as well, it's a lot smoother a ride. 37 if you don't mine the ride and want slightly higher mileage.

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