The Wrangler is to Jeep what the Defender is to Land Rover, or what the 911 is to Porsche. Jeep might do most of its business selling school-run SUVs, but this older-school 4×4 Jeep Wrangler is the heart and soul of the brand.
In its native US of A, the Wrangler is popular with everyone from soccer moms to off-roading enthusiasts. Over here, it’s a much rarer sight, with a limited range of models available. While Americans can opt for three-door or Gladiator pick-up body styles, along with plug-in hybrid and V8 powertrains, Jeep UK only sells the Wrangler in five-door format, and with a single four-cylinder petrol engine.
You do get a choice of specifications, though: entry-level Sahara (£61,125) or the more rugged Rubicon (£63,125). Both come with full-time mechanical four-wheel drive and a low-range gearbox, but the Rubicon – tested here – adds heavy-duty axles, locking differentials, a disconnecting front anti-roll car and knobbly BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain tyres. Let’s off-road!
Carry on camping
OK, confession time. We took the Jeep on a family camping trip, but the closest it got to the Rubicon Trail (the famous rock-crawling route in California) was a mildly muddy field in East Sussex. However, I know from past experience working on 4×4 Magazine that the Wrangler is near-unstoppable when off the beaten track.
It also turns plenty of heads on a campsite. With retro styling that harks back to the original Willys MB of 1941 – including round headlights, separate front wings and flat glass – the Wrangler kicks dirt in the face of modernity (and, er, aerodynamics).
If the weather is more Malibu Beach than Hastings Pier, you can also transform the Jeep into an XL beach buggy by lifting off the roof panels, removing its aluminium doors and folding the windscreen forward. However, with rain forecast and the boot already crammed with camping gear, leaving half the car at home wasn’t really an option.
Giving you the Willys
For a large vehicle, the Wrangler’s isn’t especially spacious inside. The doors have narrow openings and luggage space is limited by the built-in rollcage. Nonetheless, it carried two adults and three children in comfort, plus a tent, sleeping bags, body boards and more in the 548-litre boot.
The Jeep’s cabin lacks the soft-touch plastics of ‘premium’ alternatives, but it’s packed with personality. The deep-set dials recall American cars of the 1970s, while the switches are chunky enough to be operated with gloves on.
The gearknob for the eight-speed automatic ’box features the outline of a Willys MB, with the stubby low-range lever right alongside. While everything inside a Land Rover is now electronic, there’s something satisfying about the Jeep’s more physical controls.
A recent facelift for the Wrangler introduced a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. It’s responsive and straightforward to use, with punchy audio via an eight-speaker Alpine sound system.
Jeep Wrangler: Steady as she goes
It’s a pity Jeep has discontinued the 2.2-litre diesel engine, as its gruff, torque-rich delivery suited the car. The 2.0 petrol is more refined and serves up brisk performance (0-62mph in 7.6 seconds), but fuel bills will be high unless you’re paying US gas prices.
On the road, the Jeep prefers to make steady progress. Its recirculating ball steering is slow-geared and somewhat approximate, and there’s plenty of squidge from its soft suspension. The Rubicon’s Mud-Terrain tyres also rumble noisily and limit ultimate grip, particularly when it’s wet.
The odd thing is, none of this matters too much. The Wrangler isn’t that most modern of oxymorons, a performance SUV, and it doesn’t try to be one. As such, its shortcomings all become part of its charm.
Besides, it’s rather nice to hustle along country lanes, being kept busy with scant risk of breaking the speed limit. Apart from the Ineos Grenadier, which is pricier and even more cumbersome in corners, there is nothing quite like it.
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon: Verdict
The Wrangler clearly makes more sense across the pond, where lower prices, cheaper fuel, a mostly warmer climate and much greater expanses of wilderness all count in its favour.
Unless you plan to climb every mountain and ford every stream – rather than simply traverse a National Trust car park – the case for Brits is harder to argue. The Wrangler’s character comes with a lot of compromises, so you have to really want one.
For the faithful who do, this most Jeep-like of Jeeps will satisfy the parts other SUVs can’t reach. Long may that continue.
• Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
PRICE: £63,125
POWER: 272hp
0-62MPH: 7.6sec
TOP SPEED: 99mph
FUEL ECONOMY: 24.8mpg
CO2 EMISSIONS: 269g/km