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I love my JKU, but I still drive the C63 in the winter as long as the snow is not deep.
FWIW my Subaru STi is 100000x better in the snow than the JKU. Unless the snow is over the bumper the Subaru still gets around just fine. Plus the AWD >>>>> Jeep (4x4). The Jeep is more comfortable in really deep snow, but it isn't too often that the roads are that deep in snow.
I am surprised to hear what thesaintusa says about subaru AWD being better than Heap 4WDs - I have never heard that. All wranglers are still solid front solid rear, with the Rubicons being triple locked. I wheel with a TON of them and they are extremely capable (I don't have a heap myself). I think of them as pure dirt bikes - great on the trail, horrible for everything else.
16 E550 Cab, 2003 Ram bright red crewcab 4x4 we call Clifford :)
jeep
got a 15 wrangler sport 2 door, great car to do stuff that I wouldn't take the nice car to do
going to the beach...
go anywhere with the dog
home depot/loews run...
It's actually kinda fun with the 6 speed stick
Just added some nice rims and tires, didn't even lift it.... This is at the shop where I paint bikes as a hobby... aka dirty stuff where I wouldn't take the benz
Last edited by mrmotoguzzi00; 11-11-2015 at 11:10 AM.
I think of them as pure dirt bikes - great on the trail, horrible for everything else.
What makes you say horrible for anything else? Mines lifted 3" with 35's heavy steel front and rear bumpers with winch and still gets 20MPG on the highway. It has plenty of pep even with 3.73's and rides good for what it is. Also Wranglers have the highest resale value for any vehicle.
What makes you say horrible for anything else? Mines lifted 3" with 35's heavy steel front and rear bumpers with winch and still gets 20MPG on the highway. It has plenty of pep even with 3.73's and rides good for what it is. Also Wranglers have the highest resale value for any vehicle.
Ride quality, NVH and handling. Solid front, solid rear combined with an absurdly short wheelbase (all things that make it great on the trails) makes it one hell of a bouncy and discombobulated ride on the road.
I have a 2013 JKU Sahara. It's my wife's daily driver and no complaints about ride quality. It is what it is. The ride is comparable to other new pickups or SUVs (not including luxury models that aren't really meant for off-road). It gets up and goes to highway speeds quick enough in my opinion also.
16 E550 Cab, 2003 Ram bright red crewcab 4x4 we call Clifford :)
Originally Posted by xxaarraa
Ride quality, NVH and handling. Solid front, solid rear combined with an absurdly short wheelbase (all things that make it great on the trails) makes it one hell of a bouncy and discombobulated ride on the road.
Maybe true of the 70/80's CJ's... not so much of the last 2 generations...
When I went looking for a Jeep I started at a $5k budget... that gets you 90's.... after I looked at a few it became apparent I wasn't gonna find something that ran good and had a good body, was gonna be an either or....... So went to a $10k budget... better but still looking at things with 150k miles... holy crap these are expensive i thought...
look at a few 2005 or later models.... found a low mileage aka 60k that looked new, they wanted $18k ? Really ? It was still 10 yrs old...
Was going by a Jeep dealer and popped in for giggles....
MISTAKE.
Drove a new Jeep. Nice Ride, smooth motor that new 3.6 liter pentastar v6,
Interior was decent, seats comfy. All the switch gear and everything was light years from the previous models... no bouncing...
Makes a great local all around ride, especially if you live near the beach
I got a stripper model for $24k with A/C out the door. You can spend 30-40k or more if you want a rubicon with power windows and nav upgraded mechanical's etc...., but unless you plan to really test it offload the stock jeep is more than capable...
Not saying it's bad by any means but my 02 TJ was the worst vehicle I owned for winter driving. Mainly just poor high speed stability on slick hwy roads. Banging around town it was fine.
EDIT: I would assume the longer wheel base JKU would be quite the improvement.
Not saying it's bad by any means but my 02 TJ was the worst vehicle I owned for winter driving. Mainly just poor high speed stability on slick hwy roads. Banging around town it was fine.
EDIT: I would assume the longer wheel base JKU would be quite the improvement.
That's true, I had one and the short wheelbase 2-door spins around like a top on slick roads.
I don't have one although i have driven a JKU Rubicon in Moab and it was super capable. But I have an old XJ Cherokee for winter and I love that thing. Obviously ride quality/NVH is basically nonexistent but it is a ton of fun to drive in it's own way and unstoppable in the snow.
Last edited by DiscoBandit; 11-11-2015 at 12:21 PM.
I am surprised to hear what thesaintusa says about subaru AWD being better than Heap 4WDs - I have never heard that. All wranglers are still solid front solid rear, with the Rubicons being triple locked. I wheel with a TON of them and they are extremely capable (I don't have a heap myself). I think of them as pure dirt bikes - great on the trail, horrible for everything else.
To clarify, for everyday driving in the winter (with snow and unpredictable road surfaces) the Subaru with AWD and winter tires is superior to the Jeep with winter tires.
Normally in winter the Jeep is in RWD unless the road surfaces permit 4x4. There is no centre differential so driving in 4x4 is not recommended unless on snow/ice/mud etc. I will and do shift from 4Hi to 2Hi on the fly in the Jeep, but there have been incidents where the road conditions change pretty quick.
For the everyday driver AWD creates a safer environment.
I do not go off-roading in the winter, so the ability of the Jeep to out perform the Subaru in deep snow does not really apply. And with winter tires the Subaru is capable of getting around in almost all conditions (minus the MASSIVE drifts that sometimes do occur).
I do agree that off road, on trails, climbing rocks (which my Subaru CANNOT do) that the Jeep is superior.
As I do not rock-climb with my Jeep an ideal balance for me would be an AWD system under the chassis of my Wrangler.
So you and I are likely agreeing on the same thing. I was just commenting on the obvious difference of a 4x4 versus AWD system.
FWIW I bought my Jeep because I used to have a 300 foot driveway that would sometimes end up with 2-3 foot snow drifts. The Jeep made it up the drive way everytime. However, so did the Subaru, albeit with more effort, noise and speed required.
I was gonna ask before your posted this, but did you guys experience such bad reliability with your wranglers ?
I was thinking about getting one but this is kind of scaring me
i know there was a poor period in the mid-late 2000s, i want to say after 05/06 when quality dropped and not just with the wrangler either i knew someone with a grand cherokee that had their block crack.
but....jeep people are fiercely loyal anyone who i knew that had problems ended up in another jeep
now if it was me and i wanted a winter vehicle i'd look at suv over wrangler. likely a 4runner
Not a JKU, but I have a 14 Sport with a 2 1/2" lift, 33's, and some rock sliders. Rides rougher than my '12 JKU, but I wanted the short wheelbase this time, and didn't need the 3rd seat in the back.
I haven't had any mechanical issues, they definitely ride rougher than a typical passenger car, but that's what happens when you have the ability to go almost anywhere.
I have a Fusion, the wife's C250, and the C63 if I want something with a better ride, haha!
The 3.7 was never in the Wrangler. The TJ 4.0 was practically bulletproof, the 3.8 in the early JK is reliable but a wheezer. Other than a few early '12 models with the 3.6 head issues, the Pentastar seems quite solid. Take one for a spin through the rocks, mud, or sand and you'll get it.
My wife says it's the most fun you can have at five mph!
I was gonna ask before your posted this, but did you guys experience such bad reliability with your wranglers ?
I was thinking about getting one but this is kind of scaring me
Just to be clear. The Consumers Reports rating isn't about reliability, it's about initial quality. Though, JD Power does rate reliability, and has Chrysler near the bottom each year.
11-10-2015, 12:54 PM
