You could call Jeep’s new JL-model Wrangler the company’s biggest gamble since the original Cherokee SUV. Or you could just drive and enjoy it for what it is says NZ4WD Editor Ross MacKay.                                 

Regular readers of NZ4WD might remember a story – in the Feb 2018 mag – about a rag-tag bunch of journos and Jeep dealers invited to Wanaka by the local distributor to experience some Jeep Jamboree-style hospitality and wheel time with some visiting Americans.

Though it was never made 100 percent clear at the time, it turned out that the Americans were actually here (or rather, there) not for us and our then current model Wranglers, but for a bunch of way more important off-road media writers, photographers and bloggers from the Northern Hemisphere... and the first global media launch of the new JL model.

Someone (I can’t remember who now) actually tipped us of that the all-new JL models that had been used on what we call in the trade a ‘long lead time launch’ were parked behind an unlocked door at the local dealers but at the time I could see no point in seeing if the story was in fact true... because, as I reasoned at the time, ‘how new or different can they be?

Fast forward almost two years since and Mark Baker and I are discussing the current (parlous) state of the local motoring press as we drive from NZ Jeep importer, Ateco Group NZ’s headquarters in Auckland’s Mt Wellington to the recently renamed Auckland Off Road Adventure Park in Woodhill Forest in the Super City’s far west.

There Ateco Group NZ’s Rebecca Anderson had asked Park main man Roger Winslade to put together a suitably testing loop which, though it lacked the sill-gouging rocky gulch of Wanaka’s Raspberry Flat or indeed the wheel and undercarriage cleaning properties of our long, silky run down the gentle flow of the nearby Matukituki River, at least was challenging enough (yep, we did get the tester stuck at one stage) to warrant using lo-range, while being close enough to ‘town’ that we didn’t need to pack an overnight bag.

What’s new?

In short? A lot. But not quite the lot. Code-named JL, the new Wrangler is finally on sale here with RRPs starting from $67,990 plus on road costs.

The local range (which consists of two SWB and three LWB versions) introduces a new ‘Sport S’ trim replacing the previous ‘Sport’ base trim and also includes Overland and Rubicon levels across both two and four door versions.

Jeep's stand-out 3.6-litre petrol-fueled V6 engine paired with ZF’s latest eight-speed automatic transmission is standard on all local models with Jeep claiming major improvements both to towing capacity (up by more than 49 percent on two door variants and 20 percent on four door variants) and fuel consumption (which, apparently, has improved by more than 13 percent.)

There are again two different 4x4 options, depending on the model, with the top-of-the-line Rock-Trac system standard on the Rubicon model we tested and Selec-Trac on the others.

The new JL model might look – at first glance anyway – just like the previous one, but there are all sorts of subtle differences, starting with a lower ‘belt line’ and with it larger side windows, and including an ever-so-slight rearward tilt to the windscreen and the top of the traditional seven-slot grill for an improvement in the coefficient of drag, and therefore, fuel consumption.

Jeep also makes much of the fact that new Wrangler comes with more than 70 standard 

and available safety features including autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-path detection, front and side airbags, electronic roll mitigation, adaptive cruise control and speed limiter. 

It also comes complete with LED headlamps and tail lamps, a new Uconnect system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the choice of 7.0- or 8.4- inch touchscreens with pinch-and-zoom capability, not to mention more than 130 Mopar branded accessories. 

Little has been made – here anyway – of ANCAP’s single-star safety rating but that is a story for another day. 

As Lawrie Malatios, Group Marketing and Sales Manager of Fiat Chrysler New Zealand, says; “There is, quite simply no better, no more capable vehicle in which to explore and enjoy New Zealand’s great outdoors while appreciating new levels of comfort and safety!” 

And you know, he’s right. 

Open any one of the lightweight doors and you might well curse the basic fabric strap that allows the door to flap like a sail in the wind. Before you get too out of shape about it though remind yourself when was the last time you drove an otherwise comfortable modern vehicle which you could strip the doors – and roof – off in minutes and enjoy the rest of your trip ‘al fresco?’ 

There isn’t one, is there? 

I always find myself fumbling with the centre console-mounted electric window switches as well; until I remind myself why they are not mounted on the doors... like ‘normal’ vehicles! 

It often takes me a few kms on the road (never off road mind) to get used to the fact that a Wrangler still uses a steering box rather than a more accurate and better self-centering rack. 

I could bitch and moan about that... but why would I when a box delivers superior sensitivity when I am off the road. 

Etc, etc, etc. 

At Woodhill we went places I would never normally contemplate taking someone else’s brand new $90+K ‘shiny’ just because I knew it could do it easily – in 4WD Hi to boot. 

Yes I did grab the lever (because, yes, there is still a lever you have to wrestle with) and haul the Rubicon down to Lo Range 4WD to make sure it added Woodhill to its Rubicon ‘Trail Rating.’ But only to crawl over stumps and between trees so I didn’t risk any ‘bush pin striping’ of the lustrous new paint. 

Had I needed to I could have aired the standard BFGoodie tyres down. But I didn’t. 

Sure the $92,990 (+ORCs) for the top-of-the-line four-door Rubicon I drove is a lot of ‘freight’ for an old-skool ladder-chassis ‘Jeep.’ But I’m willing to bet that few prospective purchasers are going to quibble over the price. Most, more likely, will see it only as a starting point, on the way to creating their own unique ride. 

For me that would start with a suspension lift kit, winch and set of negative offset 15 in. dia alloys and 33 inch tyres. 

For you? 

If your Jeep Wrangler journey starts here, then I have done my job. The rest is up to you. Enjoy!