Road Trip: 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon

Roughing it in the Rubicon

How does Jeep's retro Rubicon stand up as a weekend warrior? By John LeBlanc PICTON—I view tent camping as a retro form of human living. So it only made sense to borrow a Jeep Wrangler for our family's annual weekend here at Sandbanks Provincial Park, on the shores of Lake Ontario near Picton. Like sleeping under the stars and cooking over an open fire, driving the rustic Jeep is a retro experience that folks either loathe or love. Volkswagen can thinly claim its modern Beetle is a direct link to the 1938 original, but the Wrangler shares more in common with its ancestors than the modern VW bug. Born from the U.S. Army's 1940 request for an all-terrain utility vehicle for its ground troops, Civilian Jeeps (or CJs) were sold to the public after the end of World War II in 1945. Despite having a diverse series of corporate caretakers (Willys, Kaiser, AMC, Renault, Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Cerberus and now Italy's Fiat), the Wrangler — with its characteristic round headlights, fold-down windshield and removable doors — and its CJ and TJ predecessors has become an American cultural icon up there with Elvis and Coca-Cola. Though the Wrangler's fundamental design is old enough to cash Canada Pension Plan cheques, we weren't exactly roughing it in our top-line, four-door $32,440 (as-tested) 2011 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. In addition to the standard V6 and a six-speed manual transmission, options included leather seating (heated up front) and an upgraded entertainment unit with a navigation system. Before we departed, Mrs. Automotive Journalist took one look at the Jeep's rear cargo hold and panicked that we wouldn't get our weekend of camping gear packed without infringing on our 6-year-old daughter's rear seat space. Yet it has a lot more trunk space than the old TJ the Wrangler replaced for 2007. Surprisingly, the Unlimited even has more rear cargo room than rivals such as the Nissan Xterra PRO-4X, Toyota FJ Cruiser and its Jeep Liberty sibling. In the end, we managed to get every cooler and sleeping bag jammed in, though we did have to resort to storing some longer items between the Wrangler's roll-cage and soft-top roof, elements that allow the off-roading Jeep faithful to maintain the unique characteristics of open-air driving. For day-to-day use, I'd pop for the optional hardtop and its more conventional top-hinged rear window. To access the rear cargo hold we had to go through the tedious process of unzipping the plastic back window each time we wanted a hotdog bun or fresh can of bug spray. Of course, one of the reasons people camp instead of staying in hotels is to save money, a quality the Jeep shares. Prices start at $18,345 for a two-door, soft-top, manual transmission Wrangler Sport. Add two more doors with an Unlimited at $23,445, and you're still in the range of a nicely equipped compact car. Even if we added a hardtop and an automatic gearbox to our Unlimited Rubicon loaner, the price would come to only $34,990 — still thousands less than a comparably equipped Xterra or FJ Cruiser. The Wrangler's retro pricing must be working. It scored record sales in Canada in August, up 51 per cent from last year. Arguably, those Nissan and Toyota vehicles couldn't keep up with the Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon in more extreme driving conditions than our strictly on-road Sandbanks weekend. It includes upgrades over lesser Wranglers (two-speed transfer case with a 4.0:1 low-range gear ratio; electronic front- and rear-axle lockers; electronic-disconnecting front anti-sway bars; and 255/75R17 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain BSW off-road tires). A few years back, on a Jeep press event, I was able to negotiate about half of the 29 kilometres of California's legendary Rubicon Trail — after which the top-rung model is named — with what at times were vertical approach angles that had me seeing more sky than earth, and crawling over boulders bigger than a used Neon. Okay, so a Jeep is nearly indestructible off-road. Big deal, no news there. But what about where most Wranglers will end up spending the majority of their time: on-road? Much as most of us prefer our modern, heated and air-conditioned shelters to a nylon pop-up tent, the Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon can be more pain than pleasure. On our six-hour round-trip drive to and from Picton — mainly on four-lane 400 highways — the five-passenger Unlimited's soft-top wailed like a banshee at any speeds above 90 km/h, while its tall-profile tires meant constantly monitoring the Jeep's straight-ahead lane positioning. And the Jeep's 202 hp, 3.8-litre V6 feels like it was engineered in the 1940s. It doesn't like any revving past 3,000 rpm, and makes more noise than forward motion when pushed. If none of these complaints have scared you off completely from buying a Wrangler, I'd recommend the more roadworthy 2012 Sahara model. Jeep is fixing the Wrangler's engine bay for 2012 with the new 3.6-litre six that can be found in the Grand Cherokee. It makes 285 hp and promises better fuel economy than the 12.8L/100 km I averaged in the 2011 model. And with the Sahara's less-aggressive rubber, hardtop and automatic gearbox, not only will the car be better suited to the 99 per cent of the type of on-road driving most Jeep owners end up on, at $31,390 you'll save some money over the rowdier Rubicon. Think of it as a way to expand your marshmallow budget, next time you go camping. 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon PRICE: (base/as tested) $30,245/$32,440 ENGINE: 3.8L V6 POWER: 202 hp/237 lb.-ft. FUEL ECONOMY: (L/100 km) City 14.5; hwy 10.3; as-tested 12.8. COMPETITION: Jeep Liberty, Nissan XTerra, Toyota FJ Cruiser WHAT I LIKED: Retro personality; extreme off-road capabilities; decent rear cargo room; relatively value-priced. WHAT I DIDN'T: Soft-top and off-road tires equal highway roar; unrefined V6; rear cargo area tough to access with zippered rear hatch cover.

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