Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 2014 review

What is it? 

A special 10th anniversary edition of Jeep's hard core, offroader – in either two or four-door form. Just 30 examples have been secured for the local market, 12 of them two-door and 18 four-door versions.

How much?

Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition is $49,000 for the two-door model or $53,000 for the four-door, Unlimited model.  An auto adds $2000 to the price.

What are competitors?

There's a lot of pretenders but only one real competitor for this car and that is the Land Rover Defender. Both target the same buyer, but they are very different vehicles.

What's under the bonnet?

The 10th Anniversary Edition is available only with a petrol V6, together with a six-speed manual or optional five-speed automatic. We would have preferred a diesel but the 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 engine is surprisingly good, producing 209kW of power and 347Nm of torque. Drive is to the rear wheels or to all four wheels if four-wheel drive is engaged – it’s a part time system. 

How does it go?

Not bad. It's a big truck of a thing but has no trouble keeping up with the traffic flow. Things have certainly come a long way since the early petrol guzzling sixes that powered Jeeps – the five-speed auto helps too. Rides about 40mm higher than the standard Rubicon.

Is it economical?

The four-door is rated at 12.0 litres/100km. We were getting 12.1 after more than 600km of mixed driving. Good to see the 85-litre tank takes standard 91 unleaded too.

Is it green?

Gets 3.5 stars from the Government’s Green Vehicle Guide, with carbon emissions of 276g/km (benchmark Prius scores 5).

Is it safe?

Wrangler is a four star vehicle. Comes with a reverse camera, four airbags, that offer protection for the driver and passenger only. Features electronic traction and stability control, as well as roll over mitigation.

Is it comfortable?

Talk to the back. We just couldn't get comfortable in this car. You may have a different experience.

What's it like to drive?

Tends to intimidate other drivers. It's large and cumbersome in terms of city driving, with a large turning circle that can making parking difficult. Off road the Wrangler has few peers, designed to bash and crash its way down the roughest fire trail. It provides one of, if not the best, out of the box four-wheel drive experience available, with 264mm of ground clearance, front and rear locking differentials and a wading depth of 762mm. It has a wash out interior and can tow a 2.3 tonne load.

Is it value for money?

For a hard core off road vehicle it contains plenty of creature comforts, like heated leather sports seats, climate air conditioning and satellite navigation. The Infinity audio system features 6 speakers, 368 watt amplifier and subwoofer. Comes with dual roof system, with a three piece modular fibreglass hardtop plus a roll out soft top (that tends to get in the way). A plaque features the vehicle's technical data, such as axle and sway bar types, transfer case type and crawl ratio, tyre size and location of manufacture.