What if the JL Wrangler Is Worse than the Ford Bronco?
With every step toward civility, will the Wrangler lose some of its off-road edge?
This may be hard to swallow, but before the new Wrangler officially arrives, we have to ask a difficult question: What if the JL kinda sucks?
Every new leak, every new photo, and now every press release and teaser seem positive. Apparently, this is a much more refined, grown up, and comfortable Wrangler. A lot of people are excited about that. But we’re not sure we’re among them.
In short, the JL needs to be a Jeep first, last, and always. Not a luxury crossover.
Above all other things, the Wrangler is a tool. It’s built to tackle any terrain on God’s green earth.
We’ll admit that the JK’s comfort features are nice. But are we reaching the point where it’s too much? How well will that new painted dash stand up to sand or grainy mud if you go into the field with the doors off? They can “weather-proof” that massive screen in the dash all they want, but eventually, the seal will fail. And anyone with a loaded Rubicon knows that leather is sturdy, but trying to clean out those stitched seems is a nightmare.
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What if the impossible happens and the upcoming Ford Bronco out-Jeeps the new Wrangler? Ford is focused on building a proper off-road machine. Considering what they did with the Raptor, it’s easy to see them doing a “real” Bronco; one that could line up next to any Jeep on the Rubicon trail.
We don’t know much about the Bronco yet, and there’s still a lot to learn about the new JL. But with each article about how much “nicer” and more “civilized” the JL is going to be, the more our doubt grows.
In a world full of Tupperware cars made to move families, the Jeep Wrangler is a framing hammer. Maybe it’s just us, but we don’t like the idea of a luxury framing hammer.
