Up Close and Personal with the Wrangler 392 Final Edition
It’s not the Final Final Edition, but this 2024 Wrangler 392 Rubicon Final Edition is still the stuff dreams are made of.
Let’s address the elephant in the room right away. Model year 2024 was supposed to be the swan song for the outrageous 392 cubic inch V8-powered Wrangler Rubicon 392. As a fitting sendoff, Jeep announced a Final Edition model that starts at $101,890 including destination charge. In other words, $8,500 more than the regular Rubicon 392, which isn’t exactly cheap to begin with. Additionally, only 3,700 Rubicon 392 Final Editions would be offered worldwide, with 3,300 of them for the U.S. market.
Collectors rushed to snap up the Final Edition, with some paying five-figure scarcity premiums on top of the already-nosebleed window sticker price. However, Jeep recently announced that due to popular demand, the Rubicon 392 Final Edition is returning for an encore in 2025. We’ll bet that the 3,700 new 2024 Final Edition owners are none too pleased to hear that news. In fact, the whole situation smacks of the one-year-only 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, which Dodge later brought back for the 2023 model year. Sound familiar?
In the case of the Durango Hellcat, a group of 2021 owners actually sued Stellantis, Dodge’s parent company, for false advertising. It remains to be seen if Jeep will face a similar lawsuit for changing its mind on the Rubicon 392. In the meantime, though, let’s take a closer look at what exactly buyers are getting with the Final Edition compared to the “regular” 392, if you can call it that.
One lucky YouTuber scored a week with the Wrangler 392 Final Edition
Sofyan Bey, who runs the popular YouTube channel Redline Reviews, was lucky enough to get his hands on one of the rarified Wranglers for a full week of fun bashing around. this leaves us wondering what we’re doing wrong to not have friends in high places like that? With over 1 million subscribers, we’re guessing that Bey well earned the privilege.
Front and center is the thundering 392 cubic inch (6.4 liters in metric terms) Hemi V8 engine. In the Wrangler, this piece of engineering makes 470 horsepower. Surprisingly, Bey only manages a 0-60 MPH acceleration time of 5.2 seconds using his Racebox device’s drag meter. That sees pretty weak compared to a Car and Driver test which saw a 0-60 time of 4.0 seconds flat for a regular 392 Rubicon. Bey blames the slower acceleration on the extra weight of the Final Edition’s equipment. However, we suspect a combination of a bad launch and less accurate testing equipment is closer to the truth.
At the risk of making a dad joke, the 2024 Rubicon 392 Final Edition can pass anything except for a gas station. Jeeps says that it gets 13 mpg around town and 16 mpg out on the highway. In real life testing, Bey mentions only getting 11 mpg.
It’s more luxurious but still unmistakably Wrangler
Okay, so 470 horsepower is impressive and all, but the standard Rubicon 392 has that too. The Final Edition adds an extra 0.5-inch of suspension lift, for 11.5 inches total ground clearance. There’s also a standard Warn winch onboard to grapple your way from trouble. That’s unlikely, though, with standard electronically locking front and rear differentials.
Outside, the Final Edition gets a bronze motif with bespoke decals and emblems, not to mention a set of bronze wheels with beadlock capabilities. Those wheels are shod in 35-inch tall BFG All-Terrain tires with a matching spare. To support the weight of the giant spare tire — long an Achilles heel for Jeepers — the tailgate has beefier hinges.
Tucked into that beefier tailgate is a factory onboard air compressor. That’s a neat feature for sure, but it’s also a $2,000 option. Yes, $2,000. For that price tag, we’d personally go to the aftermarket for airing up tires after an off-road sojourn. At least buyers receive a snazzy 83-piece tool kit included in the Final Edition’s base price.
In the cabin, the Final Edition flaunts the Wrangler’s new-for-2024 power seat option, though the seats still lacks a memory function or ventilation. Still, with its leather-trimmed seats with Mayan gold stitching and real metal accents, Redline Reviews declares, “for a Wrangler, this is the nicest interior ever.” And for better or worse, we’ll likely get another look at that black Nappa leather interior in 2025’s Final Final Edition Rubicon 392.
Images: Redline Reviews/YouTube