181

Awesome post. More cynicism. Thanks for contributing.

Rick in Colorado

Did you release the emergency brake before you test drove it?

WCDAVE

Of course a 0-60 time and quarter mile time are not important considerations in buying a Jeep. They are, however, common measurements for comparing vehicles. The Wrangler has unrivaled off-road ability and those numbers do not relate to that aspect at all. Many drive their vehicles everyday on the road, though, so enhanced acceleration and added power are positives. If you test drove a 12 and are comparing it to a stock 07-11 and say that there is little difference you are either A) fooling yourself or B) not very good at discerning performance differences. IT'S 40% MORE HORSEPOWER FOLKS! I have been test-driving JKs since they came out and always had to walk away because as much as I liked the idea of the Jeep, I knew I would never be happy with the drive train. I am thrilled with my new Jeep because now I don't resent it from the get go because of the weak engine. This was a primary consideration for me, and a determining factor in my buying decision. You can talk about supercharging or HEMI swaps, but in the real world, the vast majority of people talk about doing it and never pull the trigger. It's a lot of money to dump into an aging, depreciating, vehicle that will not enhance its resale value in any meaningful way.

jhol111964

OK dude, you win. I'll cease with trying to point out the auto versus manual discrepancy in acceleration improvements.

renzo1200

I'm a first time Wrangler owner and I specifically bought the 2012 because I found out about the new Pentastar and there's dozens of uson these forums alone. I'm sure once the 2012's hit the lot, dealers will be hyping the crap out of the new engine. Combined with the new interior and Jeep's got a winner.

I effin love mine

BKGM Jeepers

Does anyone know what the manual tranny is in the 2012 JK's? Is it the same as the '11 and earlier models? I'm wondering how easy a 3.6L swap would be...

WCDAVE

Same transmission housing, 6th gear is taller. I think an engine swap would be more expensive than it's worth though. You would have to have a new exhaust, buy the crate engine, install it and there is a ton of other under the hood components that are crammed in under the 2012 hood that aren't there in the 20XX. It would be MUCH less expensive to just trade your old one in on a new one. The reason you do a HEMI swap is you can't otherwise get one. It seems a little nuts to re-invent the wheel with a Pentastar swap.

danmojo82

Its got a slightly larger top gear than earlier models. So it should cruise even better on the freeway.

msquaredIN

In one of the reviews floating around here the tech guy says it has a new bell housing, clutch and linkage.

ronjenx

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but here are the transmission ratios
from ALLPAR:

2012 Transmission Ratios

Manual
1st 4.46
2nd 2.61
3rd 1.72
4th 1.25
5th 1.00
6th 0.797
R 4.06

Automatic
1st 3.59
2nd 2.19
3rd 1.41
4th 1.00
5th 0.83
R 3.16