According to rumors that have wafted into Road & Track’s offices, the fourth-gen Wrangler may lose its retractable top and full-size, rear-mounted spare tire. The folding windshield may get the axe in order to improve the next Wrangler’s safety and lessen its complexity. Deleting the rear-mounted spare tire in favor of a hidden space-saver would […]

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Ahh the good ole days

 

I call BS. Wrangler may lose folding windshield but needs full spare; removable doors & open roof.

 

I don't really care about the folding windshield. I won't buy one without removable doors or a soft top option, though. No auto top, either. That's dumb.

 

Highly doubt it. Removing the spare and adding a power top will not reduce any weight. Power tops aren't the lightest things.

 

I could actually see the spare going to "optional".

Let's be honest, I rarely see 5th tires that looked used. Hell, half of you barely even rotate them in.

Reasons:

A. Save on weight aka fuel economy.

B. Charge more for it as an accessory package. For example there could be 3 or 4 Mopar combos that would adapt tires, bike racks, or storage baskets.

Personally I would go spartan and buy something aftermarket, as most of us here have already.



The folding windshield is essentially gone on the JK design anyway. Never saw the allure.


The removable doors, sadly, would be a deal breaker. But I don't plan to replace my JK anytime soon anyway.

 

I never see a windshield folded down anyway but other than that i think everything else needs to stay.

 

The spare is the hole Jeep thing, without a spare it aint a Jeep anymore

 

This would be the end of the road for the Wrangler. These corporate idiots really need to look at why this platform has been popular for so long. Unrefined, and capable. There are plenty of other vehicles out there for people that don't like what Jeep is and has always been.

 

Heresay.

A fullsize spare is required on part-time 4wd vehicles. The only other option is to offer runflats and no spare, which they currently do in the Cherokee (that's also AWD, not 4wd). Only the TrailHawk gets a fullsize spare because of the locking axles. That pretty much guarantees a fullsize spare will at least be an option on the Rubi/offroad model next-gen Wrangler. It remains to be seen if Jeep will retain part time 4wd for the Wrangler, but I bet they do. Heavy duty trucks still offer it and I'd assume the Wrangler falls in the same use-class that only part time 4wd can take. I doublt sticking the spare under the rear floor is an option if Jeep wants to stick with similar dimensions to the current JK.


On the power retractable top, I don't see how this is possible either. The 2-door dimensions are likely still going to be small-ish. Have you seen the footprint that power retractable tops take in convertibles? It would essentially mean a rear swinging gate would be impossible, and/or there would be dedicated trunk space just for the top, motor, frame, etc. And...power tops save NO weight. They are quite heavy.

I can definitely see the Wrangler losing the folding windshield. The extra complexity there in manufacturing seems wasted from a cost perspective, compared to how little used it seems to be, and also the work required to drop the windshield.

It all remains to be seen how much Jeep/Fiat is going to muck with the next generation Wrangler. Too much, and they're going to lose their following.