Probably your gearing. I have 4.56 gears and TT's in my JK with a 3.6 and I can pick the front wheels off the ground.

 

Well it was not more powerful. It was about 2/3 as powerful... or you could say the 3.6 is about 50% more powerful than the old 4.0L.

The TJ was lighter, for sure, and so was the XJ. Like close to a thousand pounds lighter depending on model. And they had smaller tires (likely, unless you put really oversize tires). And not only that, older tires with worse traction (likely, again). And the TJ also didn't have traction control. Not only that, but a decade or two ago when TJ/XJ with 4.0L were current, everybody and their mom didn't have an ordinary sedan or SUV that would go 0-60 in six seconds. 300hp was a big number. This is a different time for cars. My parents had a 2dr Cherokee 2wd manual with the 4.0L and it felt very fast back then, but by the numbers a current JKU would outrun it. 0-60 in 8.2 seconds was as fast as they ever were. My Honda Pilot would kill it. So would our Element. And pretty much every other car I have owned in the past decade. 0-60 in under 8 seconds was quick in 1995 and it's horrible today.

It's apples and oranges.

The 4.0L in a JK would be a disaster.

My mostly-stock JKU manual with 3.73 gears and Sahara wheels/tires will easily spin the tires off the line and will even chirp them on a 1-2 gearshift. A lighter (aluminum-body, lighter engine) JL or whatever it will be with even more power would be much quicker and less weight over the axle is always a good thing.

 

Whatever happened to all that diesel talk? Hopefully it will be an option later on the road.

 

V8 level torque with I4 level fuel economy, what is not to love about the Ecodiesel. The spy shots for the JL show a long low hood, I really hope it they pop one in there. I will buy a diesel pick-up day one if they are priced below $45k (which I increasingly doubt).

 

Well that's the first thing not to love about a diesel: the huge price premium.

The other thing not to love about it is the lack of power. Everyone says torque but it's horsepower that actually moves the vehicle. There's no case where diesel engines do not have a performance tradeoff for their improved fuel economy over equivalent-sized gasoline engine. I guess the real reason diesel ever gets considered seriously as an alternative is mostly because American drivers (and maybe others) don't tend to rev any engine over 3-4K rpm so they never take advantage of increased power available in the gasoline engines.

All that said, we rented a diesel Golf 4dr on our trip to Italy two years ago and drove it all over Tuscany and NW Italian coast and it was a gem. You could leave it in 3rd gear and drive the mountain roads without ever changing gears and it got >40mpg constantly. There are upsides but it's not all upside. I'll keep my gasoline cars when I have to buy, own and pay for them myself.

 

Here's some new spy shots of what we're assuming is the 2018, 4-cyl Wrangler...
2018 Jeep Wrangler Caught Testing 4-Cylinder Engine - JK-Forum

 

This is what worries me about the JL. There's no doubt it's going to be a bad ass Jeep. Say what you will about the Cherokee and even the Renegade in terms of looks and goofy easter eggs, their capabilities (despite their suspension limitations) are damned impressive. However, FCA is still lacking in the quality and longevity department. The YJ was solid out of the gate. The TJ was solid out of the gate. The JK was an utter mess until they tossed the Pentastar in and swapped the God-awful 42RLE with the WA580 and even then they had to contend with the faulty head for a couple years.

Here we are now, almost a decade later, and the JK finally feels just right. Sure, the navigation system is still awful and the six-speed has not aged well at all, but a new JK today is an extremely confident vehicle... and now they're gonna put it out to pasture and start over, so-to-speak.

 

i have serous doubts about the 4cyl turbo. in a small lighter vehicle sure in a heavy brick with poor aero ( even the new one isint gonna be great ) then start adding in bigger wheels / bumpers / lifts etc etc all the normal stuff a guy adds to the jeep and you will need to be in boost 100% of the time to get it and keep it moving and its gonna drink fuel. Now you also have the added heat and complexity of the turbo to deal with.

I still wanna see it tho maybe they have a secret plan and it will be great.

 

FCA ought to get with Hendrick Performance and sell that "Commando" www.commandousa.com to the public. Who would not want a real roll cage that can support more than twice the vehicle weight (going from memory), 2.8 liter turbo diesel, truck version. I know that it is meant as commercial off the shelf for DoD, but enthusiasts would buy the hell out of them. I only bring this up, because it gets back to what a Jeep really was made for and the reason why a large market segment buys them.

 

Yup. Things ain't the way they used to be; and they never were.