Bent-six makes way for turbo four as Jeep prices facelift Wrangler

A quiet debutant of the Kyalami Festival of Motoring in August, Stellantis has released pricing of the facelift Jeep Wrangler in a streamlined range limited exclusively to the five-door Unlimited.

New heart

Unveiled as far back as the New York International Auto Show last April, the internally named JL Wrangler, which made its global premiere seven years ago, takes leave of the stalwart 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol engine in favour of the previously confirmed 2.0-litre turbo-petrol.

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Part of the Hurricane range of engines, which also includes the new 3.0-litre turbo straight-six used in the Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer and the Ram 1500, the unit does without any form of electric assistance as in the States with unchanged outputs of 200kW/400Nm.

Down 13 kW but up 47 Nm on the Pentastar, the Hurricane is again mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox with drive going to all four wheels through a permanent four-wheel-drive system with low range.

What has changed?

Externally, the Wrangler’s revisions consist of a slimmer seven-slot grille with a textured black inner finish and a new ariel integrated into the windscreen.

As before, the Wrangler can be had with a soft-top canvas or metal roof capable of being removed entirely along with the doors, while the windscreen again folds onto the bonnet.

More extensive are the changes underneath the Wrangler’s skin where all models gain a full-float rear axle, no less than four protective skidplates, revised front and rear suspension, retuned shock absorbers and on Rubicon models, the heavy-duty Dana 44 axles and electronic front sway-bar disconnect.

Spec

On the model front, the grade structure stays the same with three variants being offered; Sport, Sahara and the mentioned Rubicon.

In terms of specification, all three get the new 12.3-inch Uconnect 5 infotainment system as standard, complete with wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and integrated satellite navigation.

Further new additions are type-C USB ports joining the existing type-A outlets, upgraded materials, six airbags and new safety and driver assistance systems comprising Driver Attention Alert, Park Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control and Blind Spot Monitoring.

Front and rear parking sensors, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and a reverse camera on all but the Sport complete the safety overhaul, with the Rubicon being the added recipient of a front camera designed to aid prowess when off-roading.

Individually, the Sport comes standard with 17-inch steel wheels and the Sahara with 18-inch alloys. Mud-terrain wheels wrapped around 17-inch alloys have been included on the Rubicon from the start.

Somewhat surprisingly, Stellantis South Africa didn’t divulge details of the Wrangler’s four-wheel-drive systems, although it can be assumed that the Selec-Trac set-up features on the Sport and Sahara and the more hardcore Rock-Track with the Tru-Lok front and rear differentials on the Rubicon.

As in the States, the following are likely to also apply to the Wrangler; a ground clearance of 328 mm, wading depth of 864 mm, approach angle of 47.4-degrees, breakover angle of 27.8-degrees and departure angle of 40.4-degrees.

Price

Now available, all Wrangler models’ sticker prices include a five-year/100 000 km warranty and service plan.

• Wrangler Sport – R1 199 900
• Wrangler Sahara – R1 249 900
• Wrangler Rubicon – R1 299 900

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