Test drive Jeep Wrangler 1996 - 2006 SUV

Jeep Wrangler: The Last of the Mogican

You ... try not to roll over, ”the dealer representative told me before handing the keys to Jeep Wrangler, the most legendary SUV of America. And then, along with the keys, he presented a CD with music from jeep - assembly of slaughter rocks. Hmm, so try to travel calmly after that ...
The legend of legends
The classic frame SUV with dependent pendants is present in the range of the Kraisler branch of Jeep for so long that it is gradually this savage became the personification of the Jeep style. It is true: the domesticated Cherokee and even more Sibarit, but completely helpless on the off -road Grand Cherokee, can not be honored. Good cars, but too ordinary - almost like everyone else.
Meanwhile, there is practically nothing to compare with Wrangler: there are few professional short -counter all -terrain vehicles with dependent pendants and acceptable cost in this world. The three-door Gelandewagen does not count: a completely different clientele, and the price category is not the same, since one G-class costs like three warngler. And almost all other models, in accordance with the requests of customers, gained independent front pendants - shame on them!
Meanwhile, even if one of the competitors releases a model of such a design, she still can’t catch up with Jeep Wrangler in popularity and fame. Is it heard: in our age of SUVs and all -wheel drive single -breeders, the Americans manage to produce a completely impractical machine, the overall design of which was created in the middle of the last century. Which has not only disadvantages, but also an advantage: during this time, Jeep brought his Wrangler almost to perfection. At least this can be attributed to the engine, pendants and transmission.
Structurally, the car is extremely simple: the spar frame on which the body and engine are planted, dependent pendants in front and rear and all -wheel drive transmission with the connected front axle and lowering the gears. Everything is simple and understandable, because such a warngler was both ten and twenty years ago. Only the design has changed and partly design of the interior. But no, Stop: due to the fact that the buyers stopped arranging the degree of intellectuality of the short -busy spring Wrangler, during the last restyling, the manufacturer hastened to replace the elastic element with the springs - now the car has become a little softer and more obedient. But only a little ...
But the ergonomics remained almost the same as half a century ago. At least you might think so, climbing into Wrangler. Not only is the car high, but also the threshold, like a partition, is very high - you need to cross it through it. Loading behind the wheel is also very specific: the seat is not adjustable in height, and the steering column adjustment range is clearly insufficient. In addition, the landing in any case turns out to be vertical, so this car cannot be called comfortable. You can’t call a spacious Wrangler either: the wheel arches stick out a few centimeters on each side, but for some reason the salon has been made noticeably already. Apparently, for the sake of repairs: flat door panels that do not particularly stick out on the sides, and it is almost impossible to damage, and it is easier to repair.
The same picture is behind: almost the entire space of the salon was eaten by the rear wheeled arches, so that the rear seat will clearly not like people of dense complexion. However, it simply cannot but not like it: they will not climb there. After all, for this, you need, bent into three deaths, step over the high door threshold, leak past a slightly pushed forward chair and collapse on the rear sofa. For those who still decide to do this, we report: the back is quite comfortable, especially if you are there in the amount of no more than two people. And there is enough space in height, and there is a where to put your legs - in general, normal.
But if the salon at least with a stretch can be called five-seater and quite suitable for living, then the trunk of Vrangler, its creators clearly spied on the supercars of the early 80s. The maximum that this far from a small SUV can take on board is one medium -sized suitcase, everything else will have to be placed in the back seat or in the hands of passengers. And if you think that the trunk is so small due to the fact that there is a full -size reserve, then you are mistaken - the spare wheel is hung on the bracket on the rear door, so that it has nothing to do with the trunk. Otherwise, it could not be - the reserve in any case could not fit in the tiny trunk of Vrangler.
Dreg Riding
I saw somewhere information that the engines installed on the Jeep Wrangler can be purchased by a mechanical supercharger produced by some of the American companies, and after that the engine power almost doubled. Power is, of course, good, but in this case I simply did not understand why an additional herd is needed here. Jeep Wrangler is a classic SUV with a short base, and the fact that springs were replaced in this generation with more sensitive springs still does not allow this car to be off -road GTI. No wonder, oh, it is not for nothing that the representative of the company warned me against the coup - Wrangler is really very prone to this matter, and the danger of a coup can arise in any situation, even when you do not suspect about it. Normal, from the point of view of any driver, a speed mode of 80-90 km/h on this car requires concentration: it is simply dangerous to steer with one hand. Because rocking this jeep is to spit. Two energetic movements of the steering wheel, and sometimes even one Wrangler, can be made with rubber and slightly placed with the tail. We must pay tribute to the designers: the tires are selected in such a way that in any situation the car glides, but in no case show a tendency to the coup. But this helps only on smooth asphalt, and on a dirt road, where Wrangler is also happy to be worn at high speed, it can easily trip on any stone and in a second to be on the roof. So more carefully, if you suddenly find yourself behind the wheel of such a car.
If you are a calm driver and do not give up the provocations of the Wrangler, then you will like uniform movement along the highway in compliance with all speed restrictions. Kozlit, of course, is very strong - a short wheelbase and a high center of gravity contribute to the appearance of longitudinal and transverse buildup. So it’s comfortable to fall apart in the seat - on the next bump you will simply eat from him from behind him because of the push in the back. It is necessary to hold on - a special handle on the panel is even made in front of the passenger so that the roof does not damage the roof. By the way, about the roof: it is plastic, and under it, in the cabin, a real arc of security from a thick pipe is hidden. True, in order to safety of passengers themselves, who can cut their foreheads about this pipe without an accident, it is wrapped in a special fabric cover.
The fact that the jeep bounces godlessly on the pits is not a drawback, this is a feature, constructive. And the company's engineers did everything possible to reduce unwanted effects. It turned out that even at a speed of about 140 km/h (barely dispersed!) Wrangler does not leave the trajectory. The same thing on the pits: he jumps, but there is no need to correct the steering wheel - the car does not get down from the course. The motor is also good, even though four -cylinder. Its 149 horses are enough for dynamic movement - acceleration to a hundred in a 2.4 -liter Wrangler takes only 13 seconds, which for such an SUV is a very good indicator. As expected, the engine with low liter power was located at low and medium -speeds - confident lower classes that allow you to ride in a lure, and a good middle that provides decent dynamics. It is pointless to twist this motor to ringing - the closer to the speed limiter, the less intense the dynamics of acceleration becomes.
It is better to ride the bottoms - the most convenient option. And the engine is almost inaudible (at high and medium -speeds, its sound is strongly clinging to the salon), and it turns out very well with acceleration. You can drive around the city on one third, occasionally diluting it with the second and fourth - the motor in any case pulls well. True, the buzz is still not enough - for such a transparent SUV with good glazing, Wrangler turned out to be surprisingly uninformative in terms of visibility. Most of all, the mirrors are to blame - the external ones are small, and inwardly some useless fake in general. Therefore, you have to constantly twist your head so as not to run into any small car. To hell with the city!
Elusive Joe
To free rein, in pampas! Gas is on the floor, the flight is normal! A broken dirt road with huge pits does not bother anyone: we jump at a speed of 60-70 km/h, allowing the Wrangler to periodically tear off all the wheels from the road. If anyone is not fastened, I'm not to blame. Yes, and Wrangler too: it is created by such crazy and is not going to adapt to every fastidious driver and passengers.
The Wrangler race really looks like jumps: the car, in fact, jumps, and does not ride. I and the speed of why I pointed out like this: the car walked so much that it was not possible to see the numbers on the speedometer exactly. Dependent pendants do not break through, and from this the machine has even more jumping. Oh, and here is the first serious obstacle - a steep slide with a roll at the very top. We stop for a second, turn on the reduced gear with the locking of the center differential and forward - in the second gear to the top. Wrangler growled angrily and tearfully with a motor, but persistently climbed uphill. When only the sun became visible through the windshield, the first doubt crept in: are we now raised from this hill through the roof? No, they didn’t sprinkle: without even losing speed, Wrangler flew to the top of the hill - we almost crashed into an apple tree growing there. There would be a number: it was not visible from below! We turn around and roll down in the same second gear, this is not so scary after lifting. Completely bolder, we decide on outright stupidity, as any experienced jiper would classify our act - we enter the hill, but now with a stop in the middle of the slope and, followed by starting from a place upholstered. Actually, we don’t advise anyone to do this: on the wet grass (rain just drizzled), the car could not only not touch the hill, but in addition and slide back with a kubarom. But Wrangler stopped at the coolest slope and easily drove on, and even without a game with a clutch. Further more. Jeep easily jumped through a dried out gutrof pipe through which Mercedes Ml could once move on our test. And then he flew on the stones so that the passengers had a teeth. Yes, it seems that it is not without reason that all the photos of Jeep Wrangler are designed in the same style in the catalogs: here he climbs on huge stones, and here he overcomes the river. Photos from annual Malborov SUVs come even steeply - specially prepared warngers pass the track in the gorge, and diagonal hanging for them is the same ordinary as the inclusion of a turn signal.
By the way, about the diagonalist: I spent an hour and a half, I traveled all the pits of a decent size, even came across a stone beach with huge boulders, but I could not force Wrangler to hang out at least one wheel. It’s just amazing: the car twists the beam bridges so much that sometimes the angle of curvature between them reaches almost 90 degrees! And at the same time, not a single sound is made that testifies to the intense work of the transmission and pendants - a real jeep is felt!
Wrangler later visited a sandy beach, a broken forest road and even at a construction site. And nowhere, I repeat - anywhere this SUV did not even give a reason to doubt his ability to mix dirt. In most situations, it was not even necessary to connect the front bridge - Wrangler everything goes jokingly on the rear drive. I only had to turn to the lever to the lever, located to the left of the checkpoint: on the beach, when we drove into deep sand, and at a construction site, when a car began to dig helplessly on a pile of sand on the rear -wheel drive. One traffic lever on itself is connected and the front axle is connected - now all four wheels carefully spit on sand a few meters ago. But we decided to play it safe: we moved the handout again, and a lowering gear turned on - now you can crawl at idle speeds, without fear of burning the clutch. On a reduced, and even with a blocked differential, Wrangler crawls everywhere, ranging from deep beach sand to viscous chernozem. It’s just that the excitement takes: where to drive him like that, so that he at least a little, for decency, assured it? I never found such a place in three hours ...
Meanwhile, only after the test I realized that it was only the initial level - the smallest Wrangler, without additional (custom) locks of the rear or even front differential, serial rubber with a universal tread pattern. Well then, maybe a 4.0-liter version with a six-cylinder engine, torque is almost half higher, and its peak falls at lower speeds? Probably, such a Wrangler will easily pass everywhere. But there is also a specialized version of Jeep Wranler Rubicon, which has custom -made differential locks, enlarged road clearance, toothy tires and special protection under the bottom ...
By itself
Usually about cars that are knocked out of the general row, they say: this is the second (third) machine. In the sense that if you do not have a normal machine, you should not rush to the acquisition of any exclusive - these machines are too specific during daily use. Some are simply not practical, others are too complicated in design, so any minor repair can drag on for many months, and others sometimes do not even have such elementary things as door locks. Jeep Wrangler, fortunately, has door locks, but the designers did not bother to come up with the same simple mechanism for the hood. The hood opens only from the outside, and to anyone - it is enough to unlock two stylish latches on the sides of the hood, and you are provided with unhindered access to the bowels of the car. I think that this fact alone is quite enough that you, dear readers, realized how unpractified and non -trivial Jeep Wrangler car. And this means that it should be stored in the garage or at least - on a guarded parking lot. On the evening in the evening you can’t leave it for a long time either - suddenly the occupancy of someone else's property also read our newspaper and they know that Wrangler’s hood opens so easily.
My personal recommendation - Jeep Wrangler needs to be taken specifically for tuning. New or backing - no matter. The car was originally very stylish and interesting, and even after sensible tuning ... Last year, one such a vrangler, tuned with Belarusian jeepers using foreign components, visited the test - an amazing car turned out to be an amazing one. Road clearance increased to unreal size, extensors of wheeled arches, an abundance of chrome parts, wide wheels of a gudrich with a very developed tread. Although it must be said that this practically did not affect the running qualities of the car: he did not become stronger and steer and steer no worse than the standard version. However, its main qualities have been preserved - a unique style and aura. Jeep Wrangler is not as practical as other SUVs, is completely uncomfortable and does not affect handling, but it simply kills its patency and incredible energy intensity of pendants, a margin of thrust of its four -cylinder motor and a craving for skipping second -tiers. And it is precisely the same, in theory and the plan of the creators, that there should be a real jeep - not civil, combed, but a little wild, eager and unique. Such as Wrangler ...

Source: "Avtogazeta"