SA Road Tests

Welcome

It struck me one day that people who love cabriolets, convertibles, roadsters, drop-tops, sports cars - call them what you will - are probably less concerned with who made them than with how they make their drivers feel. It's rather like motorcycles; there is an indescribable unity with Nature, a one-ness with the road and a bonding with the elements - the sun on your skin, the breeze through your hair and the living sounds of the open road.

That's why I decided to copy and paste all my cabriolet reports into a single folder where drop-top fans can find them all without having to scrabble through endless menus.

I have to warn you that it took a while to warm to the cabriolet phenomenon - convertibles are mostly loved, hankered after and driven by women, so we guys find them hard to appreciate. For that reason, you may find some of the writing a little tongue-in-cheek, sceptical or even downright chauvinist. What can I say? I'm male and I can't help it. Just bear with me though, because I believe that the stories still contain valid information that will hopefully help you make an informed buying decision.


*To read one of our road tests, just select from the drop-down menu that appears as you hover your cursor over the folder's title.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports, so even if you're looking to buy second-hand, you have an idea of what it cost originally.


2009 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 2.8 CRD Unlimited

The only four door convertible available in SA

In Marketing, somewhere in between “the customer is Queen, so give her what she wants,” and “six ways to close the deal,” lies “sell the sizzle, not the steak.”  What this piece of cracker barrel philosophy means is don’t sell pension plans, sell the rewards of well-funded retirement.



The sizzle of a Jeep is its history and its reputation for being a no-frills personnel carrier capable of climbing every mountain and fulfilling every offroader’s dreams.  It is widely accepted as being one of the top two light (“light” excludes military vehicles with or without crawler tracks) off-road people movers available.  The other one is British and the respective fan clubs delight in sniping at each other at every opportunity.  

Be all that as it may...  The “steak” of the Jeep on test, a metallic military-green four door Wrangler Sahara Unlimited, is pretty straightforward. 

Built on the long-wheelbase (“unlimited”) version of the JK platform, it is 523 mm longer in order to accommodate two more doors and more rear seat space and load area. It is available in three trim levels – X (Highsport in SA), Sahara and Rubicon. 



Now classified as a mid-size SUV, the Unlimited is punted as the “only four door convertible available in SA,” courtesy of the fiberglass roof, removable in three sections and the fabric convertible top that remains rolled up in the rear compartment until called into action.

South African Wranglers are available with a choice of two engines, a 3,8 litre 12 valve V6 petrol and the 2,8 litre 16 valve inline four cylinder direct injection common rail diesel tested.

Gearboxes offered are a manual 6-speed overdrive and two automatics – the model 42RLE 4-speed overdrive with variable line pressure on the lower spec units and the 545RFE 5-speeder available only on the Rubicon versions.

Axles on the lower specification models are Dana 30 in front and Dana 44 at the back. The Rubicon benefits from Dana 44s at both ends, although the factory stresses that both axle models have been upgraded with larger pinion shafts, pinion bearings and axle joints for increased durability compared with their predecessors.

Additionally, Rubicon models feature an electronically disconnecting front stabiliser bar. Known as Active Sway Bar System (ASBS), this gives you an extra 28% of wheel travel for the really tricky bits.

Common to all are ground clearance of 253 mm under the rear axle (258 mm in front), approach and departure angles of 37,7 and 31,3 degrees respectively and a breakover angle of 20,3 degrees. These figures are quoted as “depending on model.” Skid plates protect fuel tank, transfer case and automatic transmission oil pans. 



The Wrangler Unlimited has more refined on-road manners thanks to its 2 947 mm wheelbase, a new 100% stiffer frame, a 50% stiffer body and refined five-link coil suspension.  Further, new suspension and steering geometry provides improved ride and handling characteristics, while improved sound deadening reduces cabin noise by more than 20%. 

I can testify to the reduction in cabin noise, as the first real clue I had to the diesel lump up front, was the lower numbers posted on the rev counter. 

Body-wise, the Wrangler is traditional Jeep with its familiar flat planes, circular headlamps, the famous 7 slot grille, exposed door hinges (all doors are removable, as are the running boards) and the flat (fold down) windscreen. 

Three removable fibreglass roof panels enable open-air travel in your choice of configuration and with these off, the ragtop with its own sunroof can be deployed. The front bumper is a bulky plastic device that undoubtedly looks good to fans, but provides ammunition for the Brit brigade. One took delight in pointing out that reversing in deep soft sand could pose a threat, as the bumper’s lower trailing edge is almost scoop-like. When I have studied one of “theirs” more closely, I will report back on this aspect.



An item of some concern to me was that, with the fiberglass roof in place, rearward vision is restricted by the narrow rear window, made worse by the intrusion of the upper part of the door-mounted spare wheel and the three rear seat head restraints.  Others include the rear seat itself: hard, flat, too upright and too short behind the knees, and the somewhat “old technology” automatic transmission and air conditioning controls – no Tiptronic option on the somewhat sluggish auto ‘box, for example, and a fully manual aircon. Having driven other Chrysler products recently, I expect better from them at this price level.



Reservations aside, the Wrangler is made for archetypical off-road fans who appreciate solid simplicity and have little patience with sissified fancy bits. For these, the Wrangler Sahara Unlimited is everything it should be. It is also less expensive than many of its stable mates and all but the lowliest entry-level British competitor.



The numbers


Four cylinder in line liquid cooled 2 777 cc


130 kW @ 3 800 rpm


410 Nm @ 2 000 to 2 600 rpm


Length 4 751 mm
Width 1 877 mm


Height 1 800 mm


Wheelbase 2 947 mm


Track, front and rear, 1 572 mm


Mass 1 969 kg


Max payload 454 kg

Max towing capacity 3 500 kg


Fuel: Diesel, 79,5 litres


Service Intervals 20 00 km


Warranty and Maintenance Plan 3 years/100 000 km


Price R 309 900



Performance:
0 – 100 km/h 10,2 seconds


Max. speed 167 km/h


Fuel Index 11,9 l/100 km


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.