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Tackling the Rubicon Trail in the new Jeep Wrangler
Andrew Maclean gets crossed up on the trail that named the car.
As we stare down the road at the arrival of driverless cars under the street lights of today’s over-ruled, nanny state of modern society, thankfully there are still places where enthusiasts can enjoy driving a car.
For fans of fast machinery, the twisting, turning blacktop that makes up the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany is motoring Mecca, where clocking a lap time under eight minutes around the most demanding 22km of tarmac on the planet is for superheroes in supercars.
For those that treat time in another dimension, traversing the same distance on the Rubicon Trail in under eight hours is an altogether different – but equally as demanding – challenge.
The Rubicon Trail is the Nurburgring of off-road tracks; a boulder-strewn, rough-as-guts torture test for the toughest of four-wheel drives – and four-wheel drivers.
Just as the ‘Ring is a public-road-turned-test track for the likes of the Porsche, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, the Rubicon is Jeep’s unofficial proving ground; where the American brand validates the extreme capabilities of its four-wheel drives to ensure they earn its ‘Trail Rated’ badge.
Located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range near Lake Tahoe in California, we’ve come to tackle it the all-new, sixth-generation Jeep Wrangler that is due to arrive in Australian showrooms early next year and promises even greater off-road abilities than before while, conversely, offering better on-road dynamics, the latest in connectivity and safety, more efficient powertrains and greater interior space.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
Not surprisingly, we’ll be driving the range-topping Rubicon model which is tailored specifically for four-wheel driving with a unique transfer case that features an ultra-low crawl ratio, heavy-duty locking differentials at both ends, Kevlar-reinforced all-terrain tyres and a front sway bar that can be electronically disconnected for greater wheel articulation.
Jeep Australia has yet to confirm full details, including price and exact specifications, for local models, but, like before, the Wrangler will be offered in both two-door and four-door body styles across at least three trim grades, with an expected entry point of around $40,000 and topping out in the mid-$50k region for the full-of-fruit, four-door Rubicon.
There will also be a variety of powertrain options depending on the variant, with either a revised version of the 3.6-litre naturally-aspirated V6 or a new-generation turbo diesel four cylinder, six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearboxes, and different four-wheel drive systems – a permanent all-wheel drive transmission in urban-focused models, a conventional two-speed transfer case in regular versions and Jeep’s Rock-Trac system in the Rubicon.
Our journey begins at the Northstar ski resort with a 40km-odd drive down the mountain on a twisty stretch of smooth blacktop and then along the beautiful western shoreline of Lake Tahoe to Tahoma, where the trail head of the Rubicon begins.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
On the road, the Wrangler lives up to Jeep’s claimed dynamic improvements. With electric power steering that is well weighted and consistent across the ratio, the softly-sprung, high-riding Wrangler feels more positive and sure-footed than before. Okay, so its ladder-frame underpinnings, rigid front and rear axles and ballooning 33-inch BF Goodrich tyres means it is far from a Nurburgring racer as it leans heavily when cornering and doesn’t have the same level of grip as, say, a Porsche, but it no longer wanders aimlessly across the road, requiring constant steering adjustments like you’re driving in an old-school movie, as it predecessor did.
The eight-speed auto fitted to our test vehicle is smooth and intuitive, and works well with the 209kW/353Nm atmo V6, using its broad spread of ratios for both spritely getaways and relaxed cruising.
There’s acceptable levels of road and wind noise too, owing in part to improved aerodynamics thanks to a front grille and windscreen that are raked back a little more than before and cleaner body panels.
The cabin presents well with a huge splash of colour across the retro-inspired dash that houses an 8.4-inch colour touch screen with sat nav, digital radio, Bluetooth, smartphone mirroring and a host of four-wheel drive specific gauges.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
The four-door’s boxy body does generate a few blind spots across the shoulder and the spare tyre mounted on the tailgate limits some of the rear vision, but the high-set driving position provides a commanding view of the road ahead.
As we arrive at the trail head, the new Wrangler has already proven itself to be much more liveable within the confines of the urban jungle – which is, sadly, where most will reside in Australia.
But that’s not its natural habitat.
Any soft roader could make it to the beginning of the Rubicon, but only for the first 500 metres or so. After that, it gets nasty. Real nasty.
With low-range four-wheel drive activated and the front sway bar decoupled, we crawl over the first rocky section at what seems like snail’s pace. Considering our trail guides are walking faster, providing millimetre directions over the rocks, even that may be generous.
But the Wrangler isn’t flustered by a bit of hard work, requiring minimal acceleration to crawl over the terrain. In this environment, the V6 is perfectly suited to slow-speed manoeuvring, using its linear throttle map to gently reveal its low-rev pulling power, while the brakes have good feel and are easy to modulate while riding on the torque converter at idle speeds.
The terrain is relentless, with only small breaks between the rough stuff. But the Wrangler’s amazingly elastic suspension makes light work of it all, often with the front and rear axles at completely different angles and sometimes with one wheel hanging high in the air.
To put it in context, it takes us half a day to cover approximately eight kilometres and reach Observation Point – a granite outcrop that provides an amazing vista over the valley carved by the Rubicon River below.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
At an elevation higher than Mount Kosciusko, the air is clean and crisp and we can see our overnight campsite at Rubicon Springs on valley floor below.
It’s only three kilometres down the track, but then one of the Jeep trail guides tells us it’ll take just as long to get there “as we’re only just about to get into the really hard-core stuff.”
Knowing that, we remove the panels in the hard-top roof above the driver and passenger and stow them in a handy zip-up backpack that stows easily in the boot of the four-door. This is just one of three different roof options for the Wrangler – the two-door comes with a soft-top that features windows that can be removed quicker than before, while the four-door can be had with an optional Power Roof that has an electric fabric section that retracts almost the full length of the cabin.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
We also crank-up the tunes, with the heavy licks of Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Queens of the Stone Age piercing through the serenity and reverberating off the rocky cliff behind us. It’s all rock out here!
Anyway, the descent from Observation Hill to the valley floor is via a section dubbed Cadillac Hill, so named because the wreckage of an old 1930’s Caddy still lies beside the road. That’s because – and I can’t imagine how – but the Rubicon used to be a properly maintained road, crossing the mountain range from Nevada and heading towards San Francisco back in the early part of the 20th century. Our campground at Rubicon Springs used to feature a proper hotel too.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
As America’s network of four-lane interstate freeways expanded after World War II, the Rubicon was left unattended and, over the ensuing years, the harsh weather conditions of the area (it’s covered metres deep in snow in winter and baked by the sun in summer) has created what it is today.
It takes a couple of hours to bounce, buck and crawl our way down Cadillac Hill, the Wrangler occasionally crashing and crunching on its underbody bash plates or the side-mounted rock rails when it falls off the side of sharp-edged rocks. And, yet again, it keeps on taking the biggest blows like a heavyweight boxer, never flinching or falling to the canvas… just pounding along.
We cross the Rubicon River, just for giggles, to test the Wrangler’s 760mm of water fording ability. Then turn around and do it again, as Camp Rubicon is a couple of hundred metres up stream.
Again, time and distance are not relative on the Rubicon as it takes another hour or so to cover the last 800m, climbing over another gnarly granite outcrop.
Covered in dust, slightly baked by the sun, ears ringing from our heavy metal antics and mentally exhausted from the sheer concentration required we eventually reach Rubicon Springs, greeted by a leather-skinned old-timer playing Waltzing Matilda on a grand piano (true) and, once we’re out of the car, an ice-cold ale – or two.
Relaxing around the campfire later in the night, soothed by the husky drawl of cowboy Caleb strumming the Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Woman at half speed on his acoustic guitar, it finally gives me time to reflect on how torturous the Rubicon Trail actually is, and yet how effortlessly the Wrangler traversed one of the toughest four-wheel drive tracks on the planet.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
I can’t think of another production car, straight off the showroom floor, that could have got us here without stumbling. I suppose that’s why it wears the Rubicon badge on its bonnet, because it is literally built for this amazing piece of road. If you can actually call it that.
Calmed by that knowledge and the shimmering starlit sky above me, I then realise the only way out of here is to turn around and do it all again tomorrow.
Yep, thank heavens there are still places on the planet where driving a car is a pleasure activity – no matter how slow you go – rather than a chore.
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
| 2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Price and Specifications | |
| Price: | From $40,000 (estimated 2018) |
| On-sale: | February 2019 |
| Engine: | 3.6-litre V6 petrol |
| Power: | 209kW at 6400rpm |
| Torque: | 353Nm at 4800rpm |
| Transmission: | Eight-speed automatic, 4WD |
| Fuel use: | 11.7L/100km |
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2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon -
2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon -
2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
The post 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon versus the Rubicon Trail: Rear View Mirror appeared first on Drive.
