Sedona Jeep School
09-19-2006, 07:44 PM
Went to Oxendale Chrysler to pick up one of our '05's in for some warranty work, and, lo and behold, there sits a brand new fresh-off-the-truck JK Unlimited X in steel blue. Patti and I immediately commenced crawling over, under and in and out of it. A very nice salesperson, Bob, approached us and asked if us "ladies" would like to drive it. "Would we?!!!" heh, heh, heh. Poor Bob. ;)
While Bob fetched the keys, I recommenced my undercarriage inspection, while Patti pulled up the carpet and determined the best way to remove the bumpers. (Girls will be girls!)
The great thing about Oxendale is that they are only two blocks from the beginning of the Mingus Trail, which offers some moderately "jeepy" play spots right near the trailhead. Bob mentioned that he had never 4-wheeled, but that one of the other salesman took clients to a place nearby and took them on some "crazy" hills to show them what the Jeeps would do. "Well, today is your lucky day, Bob--don't worry, we promise not to scratch it or even touch the skid plates. We're professionals." :D
We took it up, down, sideways, and all twisty-like (as much as we dared with a new-not-ours-not-yet-scratched-37-miles-on-the-odometer Jeep) through ruts, divets, up hills, down hills, etc. Bob got really quiet, and his knuckles turned white, while tiny beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. When we returned to pavement, he said "that was the place I was talking about."
Overall impression: I WANT ONE (or two, or forty)!
I would say that the XJ replacement we had hoped for is finally here. DC managed to attain the sweeeeeet handling of the Liberty, while maintaining the aggressive feel of the Wrangler. Some of the flimsy plastic stuff will come off (one way or another!), but the basic Jeep is still there. The new frame is BEEFY, and there is plenty of wheel-well room for bigger wheels, in addition to copious sawzall opportunities.
It didn't handle like the bohemoth I expected--it turned quite crisply and the stock suspension seemed to flex as well as the LJ, but without the rubbery feel.
One of my biggest concerns was/is the V6. It performed very quietly and smoothly on our modest climbs, ruts and ledges, with only a slightly higher rpm than our TJ's. Around town, it didn't exactly put us back in our seats, but I didn't really expect that from an automatic Unlimited. We did not take it out at highway speeds, which would be the next good test for the motor, given that our modestly lifted TJ's bog down at the slightest hills. We will save that for another day, and give Bob some time to recover.
I could go on and on with the minutia, but, suffice to say, I am now excited about the new JK's. Maybe it's improved design, maybe it's my experience, but that is something that I wouldn't have said 10 years ago when our now beloved TJ's were introduced.
Happy trails!
While Bob fetched the keys, I recommenced my undercarriage inspection, while Patti pulled up the carpet and determined the best way to remove the bumpers. (Girls will be girls!)
The great thing about Oxendale is that they are only two blocks from the beginning of the Mingus Trail, which offers some moderately "jeepy" play spots right near the trailhead. Bob mentioned that he had never 4-wheeled, but that one of the other salesman took clients to a place nearby and took them on some "crazy" hills to show them what the Jeeps would do. "Well, today is your lucky day, Bob--don't worry, we promise not to scratch it or even touch the skid plates. We're professionals." :D
We took it up, down, sideways, and all twisty-like (as much as we dared with a new-not-ours-not-yet-scratched-37-miles-on-the-odometer Jeep) through ruts, divets, up hills, down hills, etc. Bob got really quiet, and his knuckles turned white, while tiny beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. When we returned to pavement, he said "that was the place I was talking about."
Overall impression: I WANT ONE (or two, or forty)!
I would say that the XJ replacement we had hoped for is finally here. DC managed to attain the sweeeeeet handling of the Liberty, while maintaining the aggressive feel of the Wrangler. Some of the flimsy plastic stuff will come off (one way or another!), but the basic Jeep is still there. The new frame is BEEFY, and there is plenty of wheel-well room for bigger wheels, in addition to copious sawzall opportunities.
It didn't handle like the bohemoth I expected--it turned quite crisply and the stock suspension seemed to flex as well as the LJ, but without the rubbery feel.
One of my biggest concerns was/is the V6. It performed very quietly and smoothly on our modest climbs, ruts and ledges, with only a slightly higher rpm than our TJ's. Around town, it didn't exactly put us back in our seats, but I didn't really expect that from an automatic Unlimited. We did not take it out at highway speeds, which would be the next good test for the motor, given that our modestly lifted TJ's bog down at the slightest hills. We will save that for another day, and give Bob some time to recover.
I could go on and on with the minutia, but, suffice to say, I am now excited about the new JK's. Maybe it's improved design, maybe it's my experience, but that is something that I wouldn't have said 10 years ago when our now beloved TJ's were introduced.
Happy trails!