Vehicle Tests > 2007 4WD of the Year

SPECS
Base price: $57, 990
Price as tested: $62,865 (air-con $2640; lockers $2735) + on-road costs
Engine: 4.5-litre V8 turbo diesel
Gearbox: Five-speed manual
4WD System: Part-time
Low Range: Yes
Claimed max power: 151kW @ 3400rpm
Claimed max torque: 430Nm @ 1200-3200rpm
Weight: 2190kg
Average fuel consumption on test*: 15.1 litres/100km
Fuel tank capacity: 90 litres
Touring range**: 546km

*Test included a high percentage of low-range driving plus beach work and is higher than you would expect for onroad use only.
** Based on test average fuel consumption, fuel tank capacity and a 50km safety margin.

BEST POINTS: Simple design, practicality, engine
WORST POINTS: On-road stability, safety, price

3rd (242 points)
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited

Background
The all-new '07 (JK) Wrangler comes in many guises, some of them like the four-door variant and the turbo diesel new to the Wrangler range. The Rubicon model, as its name suggests, is aimed directly at the serious offroad market and comes with a range of features that sound more like an aftermarket wish list than factory-standard offerings. Most notably, the Rubicon has front and rear dashboard-switched lockers, extra deep low-range gearing (4.0:1 verses 2.72:1 for the standard Wrangler), heavy-duty Dana axles with 4.1:1 diffs, and a really nice bit of kit in the form of a disconnecting front sway bar. Like the lockers, the sway bar connect/disconnect is dashboard switched. In an ideal world we would like to see a turbo diesel Rubicon in the model line-up but as it is, the Rubi as we call it, only comes with petrol power in the form of a 146kW 3.8-litre V6.

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Set-piece hill climb/test track
No problems for the Jeep on the set-piece climb. In addition to its lockers, the Rubi also comes with electronic traction control, as do all new Wranglers, and this is all it needs to climb the slope. But it does drag its belly as clearance, in particular the ramp-over angle, is the long-wheelbase Wrangler's single offroad shortcoming.

Just for the sake of the exercise, we engage both lockers and disconnect the front sway bar. The result? An absolutely effortless ascent of the hill, helped of course by the extra-low gearing.
The same low gearing also means that there are no problems with the descent, the only things we don't like about the Rubi in this little exercise is its relatively poor turning circle and restricted vision from the driver's seat. Not surprisingly, the Jeep also completes the set-piece test loop without raising a sweat.

Trail Drive
The same attributes that helped the Jeep pass the set-piece tests without a bother also help it on the trail sections. With the front sway bar disconnected the front wheels seem to have almost elastic travel and, with the traction control doing its thing, the Jeep glides effortlessly over all sorts of terrain. If things get a little more difficult there's always the back-up foolproof insurance of the lockers. Just watch the clearance over those sharp humps however.

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