Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara: Off-road heaven

THE SAHARA, which is essentially the luxury Jeep model, comes with a bunch of niceties.

My motoring inclination has always been the low and fast: I love cars that are impossibly low, with fender gaps that barely allow you to squeeze your fingers in, and licorice-thin tires wrapped around impossibly huge alloy wheels, plus all the vents, louvers, ducts and scoops. Throw in a giant functional GT-wing and a snow-scraping splitter and you pretty much have my idea of a fantasy car.

Yet lately, I’ve become more enamored with SUVs, 4X4s and off-road vehicles. Perhaps watching too many zombie apocalypse movies, “Mad Max,” and the like got me curious.

On a rational level, we’ve seen the surge in sales in these segments, thanks to impossibly poor road conditions, the prospect of driving anywhere in our beautiful country, coupled with flash floods.

Yes, 4X4s and its ilk are here to stay, and it’s best to get acquainted with them.

Jeep, one of the legendary names in anything off-road, brings out their latest Wrangler Unlimited variant, the Sahara, which is essentially their luxury Jeep model that comes with a bunch of niceties such as body-colored fenders, a seven-speaker Alpine premium surround sound system with subwoofer (and all the speakers being water-proof), along with a steering wheel that has controls for the audio system and cruise control.

Power comes from a 2.8-liter CRDi turbocharged diesel engine that delivers a thumping 200 horsepower and 460 Newton-meters of torque.

Attached to it is a five-speed automatic transmission that features Jeep’s Command-TRAC 4WD system.

Reinforced 44-inch Dana axles front and rear round out the extensive driveline fortifications.

A FACTORY-FITTED snorkel helps the Jeep gain more fording depth ability.

Interestingly, Bridgestone Dueler  highway-terrain tires sized 255/70R18 are standard.

Off-road, you will hit your limit with these tires, so upgrading to at least decent all-terrain tires that are ideally slightly taller and wider are a must to get the most out of the Jeep.

Our particular test unit also came with optional Hella off-road driving lamps, tubular sidesteps, and light-duty front steel bumper/nudge bar combination and rear steel bumpers, plus a factory-fitted snorkel that helps the Jeep gain more fording depth ability.

The listed manufacturer maximum fording depth without the snorkel is a modest 480 millimeters but many claim to have tested it to as high as

1.2 meters with no problems, with the addition of the snorkel, of course. Of course, it’s a Jeep, not a boat—so tread carefully in deep water.

IN THE rear, steel bumpers reinforce the Jeep’s image as a premium hard-core, off-road vehicle.

On the highway, the Jeep Wrangler is, honestly, horrible. The engine has a mind of its own: It wants to rev below 1,500 revolutions per minute all the time, but keep inching your foot downward and suddenly the Jeep downshifts, surges forward almost uncontrollably, and the heavy- and soggy-feeling brakes make modulation difficult.

The steering is heavy and slow, making quick transitions and maneuvers a real chore, thus you end up all over the place except where you want to stay in, which is your lane.

To add to the confusing experience, the rear roof panels are detachable but sealed quite poorly, thus wind noise and buffeting become a very serious and deafening concern past 70 kilometers per hour. I definitely would not like riding, let alone driving this on a long trip out on the highway.

To use it every day on the highway requires commitment that usually exceeds the one we find in most relationships nowadays, unfortunately.

Despite being hailed as a luxury variant of the Jeep series, comfort is also very Spartan; the ride is firm and bouncy, but thankfully the seats are surprisingly quite comfortable.

However, the front driver’s foot-well is tight such that if the Jeep came in a manual six-speed, driving it would have been very, very physically demanding indeed!

The seating is quite upright, and so is the steering column, which puts your shoulders at an odd angle, therefore making long drives on the highway even more of an effort.

IN FRONT, optional Hella off-road driving lamps, tubular sidesteps, and light-duty front steel bumper/nudge bar

But true fans and enthusiasts of the Jeep will say that this is missing the point of this vehicle, and I agree wholeheartedly.

We found a light trail in Bolinao, Pangasinan, and explored it to our hearts’ content. Off the beaten path, the Jeep feels exactly the same off-road as it felt on-road. But now it all makes sense.

The heavy steering means it’s less sensitive to sudden kickbacks (not the government sort) when traversing dirt and farm roads at a serious pace.

The engine feels like it has found its element: You suddenly find yourself going 20 to 30 kph faster on dirt roads than you expected, and the 254 mm ground clearance means rocks and small boulders won’t stop your progress.

Skid plates protect the Jeep’s fuel tank and transfer case too in case you decide to literally rest the Jeep’s belly on rocks and the like at hard-core trails.

Throw in some basic engine mods (an ECU reflash, intake and exhaust), a taller lifted suspension (no more than 3 inches), bigger 35-37-inch tires, a winch, and heavy duty front and rear steel bumpers, and you basically have an unstoppable off-road machine.

To the vast majority of true Jeep owners, this is the usual tuning path: Mod it some more to get even far greater off-road ability and reach out of their trucks.

Doing so compromises its paved road/highway use further. In fact, many perceive driving on paved surfaces a necessary evil only because it’s the only way to get to their favorite off-road/overlanding trails and campsites.

We find some obstacles and try to get the Jeep up and perch it some mounds for some dramatic suspension flexing shots, but alas, the Jeep simply insists on climbing completely over the obstacles, or getting down from it.

Nonetheless, it’s obvious that the Jeep has far more reserves of off-road talent and ability versus my skill and bravery.

BRIDGESTONE Dueler highway terrain tires sized 255/70R18 are standard.

We call it a day and explore further until we finally find, after several kilometers, paved roads once again on the other side of the hills that protect the coastline of Bolinao, Pangasinan.

The Jeep is big, heavy, cumbersome and difficult to use on paved tarmac. A Toyota FJ Cruiser is easier to live with, and like the Jeep is equally capable on the trail, but is crucially cheaper.

A Land Rover Defender would have been the better comparison, but alas production has ceased and until Jaguar-Land Rover announce its replacement, it’s the Jeep and FJ Cruiser (which Jeep fans jokingly refer to as fake Jeep Cruiser) will be the ones to duke it out in the premium hard-core, off-road segment.

The Jeep isn’t for everyone. If you’re a poser who wants to look macho by buying a Jeep, you’ll be sorely disappointed with equally sore body parts.

The Jeep isn’t about prancing down high streets; it’s about traversing places with no streets at all.

Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough, as the song goes, to keep the Jeep from getting to its next destination.