Quick thoughts after driving a rental Jeep

[mikeeshim]

I've now had my 2021 2D CG FE for 10k miles, and I'm still in love with it.
After another user posted a TSB on the alternator, I took mine in to the dealer and within a few minutes, I had a new alternator ordered and was on my merry way. New alternator arrived at dealer so I dropped my Bronco off and was shuttled to the rental location, upon which I thought would be a great time to drive a Wrangler.

The one I ended up with was a 2021 Wrangler Sahara Unlimited. Having never owned a Jeep, it seemed to me that, by the badging, most of the bells and whistles that come with a higher end Wrangler would be present minus the off road capabilities of the Rubicon.

The following are my thoughts on my experience with the Wrangler compared to my Bronco.

Seats: The first thing I immediately noticed are how bad the seats are. I spent a lot of my younger days in modified sports cars and having modified seats in most of them, I'm most comfortable driving with the back set at almost 90° to the seat bottoms. The Bronco seat back goes almost to 90°, but this Wrangler goes only sets to what feels like 45° to the seat bottom. The cushioning on the seats were terrible as well, and for the past 100 miles or so, it's been a pretty bad experience for me.

Interior: Coming from a First Edition Bronco, nothing about the Wrangler interior was appealing to me. Everything felt rubbery, cheap, and extremely crammed. The thing that really stuck out to me was how outdated the infotainment system seemed, but that's been my experience with every Dodge vehicle I've been in. The materials of the bare removable hard top were also very undesirable to look at. It definitely needs a coat of paint or a liner.

Audio system: This particular jeep seemed to have the basic system, and I realized during the first 2 songs that I was happier with the audio system completely off. WOW, it was bad. My B&O sounds like a competition system compared to whatever is in this Wrangler.

Drive: Without having opened the hood, I can only assume this is a 4 cylinder motor because it is so sluggish. However, it has enough power to push itself along, so it does suffice. What was most noticeable was how much it drifted to the right, and it really kept me on my toes. It is nearly impossible to drive straight, and there was almost no feedback from the steering wheel. I also noticed that after a turn, the wheel doesn't really spin back to normal, and I had to manually turn it back to OG position, which I thought was extremely odd and dangerous.

Noise: Surprisingly, the hardtop Wrangler seems noticeably more quiet than my hardtop Bronco, but then again, I have a lot of stuff attached to the Bronco hardtop, so it's hard compare the two, but it seemed a lot quieter, even with the sound system turned off. I guess I'm not the right person to comment on this, but I noticed that within the first 5 minutes of driving.

Design: Obviously, I love the way my Bronco looks. The white Wrangler is handsome, too, though I can't get over the fact that it looks small on the outside, and feels even smaller on the inside. By numbers alone, it shouldn't feel so different but everything in the Wrangler just feels really cramped. I can't say that it felt pleasant to be inside this car.

Overall, I think what the Bronco will do for the Wrangler will be amazing. It feels like the Wrangler has had no reason to change for the last 30 years and decided that if it wasn't broken, it had no desire to change. Competition promotes innovation, and the re-release of the Bronco will push each other to be better than the other, and in 50 years, we'll have flying cars and none of this will matter to most, but it will to the few of us that are still trying to find the hardest way over a hill.

In hindsight, although it may seem that I'm Jeep bashing, it is only a comparison between 2 very similar vehicles, and my experiences with each. I do think the Bronco is better in every way when it comes to the above aforementioned qualities, but the off road experience, I'm sure, will be very different as well.

The kicker? I just went to snap a picture of the Jeep for this post and saw 7 goggley eyed girls standing in front of the Jeep, asking if it was my Jeep. Haven't had that happen in my Bronco yet.

Thanks for reading.

Sponsored

 

[AKBronc49]

I rented a 4dr Wrangler in AZ last summer, spent 10 days and roughly 1200 miles with it. I found the interior very crampt, steering was like my 2002 Excursion a lot of slop and vague. Top was super noisy but that was because of a broken latch, which caused it to leak terribly in a downpour. Overall I hated it and was happy to get home to my Bronco, which feels much more like driving an F-150 than a jeep that felt like a side by side.

 

[HighVelocity]

I just went to snap a picture of the Jeep for this post and saw 7 goggley eyed girls standing in front of the Jeep, asking if it was my Jeep. Haven't had that happen in my Bronco yet.

That's all you needed to say right there: The Bronco doesn't attract people with birth defects!

 

[Yeti-X]

Interesting, I have owned many jeeps last two Rubicon Gladiators. Power is definitely lacking compared to the 2.7 and the interior is smaller, However for me The interior is by far more finished than the plastic tempo interior of the Bronco and the stereo in my Rubicon was so much better than the Bronco its not even funny. The steering can be set up to go down the road straight and with great feedback but it is a solid axle so it will never be a highway ride like ifs and actually if it was a 4 cylinder wrangler it will actually walk a 4 cylinder bronco. It was probably a v6

 

[CM81]

I never really thought jeeps looked that great, but when the bronco came out I noticed how ugly they really are. I have driven them and the ride is crap.

 

[voxel]

I borrowed a friend's Wrangler Sahara PHEV for a week and vastly preferred that to my 2D Big Bend 2.3L. The PHEV powertrain is vastly smoother and more powerful and the PHEV audio system was actually good compared to the AM-quality of the 6 speaker system on my Bronco. I test drove a Badlands 2.7L 4D with the B&O sound system and it was... pretty crappy. My Mach-E's B&O system is my minimum acceptable system and it's nothing to rave out compared to luxury audio systems.

My Big Bend was loud on the highway (measured 88dB) but the Wrangler was closer to a normal SUV in road/wind noise. Steering was sloppy on the Wrangler for sure... but not as bad as I imagined from comments I've read.

I can see somebody over 6' 2"not fitting into a Wrangler though. The small cabin limits it's market.

Both are insanely overpriced and neither are luxurious. These are off-road vehicles with cheap interiors, materials, audio systems, infotainment, etc.

 

[JBrew]

I don't have a lot of experience with Jeeps, but I've never liked the way they turned.

Last summer I ended up in a rented Grand Wagoneer. Just a personal opinion, but an $70K+ vehicle shouldn't turn like a semi.

 

[Fordmanfrombirth]

My neighbor has a newer Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. He came over to check out my 2022 Bronco Outer Banks. He was very complimentary. He liked a lot about the Bronco verses his Jeep. I don't know if he was just being polite and a good neighbor, but he seemed to prefer the Bronco over his Jeep.

 

[Rover72]

I just sold my 2022 Jeep Rubicon (first Jeep ever) to Carmax after 20k miles, tired of waiting for Bronco and needed a vehicle.

Picking up both, my Bronco Badlands and my wifes OBX on Tuesday. I really liked the Jeep and hate to see it go. Didn't go off-road at all and will only go a couple times a year in the Bronco. For everyday driving the 2.0T in the Jeep was fun to blast around in. Jeep solid front axle truck front end behaved predictably and is what it is. I could live with Jeep SFA if the Bronco did not exist. I would definitely stick with SFA if off roading was my thing. The Jeep leather interior and all of it was OK for me. Had the dual roofs, easy to change them out and the soft top looks way better than the Bronco soft top. All the bronco soft tops I've seen look saggy.

I will report on Badlands vs Rubicon after I put some miles on the Badlands over the next couple of months. Pretty sure I'm going to love the 2 door Bronco, don't like the look of the 4 door Bronco unless it's SAS. On the other hand my Rubicon was a 4 door, don't like the look of the 2 door Jeep.
In summary, really like the 4 dr Rubicon, nothing bad to say. Had a ton of fun in a 2 dr Bronco at the Off Rodeo so do not expect to be disappointed by the Bronco!

 

[CarGuy]

I've now had my 2021 2D CG FE for 10k miles, and I'm still in love with it.
After another user posted a TSB on the alternator, I took mine in to the dealer and within a few minutes, I had a new alternator ordered and was on my merry way. New alternator arrived at dealer so I dropped my Bronco off and was shuttled to the rental location, upon which I thought would be a great time to drive a Wrangler.

The one I ended up with was a 2021 Wrangler Sahara Unlimited. Having never owned a Jeep, it seemed to me that, by the badging, most of the bells and whistles that come with a higher end Wrangler would be present minus the off road capabilities of the Rubicon.

The following are my thoughts on my experience with the Wrangler compared to my Bronco.

Seats: The first thing I immediately noticed are how bad the seats are. I spent a lot of my younger days in modified sports cars and having modified seats in most of them, I'm most comfortable driving with the back set at almost 90° to the seat bottoms. The Bronco seat back goes almost to 90°, but this Wrangler goes only sets to what feels like 45° to the seat bottom. The cushioning on the seats were terrible as well, and for the past 100 miles or so, it's been a pretty bad experience for me.

Interior: Coming from a First Edition Bronco, nothing about the Wrangler interior was appealing to me. Everything felt rubbery, cheap, and extremely crammed. The thing that really stuck out to me was how outdated the infotainment system seemed, but that's been my experience with every Dodge vehicle I've been in. The materials of the bare removable hard top were also very undesirable to look at. It definitely needs a coat of paint or a liner.

Audio system: This particular jeep seemed to have the basic system, and I realized during the first 2 songs that I was happier with the audio system completely off. WOW, it was bad. My B&O sounds like a competition system compared to whatever is in this Wrangler.

Drive: Without having opened the hood, I can only assume this is a 4 cylinder motor because it is so sluggish. However, it has enough power to push itself along, so it does suffice. What was most noticeable was how much it drifted to the right, and it really kept me on my toes. It is nearly impossible to drive straight, and there was almost no feedback from the steering wheel. I also noticed that after a turn, the wheel doesn't really spin back to normal, and I had to manually turn it back to OG position, which I thought was extremely odd and dangerous.

Noise: Surprisingly, the hardtop Wrangler seems noticeably more quiet than my hardtop Bronco, but then again, I have a lot of stuff attached to the Bronco hardtop, so it's hard compare the two, but it seemed a lot quieter, even with the sound system turned off. I guess I'm not the right person to comment on this, but I noticed that within the first 5 minutes of driving.

Design: Obviously, I love the way my Bronco looks. The white Wrangler is handsome, too, though I can't get over the fact that it looks small on the outside, and feels even smaller on the inside. By numbers alone, it shouldn't feel so different but everything in the Wrangler just feels really cramped. I can't say that it felt pleasant to be inside this car.

Overall, I think what the Bronco will do for the Wrangler will be amazing. It feels like the Wrangler has had no reason to change for the last 30 years and decided that if it wasn't broken, it had no desire to change. Competition promotes innovation, and the re-release of the Bronco will push each other to be better than the other, and in 50 years, we'll have flying cars and none of this will matter to most, but it will to the few of us that are still trying to find the hardest way over a hill.

In hindsight, although it may seem that I'm Jeep bashing, it is only a comparison between 2 very similar vehicles, and my experiences with each. I do think the Bronco is better in every way when it comes to the above aforementioned qualities, but the off road experience, I'm sure, will be very different as well.

The kicker? I just went to snap a picture of the Jeep for this post and saw 7 goggley eyed girls standing in front of the Jeep, asking if it was my Jeep. Haven't had that happen in my Bronco yet.

Thanks for reading.

What? You didn't select the "goggley eyed" option from Ford when you ordered the Bronco.

 

[Billnchristy]

I've never driven one but our son recently visited and drove my wife's bronco and he was very impressed with the handling and acceleration. When they came back he said "That definitely doesn't ride like a Jeep"

 

[dgorsett]

I rented one in Hawaii, it was fine, except I could hardly hold it on the road.

 

[GroovyGeek]

A 10 year JKU owner and a newly minted BD owner (as of 2 days ago):

Seats - I find both of them very comfortable, much more so than the BMW and Mercedes (my wife's last two cars). What is really annoying with the Jeep is that the seats don't recline anywhere near horizontal. And since the JKU is not large enough to sleep in the back if you are 6ft+ that is a serious limitation.

Asphalt handling - Bronco by a mile... maybe 10. The Wrangler has the elegance of an oxcart. Micro corrections are a fact of life, and in any meaningful cross wind the Wrangler requires macro connections.

Ground clearance - Wrangler by a mile. Even a base level Freedom has a lot more air under it. The BD has all these protrusions, surprisingly around the external perimeter. Makes me wonder what happens if I put the tires on a high obstacle and come down on the other side. Feels like the BD will catch something long before the rock rails come into play.

Maneuverability - Bronco by a mile. This was one of the big surprises, how tight the U-turns are.

Interior - both are FUGLY. The Bronco looks ever so slightly less plasticky but one has to wonder how durable the plastic is. My Wrangler ran mostly topless for 7 years under the San Diego sun. I just put in the back seats after sitting 10 years on a shelf in the garage. There was hardly.any color mismatch with the front seats which had taken 7 years.of unprotected sun. None of the plastic on the dashboard showed any signs of degradation. In comparison my wife's BMW as bubbling and peeling on year 5, and she mostly parks in garages.

Exterior - both are ugly, the Wrangler definitely more so than the Bronco. If Ford had built the exact same vehicle with a fixed cab, more aerodynamic styling and dramatically reduced road noise they would have pleased me tremendously.

Value - both are terrible. The Bronco slightly more so than the Jeep
$60k gets you a decked out Rubicon. A $40k Sport is far more off-road capable than a base Bronco or even a stock BB, where you get a carpeted undercarriage and the downsides of a Bronco with none of the upsides

Road noise - it depends. A Wrangler soft top is much, much better than a Bronco soft top in every possible way. The Bronco soft top looks and behaves like it was designed by a 1st year mechanical engineer. And it is noisy as hell. A rental Badlands I got for a week d was easily clocking in at 85db. At that point I thought I will never get a Bronco. However a Bronco hard top is only slightly more noisy than a Wrangler hard top.

 

[Butzy]

As to jeep not having a reason to change. Bck in 2005, I bought my wife a beautiful new, electric lime green TJ. Shortly after, I participated in a survey asking what changes they should make to the upcoming wrangler. The results were almost 100% zero changes. Then they changed too much anyway. In other words, jeepers are stubborn and don't care for change.

 

[Mocopo]

I own a '21 4dr badsquatch and a '22JLUR-XR. Almost everything about the comfort and on-road experience is very subjective, even the steering, where the IFS usually wins hands down... I like the feel of my smooth wrangler steering better than the stiffness of the bronco. That's not a popular opinion tho, I get that.

Neither are built for amazing on-road comfort. The real competition happens off-road.

Sponsored