[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by suneel

"Jeep Wrangler has been a really successful flagship product for us in India and it commands almost 67% our India CBU sales, since its launch in 2016."

This quote from the article is hilarious

Jeep sells 2 CBU models: The Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee, and the GC is more expensive. Such a great example of pointless statistics.

Yup, we sold 3 vehicles.
2 wranglers and one grand Cherokee.

With 67% of market share, we declare wrangler is such a success!

[ScepticSkeptic]

Auto guys never know much about ancient history anyway.
If Jeep had to allude to the river Rubicon in any case, then they had better named it "Caeser"- the man who crossed the river which was forbidden to be crossed.

Mod Note: Post Edited. Smiley usage is restricted to two per post on Team-BHP. Please do NOT use more than 2 smileys in a post.

We advise you to read through the Forum Rules.

Sahara? Rubicon? What next? Bermuda Triangle? Line of fire? No man's land? Electric fence?
What's with auto companies' penchant for hurdles rather than heroes who conquered those hurdles! Why not "Lawrence" rather than "Sahara " and why not "Caeser" rather than "Rubicon"? Just kidding 😄
Auto company folks always slept through history classes🤣

[suneel]

Originally Posted by ScepticSkeptic

If Jeep had to allude to the river Rubicon in any case, then they had better named it "Caeser"- the man who crossed the river which was forbidden to be crossed.

Rubicon is the name of a trail, not a river.

In any case, I test drove the Rubicon last weekend during the Camp Jeep event in Bangalore. The event itself was pretty minimal; just some snacks, a few couches and an opportunity to test drive the Compass, Compass Trailhawk and Wrangler Rubicon. I liked that it was a quick in and out event, which focused more on the trail and driving experience. My only gripe was that they didn't let customers drive their own vehicles through the track. I was really looking forward to taking my Jeep through the trail but sadly we could only use their own vehicles.

Driving experience:
The trail we got to drive through was 100% offroad, over a variety of terrain types. It took about half an hour to go through and had a variety of obstacles.
The instructor in the car was very helpful and experienced. The spotters along the trail did a great job at making sure we didn't accidentaly drive offtrack and wreck the Jeep.

The Rubicon itself was a blast to drive. After adjusting the seat and mirrors, we immediately shifted it into 4 Low and set off. No long drawn out instructions or intro at all. Some of the obstacles I got to tackle included a 25 degree bank, a 25+ degree descent, a 28 degree hill climb, deep ruts, a see-saw and a pure granite rock field! The drive was over before we knew it, but not before some heartstopping moments on the track.

Some observations:

- The India spec Rubicon comes with the Selec Trac transfer case, and not the Rock Trac which the US Rubicons get. It had a 4H auto mode which confirms this.

- Also the crawl ratio felt like it was 1:2.7 and not the 1:4 that the US Rubicon and Rock Trac gets you.

- I drove over the deep rut obstacle section twice, once with the sway bars connected and once after using the electronic sway bar disconnect. The difference was certainly noticeable. The vehicle was much more composed and stable after disconnecting the sway bars (due to 25% increased articulation of the front axle)

- We used the hill hold while halfway up the hill climb. I could not believe the Jeep just stayed there at that angle with no drama.

- It definitely felt like we would roll over during the bank, but apparently these vehicles have a low center of gravity and can bank at even higher degrees than we attempted.

- The rock field was ridiculous. I would have never thought crossing something like that was even conceivable. We did it with the lockers engaged, but we unlocked them halfway and it didn't make much of a difference. The Wrangler cruised over it regardless. I am honestly amazed that Jeep would let customers drive over something like this for a promotional event.

- The interiors were a step down from the Sahara. The dashboard is plastic instead of leather wrapped. The red stiching on the seats and steering wheel is also louder.

Overall it was a great experience. The Wrangler Rubicon is a joy to drive offroad and it's good news for everyone that it will be on our roads in less than a month. It was also an educational experience for me and I feel much more confident going offroad in my own vehicle, now that I know what is possible. I didn't think the difference between the standard Wrangler (Sahara) and the Rubicon were very substantial since India doesn't get the Rock Trac transfer case, but still for the person that really needs lockers and a sway bar disconnect, it might still be worth it.

[GTO]

This lame press release from Jeep just made me

Trying to "fake success" like this is not done. This press release is worthless without any sales numbers to back it up. Tomorrow, Sipani Motors will resurface, have a monthly production capacity of 2 cars and say "we're sold out for 6 months and have no spare capacity, while Maruti's factories are running at 70% utilisation".

First Batch of Imported Jeep® Wrangler Rubicon SUVs Sold Out in India, in Record Time

FCA’s first batch of the recently-imported Jeep® Wrangler Rubicon SUVs have been sold out in India in record time. The significant batch of Wrangler Rubicons are ready for deliveries to Indian customers with immediate effect. The Jeep® Wrangler is the most recognised vehicle in the world and the current generation of the 4x4 SUV is the most technologically advanced ever. The legendary Rubicon was launched in India at INR 68.94 lakh, is the most extreme 4x4 Wrangler model that the company manufactures and sells across the globe.

[suneel]

Originally Posted by GTO

This press release is worthless without any sales numbers to back it up.

They announced the sales number of the first batch of Rubicons on their official Instagram page.

I think the first batch of Wranglers in August was also small at around 30 - 40 vehicles.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

This lame press release from Jeep just made me

Trying to "fake success" like this is not done. This press release is worthless without any sales numbers to back it up. .

How do you know if these are even actually sold and were instead forced down the dealers throat!

[panamera13]

Jeep wrangler rolls over during crash test.

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/jeep-wr...ihs-crash-test

https://www.businessinsider.com/jeep...sk-iihs-2020-5

[AamodB]

Wow that's just ridiculous for an SUV made in 2020, that too one targeted towards hardcore off-road enthusiasts. Even Mahindra once infamous for their road presence > safety motto have got their act together. Can't believe people actually spend north of 50L for these cardboard boxes

[Starfire]

I have never trusted Jeep when it comes to occupant safety. Even though it has an excellent off-road reputation, it's failed to cut the mustard multiple times before in the safety department. Even Jeep's flagship, the Grand Cherokee, was plagued with safety concerns; it failed the moose test badly back in 2012, which I clearly remember. Even in 2018, the Grand Cherokee flopped the safety tests showing it to be really dangerous for its occupants.

Now, although it's been eight years since the first incident, Jeep still fails to get the equation right with the Wrangler and blames the testers instead. Attaching the videos below for reference.

https://youtu.be/n2iSM6nhWWw

https://youtu.be/QbNSDblROOQ

[JayKavadi]

Slightly OT and perhaps wishful thinking, but I was wondering if there is merit in getting the safety ratings for Indian cars done through the IIHS battery of tests.

When NCAP comes out with a 5 star rating, it considers (Afaik) only the frontal impact (40%), side impact and roll over test. There is no reference to the small overlap (25%) test. And a lot of cars which have otherwise aced the frontal test have failed quite miserably in the small Overlap tests.

While I am glad that Indian markets have started taking safety seriously perhaps a 5 star rating needs to be exactly that i.e 5 star... just my two cents.

[landcruiser123]

Not surprising, after reading this bit of news: https://www.consumerreports.org/car-...-transmission/ Manual Transmissions are probably the simplest type of transmission and has been perfected over a century.

FCAs engineering is absolute garbage. They only make good small diesel engines and decent small cars.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by AamodB

Wow that's just ridiculous for an SUV made in 2020, that too one targeted towards hardcore off-road enthusiasts. Even Mahindra once infamous for their road presence > safety motto have got their act together. Can't believe people actually spend north of 50L for these cardboard boxes

Lets see how the current crop of Indian SUV's fare in the IIHS overlap tests. I would be pleasantly surprised if they do any better.
Not defending Jeep here, but the Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon seems to be a higher ground clearance vehicle, and I would bet that most higher ground clearance vehicles will have a a high chance of rollover in the real-world circumstances, ESP notwithstanding. The authorities should do one of the following:

i) limit the purpose of high GC vehicles for personal purposes
ii) electronically/mechanically limit the performance parameters and test the dynamics and crash safety accordingly.

[AamodB]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Not defending Jeep here, but the Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon seems to be a higher ground clearance vehicle, and I would bet that most higher ground clearance vehicles will have a a high chance of rollover in the real-world circumstances

Not really an apples to apples comparison since OEM priority for safety in Indian cars let alone sub-50L SUVs is a very recent phenomenon.

It could be that this specific test is a shortcoming of body-on-frame SUVs but in all honesty I don't see the likes of the G-Wagon and Ford/ Chevy Pickups rolling over as easily as the Wrangler did. The F-150 and the Silverado performed leagues better than the Jeep which I assume has a comparatively weaker chassis.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by AamodB

It could be that this specific test is a shortcoming of body-on-frame SUVs but in all honesty I don't see the likes of the G-Wagon and Ford/ Chevy Pickups rolling over as easily as the Wrangler did. The F-150 and the Silverado performed leagues better than the Jeep which I assume has a comparatively weaker chassis.

Right- but here is the thing, IIHS noted that Jeep Wrangler Rubicon lacked side curtain airbags for additional protection from a rollover. This is a known design consideration before the test itself was conducted. Therefore, a comparison with the likes of those cars which do have the side bags, would be moot. Its like comparing a current model Mahindra Thar with say, an XUV5OO for a frontal crash test. We know that the result will be ugly for the Thar.

[Shashwat.75]

So technically, does that make Nexon safer than the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon?