2011 Jeep Wrangler Reviewers

The 2011 Jeep Wrangler. Reviewers love the way the Jeep Wrangler can tackle rugged trails, but hate its clumsy and unrefined road manners.The 2011 Jeep Wrangler is like a lumberjack (and that’s okay).

There are few other off-road SUVs that offer styling as distinctive and off-road abilities as rugged as the Wrangler. For 2011, Jeep has improved the Wranglers interior, which has long been a sore spot for reviewers.

The Wrangler Rubicon also includes electronic locking front and rear differentials, an electronic sway bar disconnect, and 32-inch BF Goodrich off-road tires.

Even though Jeep engineers intensified the vehicle’s acoustical treatments for the 2011 model year, the Wrangler has never been—and still isn’t—a quiet SUV. With its military-use heritage, the this Jeep remains a duty-focused vehicle. Trudging through pothole-pitted roads, snow clogged arteries, and nasty off-road terrain is this compact SUV’s specialty.

The Wrangler’s dashboard stack display no longer seemingly borrows its inspiration from a stepladder. Wrangler’s rough-and tumble character gets softened as door armrests and other touch points are no longer rock hard. Entering and exiting the two-door’s back seat is still challenging, so anyone taking rear seat duty needs super-flexible limbs. Although the Wrangler’s rear window is approximately 15 percent bigger than the predecessor, the driver’s rearward vision remains compromised by the rear seat headrests.

EPA estimates for the two-door 4x4—whether fitted with the four-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission—are 15-mpg city and 19-mpg highway. Jeep Wrangler Rubicon’s interior alterations do a nice job of unifying the cabin presentation. What truly stands out is Wrangler’s off-road prowess.

You might not even distinguish the Jeep Wrangler, at a quick glance, out on the trail, from a much older Wrangler or CJ. That's what Jeep hopes, it seems; the brand has evolved the Wrangler's iconic exterior style very little over the years, and the flat side sheetmetal, trapezoidal wheel flares, and seven-slot grille keep with the Wrangler's military-truck heritage.

The 2011 Jeep Wrangler is offered in two different body styles (Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited) and three different trims (Sport, Sahara, and Rubicon). Wrangler Unlimited models add 20.6 inches of wheelbase (116 inches), giving them the most cargo space ever in a Jeep Wrangler, and a larger rear-seat design. Jeep Wrangler models can be equipped with air conditioning, navigation, automatic climate control, and streetwise alloy wheels. This year there's also a new Call of Duty: Black Ops special edition, based on the Wrangler Rubicon model.