Jeep in the Wild

Jeep India chose just the right location for us to experience the new Wrangler Rubicon and here is how it went off

- Joshua Varghese

SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT JEEP BEING synonymous with off-roading is like stating sugar is sweet. It is obvious and old news. What I should say is that instead of making us drive up and down on a curated course, Jeep let us experience the new Wrangler in the untamed wild. The Wrangler is available in both Unlimited and Rubicon variants and we drove the latter.

Our first important decision of the day was to choose the right sport utility vehicle (SUV) because Jeep had both the standard Rubicon and a fully open model equipped with accessories. Given that we had to go through a forest and cross a river, we opted for the former. Within a few minutes of driving, our convoy turned off the well-worn trail and straight into the denser parts of the forest. The overgrowth on the sides had been flattened to prevent scratches on the paintwork; apart from that, nothing was done to make things easier for us. Not that it made any difference to the Rubicon.

In four-wheel-drive low, there was nothing that stood in this SUV's way. For the most notorious of boulders, we just disconnected the sway bar and the Rubicon simply climbed over it as if it were an overly protruding speed-breaker. To make offroading easier for everyone, Jeep have equipped the new Wrangler with cameras at the front and rear. Although it may sound like a gimmick, it came in extremely useful. In fact, there were times when I tried driving by just looking at the screen and it worked flawlessly without any lag whatsoever. The sight-lines of the Wrangler's bonnet make it easy to place the front wheels but it is reassuring to know that one can rely on a camera feed to be doubly sure. It is a fairly expensive SUV after all.