Jeep Wrangler

Jeeps are God's proof of love for mankind.

That said, I've heard that of all the Jeeps, Wranglers are the worst in the snow (perhaps excepting the Compass...I dont know much about that model). Wrangler owners tell me that other Jeep models they've driven in snow tend to out perform the Wrangler. Not what you would expect to hear...

I would think that the relative short wheelbase of the jeep would be a detriment in the snow. That said, snow tires can make most any vehicle perform very well in the snow. This includes fwd econoboxes. If youre looking solely at snow performance, id just get a car with relatively good ground clearance (not a mazda protege etc) and put dedicated snow tires on it during the months where itd make sense to.

Coworker has a rubicon. They love it for off-roading and camping but she says it's pretty iffy in winter city driving up hear, especially on ice.

I do not think the Wrangler has gotten AWD yet and is still the standard part-time, old fashioned 4X4. AWD, with sophisticated technology to route power to the wheels with the best traction using viscous slip coupling, are far superior for driving in snow on the road.

Compass/Patriot aren't even really Jeeps, but that said, I own a Patriot, and it performs just handily in the snow with snow tires.

^Just about anything will perform handily in the snow with proper snow tires.

I wonder if part of the issue here is that many Wrangler owners are running M/T tires. Contrary to popular belief, these types of tires (wide, with big lugs and no siping) do NOT perform well in the snow.

Given I live in Georgia, I don't have a ton of experience driving in the snow, but we've gotten a few storms in the last few years, so I can give a little advice.

MrsG has a 2wd Patriot, and I have a '98 TJ with big, knobby tires that I keep as a weekend/project vehicle. We got a bunch of snow here in January, which promptly turned to slush/ice the day after it snowed. This was a particular challenge for us because our driveway is 1/4 of the way down a huge hill.

While it was snowing, the TJ was fantastic - I put it in four high just cruised. However, when that snow turned to slush/ice, MrsG's little Patriot performed admirably. In fact, she was able to negotiate the hill in front of our house much, much better than I was. She got in and out of our driveway with no problem at all, whereas I actually had to park my TJ at the bottom of the hill (because that was where I came to rest when I stopped sliding).

Unrelated question for the Wrangler fans since I was just poking around on the Jeep website - does it make sense to any of you that Jeep does not offer the Wrangler with a diesel engine? Seems like it would be a perfect fit.

I have one. I love it. Put the proper tires on it in the winter and it's fine in snow. As Piob said above AWD is technically superiour the old school 4x4 model, but the 4x4 model is easier to work on. I can repair, and have repaired just about every part on the drivetrain myself, without having to take it to a dealer or shop. AWD is a lot more difficult for a home mechanic. Such a beast could not hope to pass the emissions testing requirement, that has been the hold up for decades on it. Aftermarket diesels do exist.

^Perhaps I'm being a bit dense here, but why would it be substantially more difficult for a diesel Jeep engine to pass emissions than any other diesel engine?

Quick google search shows that a diesel Wrangler comes out in Europe for 2011.

I am on my second Wrangler. My current one is a 2008 JK, my previous one was a 2000 TJ. They were both good in the snow, but the 2008 is great. We've had some pretty heavy snow in the Detroit area the past few winters and I also spend a lot of time on the west side of the state where the snow they get in the winter rivals anything you would see in Syracuse or Buffalo or upper New England and my JK handles superbly. I've also had a Cherokee, a Grand Cherokee, and a Grand Wagoneer and the only one that was better than the Wranglers was the Grand Wagoneer, but that was probably only because it weighed as much as a small African Elephant and never had any trouble getting traction no matter what the weather was. As for the diesel engines, there are always rumors about them coming but I've never seen anything concrete on it. In 2001 and 2002, they were saying there would be a diesel in 2005. Then in 2005 the rumor was 2007 and now the rumor is 2013 or 2014. I wouldn't hold my breath for a diesel in any event. In sort of cruel twist of fate, I don't live far from the Chrysler HQ and Tech Center and I actually see new diesel Wranglers being driven with manufacturer plates quite often. As a Jeep lover, I can only drool.

Makes no sense not to make it with a diesel. You get a lot of torque from the bottom of the range, and that's exactly what you need for this kind of vehicle, right? I see that on my regional Jeep site there's a model available with a 2.8L DOHC 6 valve diesel engine, performing 177 HP @ 3800 RPM and 410 Nm (302 lb*ft) @ 2000-2600 RPM. Seems like a good fit. Also, +1 on the snow tires comment. I've passed large 4x4's (X5 et al) with a small VW Polo (which has FWD and roughly 62 bhp) going up a hill, mostly because we put decent tires on it.

I believe the issue is that diesel in North America is dirtier than in Europe. Same reason VW stopped TDI production for a while, they wanted cleaner diesel to show up as the dirty stuff didn't work with their engines. That's what I've heard, at least.