2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon

Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. It competes with the Nissan Xterra and Toyota FJ Cruiser.

2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Hi! I’m Kelsey Mays for Cars.com. The Jeep Wrangler nameplates have been around for more than 20 years and it knows its heritage to Jeep, original civilian vehicle, the CJ. We’ve got a 2010 model here that remains first and foremost an off-roading vehicle. It’s got pretty formidable off-roading chaps but that does limit some of its on-road daily driver appeal. We’ve got 4X4 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. That’s the highest trim level for the Wrangler and it’s got the most off-roading gear. The things include a disconnecting front sway bar that allows more wheel articulation up and down over real tough stop. It’s also a heavy duty two speed transfer case that allows a four to one low range gear ratio. You’ve got skid plates over the automatic transmission oil pan, the transfer case and the fuel tank. There are 32-inch off-road tires and Jeep says approaching departure angles are both more than 40 degrees on this car. It’s pretty impressive. There are front and rear locking differentials as well. That means, all four wheels can move at approximately the same speed. So, if only one of them has traction, the other three aren’t going to be spinning and spewing up mud everywhere. So, if you want to do some serious off-roading it’s hard to go wrong with one of these. But Jeeps says the Wrangle Unlimited in four as well as two the wheel drive, which means that some people buy these things and don’t actually plan to do any off-roading. That’s troubling because the Wrangler is not a car that’s well suited for daily driving. Remember, its got solid front and rear axles And so, the ride is extremely truck like. And a 3.8 Liter V6 does not have a lot of highway passing power. Our test car has most of the options check and we have the cabin, it has a pretty crude feeling to it. The turn signals are rubbery, the climate controls are too head restraints, it really rock hard. A lot of things are just missing. Telescoping steering wheel, nope, power mirrors, nope. A view of the back window, not really, backseat in the Ford models are also pretty tight and the front seat really needs to go back a couple more inches. I’m about six feet tall and I need like two or three more inches to really be comfortable here. You want to know the gas mileage is? Yeah, you do. EPA ratings have the Wrangler four-wheel drive pegged at 15 miles per gallon city, 19 miles per gallon highway, not so good. Neither are the current generation reliability ratings, pretty bad on that front as well. Without standard side impact airbags, they remain optional here. Side impact crash test also pretty bad but really, who needs any of that when you can blaze trails that would leave an ordinary Crossover SUV with its tires spinning in the mud. Just make sure that’s what you plan to do because if you don’t, that Crossover is looking like pretty good alternative. For more car related news, go to Cars.com or our blog, KickingTires.net.