Taking to the mountains or the desert for some serious four-wheeling becomes even more fun with the 2012 Jeep Wrangler, which now has an all-new, more powerful and more efficient engine.

The new Pentastar 3.6-liter, which has 285 horsepower and 260 foot-pounds of torque, replaces last year’s 3.8-liter V-6, which had just 202 horsepower.

It’s the only engine offered in either Wrangler version — the traditional two-door model or the family-oriented four-door Unlimited.

It’s the same engine that comes in the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as a variety of other 2012 Chrysler products, including the Dodge and Chrysler minivans, Dodge Charger sedan, Dodge Durango crossover and Chrysler 300 sedan.

For the Wrangler two-door, EPA fuel-economy ratings are now 17 mpg city/21 highway when connected to either the standard six-speed manual gearbox or the optional, new five-speed automatic (replacing last year’s four-speed).

With the Unlimited, EPA ratings are 16/21 with the manual and 16/20 with the automatic. That’s up from 15/19 for the 2011 models (manual and automatic).

Jeep says the five-passenger Unlimited, introduced for 2007, already has become the best-selling Wrangler model, most likely because it’s a credible family vehicle.

The two-door Wrangler, with a four-passenger capacity, never has been very practical for most people to use as their everyday vehicle, particularly those with a family.

Even with the Wrangler’s last complete makeover, also for model year 2007, the two-door still has room only for four people. But the front seats got 4.6 inches more hip room and 5.1 inches more shoulder room in the redesign. The rear seat was given 3.9 inches of additional shoulder room, 1.6 inches more hip room and an inch more leg room.

The cargo space behind the rear seat of the two-door is just 17.1 cubic feet, but that expands significantly with the rear seatback folded forward if the back seat isn’t needed for passengers.

With the four-door model, though, you can put three people in the back seat, and there is plenty of cargo space behind it — 46.4 cubic feet.

The four-door has a 116-inch-wheelbase versus 95.4 inches for the standard-length Wrangler, and it’s 20.6 inches longer.

Even with all of the changes, including the quietest cabin ever in a Jeep, the Wrangler still has the off-road abilities that have made this the preferred vehicle of serious four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.

For 2012, there is even a truck version of the Wrangler available, in a roundabout way. Jeep’s Mopar parts-and-accessories division is offering a $5,499 kit to transform the four-door model into a pickup. This model was on display at last fall’s State Fair of Texas Auto Show in Dallas, which is where I first saw it.

Chrysler has no plans to make a pickup version of the Wrangler on the already overburdened assembly line in Toledo, Ohio. But Jeep fans who have been clamoring for the return of a Jeep truck easily can turn their Unlimited models into one, using the Mopar JK8 kit available through Jeep dealerships.

The company says “skilled do-it-yourselfers” should be able to install the kit, but dealership service departments can do it as well, for an additional charge, of course. The cost will vary by dealership.

The kit “takes cues from the popular Jeep Scrambler CJ-8 from the 1980s,” Mopar said, and major components include a 44-by-50-inch steel bed, inner and outer bed sides constructed from stamped sheet metal, sport-bar extensions, Freedom Panel assemblies, a removable fiberglass hard top with a sliding rear window, two fixed side windows and a fiberglass bulkhead. It’s all shipped in a wooden crate, with instructions included.

As with other Wrangler models, the top of the JK8 pickup’s cab can be removed, along with the doors, for open-air motoring, on or off the road.

For 2012, the Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited are available in three trim levels — base Sport, midlevel Sahara and top-of-the-line Rubicon, the ultimate off-road-equipped model.

Base prices range from $22,045 to $29,995 for the two-door models and $25,545 to $33,570 for the Unlimited, plus $900 freight.

Three skid plates are included underneath to protect the fuel tank, transfer case and automatic transmission oil pan from rocks and logs.

All Wranglers got a complete interior redesign last year. The fanciest models are available with leather upholstery, carpeting and even an in-dash navigation system. Power windows, mirrors and door locks are available, as well.

A soft top is standard, but a hard top is available on all models and now is offered in the same color as the rest of the body on the Sahara model. The windshield can be folded down on all Wranglers, as well.

With the new engine, the Wrangler can go from zero-60 mph in 8.4 seconds, down from 11.4 seconds for the 2011 model. There is a new, lower first-gear ratio for the automatic transmission for slower off-road crawling.

Two four-wheel-drive systems are available: the base Command Trac system and the advanced Rock Trac, which is standard on Rubicon models. Both provide part-time four-wheel drive and have two-speed transfer cases for low-range off-road driving.

All Wrangler models come with electronic stability control with roll mitigation, and optional safety features include trailer-sway control, hill-start assist and traction control.

Now also available on the Wrangler is Chrysler’s Uconnect system, which includes voice recognition, Bluetooth streaming audio, navigation and satellite radio.

Standard equipment includes antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability control, cruise control, tachometer, tilt steering column with controls for vehicle systems, tire-pressure monitor, fuel tank and transfer case skid plates, full-size spare tire, variable-speed wipers, fog lamps, electronic roll mitigation and tow hooks (two in the front and one in the rear).

My tester, the 2012 Wrangler Sport, had a base price of $22,045 (plus $900 freight); with freight and extras, the total sticker was $28,315.

It came with $5,370 in options, including the Sport Package ($2,245), which brought 17-inch alloy wheels, chrome and leather shifter, leather steering wheel and Goodyear on/off road tires.

The tester also had the five-speed automatic ($1,125), with manual-shift buttons on the steering wheel. It also came with Hill Descent Control.

Other extras included the Connectivity Group ($385), which brought a USB port and Bluetooth access with Uconnect voice activation; the Power Convenience Group ($685), which added dual power-adjustable/heated outside mirrors, power windows/door locks with keyless entry, and anti-theft and panic alarms; and Sirius satellite radio ($195), which came with one year of service.

Towing capacity is up to 3,500 pounds for the Unlimited and 2,000 pounds for the two-door Wrangler. A towing package ($270) includes wiring, hitch receiver and trailer-sway damping; it was not included on my vehicle.

Nine exterior colors are offered, and wheel choices include 16-, 17- and 18-inch versions.

chambers@auto-writer.com

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Buford and Sam were kidnapped last Friday at approximately 5:30 p.m. in the alley behind Nick Butkovich’s house.

Butkovich had turned his back to putter with some bridles and sleigh bells — he was getting ready for the neighborhood yard sale — when he heard Buford and Sam scream. He whirled around just in time to see someone — a woman? — hustling them into a black Jeep Cherokee.

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Butkovich, who is 65 and heavyset, dashed for his car and went in pursuit. The Jeep vanished.

By the time he got home, his neighbors, some of whom witnessed the crime, had gathered to share his dismay. There, in his despair, he got another shock.

Sam.

Sam had bitten the kidnapper. The kidnapper let go. Sam fell to the pavement, and though the getaway Jeep had run over his wing, he’d managed to climb back up the wire fence from which he’d been stolen. In the rumpled splendor of his blue macaw feathers, he sat wounded and alone, waiting for his master.

“He’s lucky,” Butkovich said Thursday.

Under the June sun, Sam again sat with his claws wrapped on top of the backyard fence. His wing still bears the trace of the Jeep’s wheel.

“He fell on his back, with his wing open. One inch closer, and he would’ve been finished.”

But Sam’s luck was only partial. A week later, and there’s still no sign of Buford.

Sam without Buford, and Butkovich without both of his big parrots, is a strange sight in Bowmanville, the quiet North Side neighborhood where the three of them are a popular attraction.

“It’s a real tragedy in our neighborhood,” says Kristine Behof, who wept when she ran into Butkovich after the abduction. “The children adore those birds. And he treats them like they’re his children. He walks them around the neighborhood and lets them say hi to everyone. He’s a really nice, gentle man. I can’t understand why anybody would want to do this to him.”

Butkovich, who once ran a security firm, didn’t know much about macaws before a business partner gave him one. That was 19 years ago, and Buford, a ruby macaw, was a little over a year old.

He later inherited Sam, a hyacinth macaw just a year younger than Buford, from the same partner. When Sam was a newborn, Butkovich fed him every four hours, even in the middle of the night.

At 4 months, Sam learned to say, “Nick!”

Butkovich lives on the second floor of his 90-year-old aunt’s wood-frame cottage. In the winter, he and his birds stay inside a lot. As soon as the temperature breaks 50, they all come outdoors.

On an average morning, the three of them sit around for a while in the backyard. At some point, they head for the IHOP (Tuesdays and Saturdays) or Pauline’s (Wednesdays and Sundays) or the Quick Bite hot dog stand.

Butkovich pushes them around on a stroller outfitted with a water dish and a bowl that holds walnuts and cheese fries.

“When you’ve got two birds, no way you can carry them both on your shoulder,” he said. “They fight for your attention.”

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Jeep’s reputation as a manufacturer of go-anywhere, do-anything vehicles is unquestioned. Jeeps have literally been through wars. Thousands of hardcore owners routinely punish them over the world’s harshest terrain. But as the SUV has evolved, so has Jeep. And while every Jeep from the Compass on up remains Trail-Rated, the farthest off-road many of them go is a gravel parking lot.

So while Jeep is changing to cater to the new on-road reality, the fact remains that all Jeeps still are made to conquer most any terrain. To further hammer home the point, Jeep recently invited us out for a little off- (and some on-) roading action in Malibu with its entire lineup.

The day began behind the wheel of a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit with Chrysler’s 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 under the hood. The Overland Summit is the top tier Grand Cherokee, loaded to the gills with both luxury equipment and off-road kit, including Jeep’s Quadra-Trac II four-wheel drive, its Selec-Terrain system, and its Quadra-Lift air-suspension system. Leading the posse through the dirt trail was a Jeep engineer behind the wheel of a Compass, followed by a duo of Wranglers, a Patriot, myself, and another Grand Cherokee, with another Jeep rep in a Liberty bringing up the rear. Each Jeep would have to traverse trails with steep climbs and descents, frame-bending ruts, and even a bathtub-like obstacle. Jeep instructed us to engage low range, and for good measure I raised the Grand Cherokee’s air suspension to its off-road height, while leaving Selec-Terrain in Auto.

The trail started up a gradual dirt incline that quickly became steep and littered with foot-deep ruts that had the front left and back right tires of the Grand Cherokee see-sawing back and forth. No matter, though, the Grand Cherokee kept truckin’ — as did the rest of the Jeeps in my group. As the elevation climbed, the ruts got even worse, but the Grand Cherokee kept scrambling up the trail without so much as breaking a sweat.

Once over the top, the trail suddenly dropped what felt like at least 45 degrees, down a steep, rocky, washboard surface. Time to try out hill descent control. I pressed the button, and manually downshifted the automatic transmission to control how fast I wanted hill descent control to let me go. I pointed the Grand Cherokee towards the decline, took my foot off the gas and brake, and let the Jeep do its thing. Letting the Grand Cherokee work its way down the hill without any footwork required was an odd feeling. As I headed down a decline so steep it felt like the only thing holding me in my seat was the seatbelt, the vehicle crawled down that decline with no driver intervention. It was quite an experience.

After pulling back into the staging area, I was about to hop into a Compass when I noticed the Grand Cherokee SRT8 was free. Compass or 465-horse Grand Cherokee with a 6.4-liter V-8 under the hood? The choice was easy. I hopped in the super SUV (SSUV?) and headed for the tarmac of Mulholland Highway. Like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, the Grand Cherokee SRT8 just shrinks around you, making it easier to thread through the highway’s famous tight turns. The best part about the Grand Cherokee SRT8 is its mean, raspy exhaust note. I blasted through a tunnel on my way back to the event’s staging area, and the SRT8 sounded so good I had to turn back to do it again.

After the Grand Cherokee SRT8-supplied adrenaline blast, I was ready for more off-roading, and the Skittles-green Wrangler Rubicon (complete with a six-speed manual) was my ride of choice. I initially was apprehensive driving the manual-equipped Wrangler off-road. The limited amount of off-roading I’d done prior was in automatic-equipped SUVs. Turns out my worries were completely unfounded — as is the case with most all driving-related activities, a manual is just better. The open-top Wrangler Rubicon was a fantastic companion on the trail, and as expected it didn’t break a sweat over the route.

With the day ending, there was only time for one more trail run. I decided to get behind the wheel of the Liberty, the beloved Cherokee’s spiritual successor that will undergo a transformation in the near future.

While its plastic-riddled interior, aging, 3.7-liter boat anchor V-6, and four-speed slushbox may make the Liberty far from desirable on-road, off-road was another story. The Liberty conquered everything without issue. Its only demerit would be its ground clearance, or lack thereof. It seemed to scrape just thinking about rocks. Thankfully, the Liberty’s Trail-Rated badge means it was wearing underbelly armor, preventing any punctures and damage.

The Wrangler was far and away the most capable vehicle I sampled at Jeep’s full-line drive. It’s the vehicle of boyhood dreams (well, mine, at least), an American icon. It’s immensely fun to drive off road, and most important, it makes you feel like you’re a 10-year-old behind the wheel.

But the Grand Cherokee impressed me the most because of what it represents. This is a vehicle more likely to be found in suburban mall parking lots, or shuttling kids to early morning hockey practice. Jeep could have mailed it in and fitted it with a simple all-wheel-drive setup that would have satisfied 99 percent of its buyers. It decided to deliver the mail instead. The Grand Cherokee is just as capable of getting down and dirty as the Wrangler. Jeep is painfully aware of its iconic status as an off-road-focused brand, and continues to engineer every one of its vehicles to be immensely capable in that area. As Jeep continues its transformation to more of a mainstream brand, here’s hoping things will stay that way.

 

To see the Motor Trend WOT Video about this Jeep event, skip to 1:30 below.

 

 

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