Upgrades for 2024 Jeep Wrangler Could Build Even Greater Fandom

• Jeep's Wrangler is a true American classic at this point, having been launched in 1986, but can it survive in the 21st century?

• With a new infotainment screen and improved safety features, the 2024 Wrangler makes a strong case for joining the modern world.

• The continued market domination of the 4xe plug-in hybrid four-cylinder powerplant appears to be for good reason, as the 3.6-liter V6 remains lackluster and the 6.4-liter V8 version costs nearly $90,000.

Banked 14 degrees sideways on a slab of napalm-colored basalt in St. George, Utah, I was most certainly out of my element. You see, my off-road driving experience consists of overspeeding a Volkswagen Golf into sharp Washington fire-road corners and attempting to left-foot-brake my way into a slide (otherwise known as the lamest Michèle Mouton impression west of the Mississippi). But there was a savior on the horizon, as a gray Jeep Jamboree hat poked just over the hood of the vehicle I was dangling in.

After all, that vehicle was a 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Willys, and I was experiencing it in its natural habitat. I didn't go tumbling down a wall of red rock, nor did I bog down in the stifling sand. Void of unnecessary dramatics, the occasional chirp of all four tires was as rowdy as it got from inside the Wrangler.

And while these experiences were new to me, absurd crawling, differential-locking capability isn't new to the team at Jeep and especially not to the Wrangler, with the nameplate delivering such performance since 1986. The shape of the Wrangler hasn't changed much since then either, as the American brand keeps the ladder-type chassis in a box, so to say. Engineering requirements and strong brand heritage are almost equally important in keeping the Wrangler square, but the 2024 model year Wrangler is not like Wranglers before it.

Continuing the fourth-generation chassis lineage, the 2024 Jeep Wrangler lineup consists of eight trims (Sport, Sport S, Sahara, Willys, Rubicon, Rubicon X, High Altitude, and Rubicon 392) and four powertrains (2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four, 2.0-liter turbocharged PHEV, 3.6-liter V6, and a 6.4-liter V8), with pricing as low as $33,690 and as high as $89,390.

With 470 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque from the 6.4-liter Hemi V8, we could debate the merits of a nearly $90,000 Wrangler Rubicon 392 in a few hundred words, but I spent most of my driving impression time with a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6-equipped, four-door Rubicon, and a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4xe PHEV Willys.

Behind the wheel of the Wrangler, it's a tale of two different arenas. After hearing about wobbly steering and stability issues, my on-road experience proved some of these stereotypes right while challenging my own assumptions.

The Wrangler will, in fact, drive in a straight line at (lower) highway speeds and on flat grades with frequent but incremental adjustments, much like any early 2000s SUV. Throw in a slanted road, some potholes, plus speeds above 70 mph, and the Wrangler makes you work hard to stay within your painted bounds.

Whatever throttle position you choose won't make much of a difference either, at least when equipped with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. Besides the acceptable low-end torque shove, the 285 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque from the V6 is more noisy than powerful. In the face of the 4xe's 2.0-liter turbocharged and electrified 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque, the V6 felt especially lacking, as the dual-charged inline-four provided gobs of instantaneous torque and acceptable top-end acceleration.

The 850RE eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission also performed amicably, for a combined 17 mpg from the V6 and 21 mpg from the 4xe after a day's work, and even allowed for somewhat peppy manual gear selection.