Looking into a new '11 Sahara unlimited. Not worried about mileage. It has the same mileage as our volvo xc90. Will trade in our 2002 tribute if we do take the plunge.

Questions.

I have gotten used to driving automatic. How is the manual transmission. Is it easy or is it a pain in the you know what. Does it make a difference in the ride or 'fun factor'?

Are there any must have options?

What is the main difference between Rubicon and Sahara models (unlimited versions)

I would like to join a jeep club near Toronto. Also does jeep have an 'offroading school'?

May go for a test drive in the next week or two.

Do jeep owners really wave to eachother or is it just wrangler owners? ;o)

Cheers,
Perchslayer. (getting to remote fishing holes is another reason to get a jeep)

 

I have an auto so I can't help you out with the transmission, but the main differences between the sahara and rubicon are: rubicon has locking front and rear differentials, sahara does not. Rubicon come with "off-road" tired from the factory, sahara has street tires. Other than that not too much of a difference. Saraha has painted fender flares and silver trim on the bumper and inside the cabin. Rubicon has black plastic fenders. Pretty sure the "power package" that comes with the sahara is also standard on the Rubicon. If you are planning on light trails only the Sahara should get you there. If you want to spend the extra money lockers are great for the tougher trails.

There is no "Jeep School" in Ontario, but there are TONS of local clubs that will teach you anything you need to know. A group also puts on JK101 (stands for JeepKings.ca, a local online forum, not the Jeep JK) for beginners each year. This years is the first weekend of May I believe. There are lots of clubs in and around toronto, you best bet to find the one closest to you is head over to JeepKings.ca and check out their club information or pm me for more details.

Most jeep owners only wave at other Wranglers or other models that are noticeably modded. A lot of Jeepers have even stopped waving at all JKs unless they notice they are modded because most of the drivers dont wave back. (Mostly soccer moms who don't know about the wave) I wave at all things Jeeps lol even Libertys on occasion. As well as any other vehicle I notice that is modded, toyotas, Fords, Chevys etc.

For sure go on a test drive and get a book from the dealer on the Wranglers, that will help you see the differences between the Sahara and Rubicon. I personally started out with a Sahara and now most things that made it a Sahara have been removed or replaced lol so looking back I should have gotten a Rubicon. At the time however I did not think I would ever "offroad" my brand new baby or come to love the sport as I do now and I didnt want to spend the extra cash. But hindsights 20/20 right :)

No matter what you decide welcome to the club :)

 

Thanks for the info. The dealer i went to was not too helpful. He only mentioned that the Rubicon was the better off-road version. I am not planning on any extreme off-roading. Certainly more than light trails though. I would say intermediate trails are about where i would go at most - if that. That said i do not know how trails are classified. Any way of getting the locking differentials with the normal wrnagler tires? Seems that would be the best of both worlds. Is there an mpg penalty to pay for the locking differential option?
Thanks,
P.

 

I have owned both. As you can see in my avatar my 06 Rubi went up in smoke. I replaced it with a 2010 Sahara as I had little use for the lockers. The lockers are best for rock crawling. Around here all I get into is mud - deep mud. Lockers are of no use in deep mud when you need RPM 's to keep lugs cleaned out.

I purchased a set of rubi take offs and that gave me the Goodyear MT's that I need for mud. The Wrangler Sport can be bought or ordered with the 32" MT's on it but it's not an option for Sahara. If you watch you can find Rubi take offs for $1,500.00 rims and tires (new of course).

The Rubi is geared lower and it drinks gas in big gulps!

 

like hunt it mentioned everyone seems to sell their rubi take offs for a decent price, so if you go the sahara route just keep an eye out on the message boards and kijiji for tires. The saharas also come with an 18in rim... so later tire buying will be pretty hefty pricewise. The rubis come with 16in I believe. The rubis also come with front and rear dana44s with 4.10 gears while saharas come with a front dana 30, the rear im not sure about but I got the towing package so they bump it to a rear dana44 for you. The sahara also has 3.73 gears so yea the rubis lower gearing will help ya suck back the gas.

I think you should be fine with a sahara. It comes with all the conveniences ie power package and has a smoother ride (the rubi has a stiffer suspension) and is just a fun vehicle. If you decide later on you would like to have the lockers and everything else nice that comes with a rubi just do what I did :) put it all on aftermarket. Its way cheaper too!

Hope this helps

 

Thanks for all the great info. I am going to drop by another dealer today to take another look. Just got a $500 repair bill on the mazda. More ammo to convince myself to get something new.

 

well i ahve personally always preferred manual over automatic. automatic are such a hassle and they do always give issues sooner or later.

 

Our 08 JKU Sahara has the auto, 3:73 gears and a limited slip rear diff. (also the Dana 44)

You need to be honest with yourself, what do you really want the Jeep for? Like the post's here the Rubi is out of the box build for rock crawling, in addition to all the good info you have gotten, the transfer case is also 4:10 vs the 2:72 in all other models. So, if you need a final crawl ratio of 73:1, you have the extra $$$ the Rubi demands, and can tolerate the extra gas due to the gearing of 4:10's in the diffs, then you might be a match for a Rubi.

IF you are going to mod the heck out of it and replace all those good OEM parts you paid top dollar for, then many a SPORT and then mod away.

We are very happy with our choice, if you go Sahara I would suggest the limited slip rear (LSD or the sales person may call it LOK TRACK) that will give you a better advantage then a open diff. I can honestly say the LSD does hook up really nice.

As for auto or 6-speed, well...no offence to my auto friends out there, I have test driven a 6-speed, and it really brings the JK to life, different feel al together. I'm shopping for our second JK...and yes it will be a 6-gear....and my daily commute is GTA traffic.

The auto is fine, it does tend to hunt for gears on the high way, and is only a 4-speed.

You might want to wait untit the 2012 are out....the auto is said to be a 5-speed, and all JKs will get the new Pentastar V6 which yeilds more HP and should help in the MPG.

I think June is when dealers can order them.

You can loose you will end up with the best ride, Jeep Wranger, it's a great community....wait until you go topless, doorless with the tunes up....hooked for life!

And yes I wave to every Wranger I see :)

Good luck

 

Oh, and as luck would have it this mointh's issue of JP Magazine has some great articels on these very issues.

 

The new engine does sound interesting. I had no real timeline in mind so i may wait for the 2012's. More hp's and better mileage sounds too good to be true. I think the sahara unlimited will likely be the way i go. I like to get to some hard to reach fishing holes that take you down some old forgotten logging roads but that typically would not require crawling. I will have to pick up the JP magazine.

Is the Lok track available as an option on all models?


Thanks!

P.S.