Jeep’s Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition – WHOLLY TOLEDO

Jeep’s Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition

WHOLLY TOLEDO

Stellantis, the multinational parent of Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep, is – if I can believe what I read in the automotive press – in real trouble. The company’s North American moneymakers, Jeep and Ram, are suffering from genuine headwinds in their respective retail spheres. In my lunch bucket view, it’s because too much emphasis has been placed on boutique derivatives in both the Ram and Jeep showrooms, and too little emphasis on affordability. While Trump blames Biden for a jump in the cost of living, and Biden blames Covid, I’m looking at a $107K Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition and blaming – what the hell? – Jeep!

While working through the angst that comes with six-figure window stickers on anything this side of a 911, I’ll admit that this 392-equipped Wrangler certainly makes my driveway proud. As I’ve written, we enjoy a Jeep-centric cul-de-sac; the neighbor to our right has a recently purchased Grand Cherokee 4xe, the neighbor to the left has a newish Wrangler 4xe, and our Grand Cherokee 4xe is but a year old. This Wrangler Rubicon 392 dwarfs all of them, making our Grand Cherokee – which I personally see as oversized – look like a frickin’ Compass! 

This, of course, isn’t the first time the former Chrysler Corporation has installed big block motors into somewhat smallish platforms. My dad was a Dodge customer in the early and mid-‘60s, and while his money went to wagons and 4-doors with the 318 (and – in ’66 – the 383), Dodge and Plymouth offered throughout most of that decade a 426 Hemi – but my dad wasn’t a taker. Of course, if he had bitten from the big block apple he would have dumped it – for nothing! – during the first OPEC crisis, which would have made thinking about it even worse. 

Chrysler didn’t create the ‘boys and their toys’ descriptive, but it has certainly built toys for the boys, and the Wrangler with 392 cubes certainly qualifies.

The Rubicon 392’s stance is established first and foremost by the rubber. Sitting on BF Goodrich All-Terrains with a 315/70-17 profile, these should get you to grandmother’s house – you know, over the river and through the woods – with no issues whatsoever. In combination with a raised ride height and the Rubicon’s menu of off-road oriented hardware, you can climb any mountain; however, with a 29-inch inseam I needed REI’s climbing gear simply to access the cabin. 

Once behind the wheel you and your three passengers will enjoy a commanding view of your surroundings, and if you tire of looking around, look up; the power-operated retractable fabric roof is, on a nice fall day, absolutely wondrous. Accompanying those surroundings is the surround sound emanating from the 392’s exhaust; raucous doesn’t begin to describe the cacophony emanating from the back end of the Rubicon. If you like a continuous reminder of where your $100K investment went, the decibels are nice. But if your monthly loan payment is enough of a reminder, you might wish for something more muted. On an early morning (5:45 departure) to the airport we took our more civilian – and civilized – Grand Cherokee, thereby maintaining some semblance of civility in the cul-de-sac.

Of course, the reason for the 392 cubes is the 392 cubes; there’s nothing that beats excess quite like excess. The Stellantis Skunk Works spent enough time on dynos to concoct an even 470 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque – and the result is about what you’d expect; that’s if, of course, you’re not comparing the Wrangler’s 5,600 pounds with a Cobra’s 2,600 pounds. Car and Driver’s crew arrived at 60 in 4 seconds, while covering the ¼-Mile in 12.8 seconds at 104 miles per hour. Obviously, from 0-60 the Jeep’s weight comes into play, while above 60 it’s the heft and barn door aerodynamics.

The weight and tire size also make not-so-nice in the Jeep’s low speed handling and notable lack of agility. And therein, Kids, is the rub. For off-roading at low speeds you want agility, and while all Wranglers would benefit from a smaller, lighter platform (which the Jeep folks at one time offered), taking the stretched 4-door and adding a big block V8 is counterintuitive. Way. 

And if going far offroad the 392’s 13 miles per gallon (EPA City) works against you between gas stops; that, too, is counterintuitive.

If the Jeep team had wanted to do something truly special in a low-volume, expensive Jeep, they should have equipped a 4-door Rubicon with the V6 diesel the company had, until recently, fitted into the Ram. Real efficiency allows for real range. And the diesel swap would have been accepted by real Jeepers. 

With the revolving door at Jeep HQ, perhaps a real Jeeper might land in the driver’s seat. And, with any luck, stay awhile…