Off roaders are at times a strange genre of vehicles with some buyers and enthusiasts willing to put up with a lot of compromises when it comes to dated design, retro features and heritage styling.
There is no better example of this than with US marque, Jeep. Mind you right up there with Jeep is British brand Land Rover, with lovers of these two brands willing to take devotion above and beyond the call of mere adoration.
People who love Jeeps, really love Jeeps and are happy to accept those compromises in terms of styling, space efficiency and even to some extent performance and handling.
They do have a certain amount of off road charisma and we can understand the affection because of this. They have a bravado and a ruggedness that few other off road machines can match.
Of course today’s Jeep Wrangler can trace its lineage back to the “General Purpose” Jeep that Ford and Willys developed as general rugged troop transport back around World War 2 and while the family resemblance remains, the design has moved on a long way, particularly when it comes to design, practicality, crash safety and a bunch of other things, there are a lot of things that link it back to that original concept 80 years ago. That is a part of their allure and attractiveness.
Which brings us to our latest Company Car road test, the Jeep Wrangler Overland.
While the Jeep started as a very simple convertible two door off roader, or should I say no door convertible, today’s Wrangler Overlander is full four door , fully roofed fibreglass and steel SUV bodied off roader.
Today the Wrangler Overlander is a blend of rugged off road ability and 2025 luxury comfort.
While at various time in the past the Wrangler had a variety of power plants from, four-litre straight six petrols to three-litre V6 petrol engines or diesels, to V8s.
Under the bonnet in our test Wrangler this time up with the latest model is a new Stellantis family 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 200kW of power and an even more impressive 400Nm of torque. This is an impressive power plant that provide excellent response and torque and is particularly satisfying off road, where the ample torque works fantastically.
Its strong off-road performance is enhanced by its off road drive systems and its various off road drive modes.
While the four cylinder engine delivers in a number of ways fuel economy is not one of them. A claimed fuel economy average from Jeep of around 9.2-litres/100km saw us manage a best under reasonably frugal driving of around 12.9 litres/100km. This may improve with more kilometres on the clock but it is a big difference and one we fear would be hard to bridge.
The latest Wrangler Overland as we tested delivers an upgraded interior with newly restyled seats, which are now upholstered in much improved cloth materials and with some re-bolstering for better support and comfort.
Somehow Jeep designers have squeezed their latest 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system into the Overander using Stellantis’ latest U-Connect 5 software interface, which we reckon works quite well.
The new U-Connect features a user-friendly touchscreen interface, as well as smartphone integration, and excellent audio quality. The sound system setup in the Jeep uses very good Alpine brand speakers, to deliver excellent sound quality.
While the Overlander is a ‘big’ vehicle, there is not a lot of storage space around the passenger cab with the very upright dash lacking many hidey holes that seem to be in abundance for most SUVs these days.
There is however an impressive 987 litres of boot space behind the second row of normal seats in its usual five-seat configuration. However if you lay that second row of seats flat, for a two-seater only configuration, you can more than double the luggage capacity to 2050-litres, making things very convenient and practical
Jeep’s safety boast with the Overlander is an impressive array of electronic safety features and driver assistance functions. The array includes adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning and blind-spot monitoring.
When it comes to structural integrity and confidence inspiring feel, the Overlander has a bit of a ‘loose’ fee, particularly with its doors, that feel a little flimsy. While they are better than they used to be are still a bit lacking in solid appeal, particularly compared with contemporary opponents in the 4WD SUV market.
Apart from that one thing that impressed us was the Overlander’s one-touch convertible roof, which enables you to enjoy the vehicle to the utmost when open and to easily secure it if thigs get too cold, too noisy or if the weather turns.
The great problem with its versatility is the soft roof doesn’t insulate the cab very well when things get noisy or the temp drops considerably.
The Wrangler Overland version does come with unique design badging, imprved interior finishes, and improved lighting, setting it apart from other versions of the Wrangler.
Driving and performance wise the Overlander is not bad, and we would definitely plump for the longer wheel base four door versions of the Wrangler, rather than the shorter two door models which at times present a much choppier and less stable feel to the overall handling.
Apart from the fact that the fuel economy is not nearly as good as the quoted average and the overall cabin noise profile is high, the Wrangler Overlander is a lot of fun and a good stable off road SUV platform.
As we have noted before buy a Jeep and you enter a new ‘fanosphere’ that takes you into an almost cult like society, which in some ways make it even more fun than an insulated and isolated, cookie-cutter SUV wagon
The Jeep Wrangler Overlander does not come cheaply, despite its compromises and the vehicle as we tested, as best we could tell with options etc came in at a shade over $93,000 finished as it was in a bright shade of red and with the standard five-year warranty and five-years capped price servicing along with lifetime roadside assist.
A Wrangler is part of a lifestyle choice that gives you a passport to offroad driving, a badge of recognition in the urban jungle, and a whole lot of rugged fun, so why not give it a try?
