[HotCarNut]

Yeah. FCA totally diluted Sahara with JL - killed the 2-door; gave it weaker axles and gearing; last year stopped the side steps being standard equipment --the side steps were a Sahara trademark since the 1990s; etc.

Jeep used to offer Selec-Trac full-time 4WD as an option on JL Sahara; I don't see it any more.

I really don't understand what Jeep is trying to do any more.

The dumbest part of this is they already have a “budget” off-road model in the Willys. No clue what they’re aiming for with this Sahara half-assed overpriced garbage. It’s not really “Trail Rated” or ready.

 

[David S]

I'd be pretty sure the spoilers today are well tested.

The '82 Trans Am was well tested.

 

[tomaz]

The dumbest part of this is they already have a “budget” off-road model in the Willys. No clue what they’re aiming for with this Sahara half-assed overpriced garbage. It’s not really “Trail Rated” or ready.

I always seen the Sahara as the Luxo variant of a rubicon.

 

[JKU12]

What’s funny is they’re trying to make the Sahara model an off-road appealing model again. What’s old is new. With the JKs, if you were going to heavily modify a Wrangler, Norm always recommended starting with the Sahara for the interior and electronics as you were going to scrap the axles, wheels, rear end, suspension, etc anyway.

Willys existence plus Rubicon becoming available to be super plush, changes the ballgame a bit. My Rubicon is what a Sahara used to be inside.

So I get making the Sahara maybe slightly more "on road".

By on road, there are plenty of Wrangler owners who still need some capability, but don't need the sidewalls you would get on 17s.

My Durango is on 20s and we have Falken Wildpeaks on it, and it can go anywhere my Wrangler does around snowy Tahoe as long as it's not off road

 

[aldo90731]

I always seen the Sahara as the Luxo variant of a rubicon.

That is now High Altitude's mission.

 

[Zagnut27]

When I bought my TJ in 98, there were 3 trims….SE, Sport, and Sahara. That was it. Now there were 8 for 2024, 6 for 2025, plus 6 4xe for 24 and 8 for 25. This seems way too many options, and just confuses customers.

 

[valiant67]

Selec-Trac seems hard to get on a Wrangler unless it’s a 4xe.
Gladiator seems to be hard to equip with it as well.

 

[HotCarNut]

When I bought my TJ in 98, there were 3 trims….SE, Sport, and Sahara. That was it. Now there were 8 for 2024, 6 for 2025, plus 6 4xe for 24 and 8 for 25. This seems way too many options, and just confuses customers.

In 2012 there were really only 3 trims: Sport, Sahara, and Rubicon. They did 3 "special edition" limited runs that year too: Arctic, Call of Duty, and the Freedom Edition.

I had a 2012 Sahara and it had a nice interior and was Trail Rated, but you didn't have all the off-road goodies a Rubicon did. Still pretty capable and a good platform to modify from.

 

[Zagnut27]

In 2012 there were really only 3 trims: Sport, Sahara, and Rubicon. They did 3 "special edition" limited runs that year too: Arctic, Call of Duty, and the Freedom Edition.

I had a 2012 Sahara and it had a nice interior and was Trail Rated, but you didn't have all the off-road goodies a Rubicon did. Still pretty capable and a good platform to modify from.

Sahara was my ”aspire to” upgrade I would’ve done once I had started making a little more money (it was tight when I first started as a RN in Syracuse). More power (I had a 4 cyl), better interior, hard top standard IIRC…what wasn’t to like? Like you said…and Norm did too…that you could still modify the heck out of it if you so chose. I had an installations place near me, Installations Unlimited IIRC, where I got an upgrade for my tires and wheels for my TJ, plus a sound bar installed (thank you, tax refund!). So I could’ve had anything done that I couldn’t do myself.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I met my future wife, and she hated the TJ (very uncomfortable) and I needed more room for traveling, so that’s when the Liberty arrived for me.

 

[JKU12]

In 2012 there were really only 3 trims: Sport, Sahara, and Rubicon. They did 3 "special edition" limited runs that year too: Arctic, Call of Duty, and the Freedom Edition.

I had a 2012 Sahara and it had a nice interior and was Trail Rated, but you didn't have all the off-road goodies a Rubicon did. Still pretty capable and a good platform to modify from.

Same here. Used to buy Saharas when they were nicer inside and they still had good guts..Rubicons used to be pretty bare inside and outside you couldn't get painted tops or fenders either.

Rubicons getting all the goodies in and out made it a no brainer to go Rubicon for my latest.

They should honestly put selec trac in every Wrangler. It is such a massive upgrade to be able to use 4wd auto on partially slippery pavement.

The worst experiences I had in my old Wranglers was trying to drive around on a slippery snow covered neighborhood or parking lot with tight turns. You either had to switch to 2wd or deal with crow hop.

Interestingly enough, not sure if it's just due to geometry changes, but even when I have my JL in 4H part time due to heavy snow on roads, I haven't noticed any crow hop when I occasionally forget to switch to Auto when I need tighter turns

 

[HotCarNut]

Same here. Used to buy Saharas when they were nicer inside and they still had good guts..Rubicons used to be pretty bare inside and outside you couldn't get painted tops or fenders either.

Rubicons getting all the goodies in and out made it a no brainer to go Rubicon for my latest.

They should honestly put selec trac in every Wrangler. It is such a massive upgrade to be able to use 4wd auto on partially slippery pavement.

The worst experiences I had in my old Wranglers was trying to drive around on a slippery snow covered neighborhood or parking lot with tight turns. You either had to switch to 2wd or deal with crow hop.

Interestingly enough, not sure if it's just due to geometry changes, but even when I have my JL in 4H part time due to heavy snow on roads, I haven't noticed any crow hop when I occasionally forget to switch to Auto when I need tighter turns

I still get the "crow hop" in my JL Rubicon, same as it was in my JK Sahara. Only occurs at low speed and tight radius, but annoying nonetheless. However, easy tradeoff for the performance and capability.

 

[freshforged]

The 2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Backcountry takes the Sahara and adds nine-speaker Alpine audio, the Jeep Power Box for accessory power, 32-inch General Grabber A/T tires, front and rear steel bumpers, and a body-color hardtop, for $66,185 including delivery ($76,190 in Canada). The company plans to make 5,800 vehicles for North America, and will include ... Read more
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Can you imagine all the hours the engineers spent at Starbucks to come up with this package?
Bravo!
Well done!

your assuming it was the engineers. It’s accountants that make the decisions at STLA