4×4 Magazine UK – August 2019

in its Hellayella clearcoat. Jeep
definitely knows how to name its
paint colours. 7till, with that box
ticked we’re now within hundreds,
not thousands, of being aboard fifty
grand’s worth of ;rangler.

CABIN AND

PRACTICALITY

Inside, it certainly does feel special.
Not premium-car sumptuous by
any means, but the cabin is well
eUuipped and there’s a definite
sense of occasion to it. If you
like proper, traditional xs, the

;rangler is what a modern off-

roader should be.

There’s a truck-like uprightness

to the dash, with big, chunky

switches and a bolted-together

image that manages to feel at once

retro and up to date. 7ome of the

controls are situated Uuite low

down, in the murky depths ahead of

the gear selector, but it’s big enough

that you won’t struggle to see what

you’re looking at.

The off-road controls are at the

Zery bottom of the facia, too, which

sounds wrong but makes sense.

;hen you do need to operate

things like the locking diffs and

sway-bar disconnect, after all, you’re

likely to be doing it in extremis

̄ but if you’re not traZelling Zery

slowly indeed at the time, you don’t

know what you’re doing.

There’s a certain amount of

creaking from the dash, but the

materials it’s made from feel

good and strong. This doesn’t

mean they feel premium ̄ the

upper portion has a leather finish,

but lower surfaces are hard and

scratchy and oZerall there’s a

definite wipe-clean Zibe to it.

Nonetheless, the whole cabin has

the demeanour of something that

was made to last, with a Uuality

to its build that goes with the

perceiZed durability in its design.

It has a proper handbrake and

transmission leZer, too. =ou do haZe

to make do with an on-off button

for actually starting the thing, but

two out of three ain’t bad.

³Ain’t bad’ would be a good

Zerdict for the oddment stowage

aboard the ;rangler, too. There’s

a decent cubby and a usably sized

gloZebox, and though you only get

nets instead of door pockets they’re

full-length and surprisingly useful. 7o

too is the deep stowage bin you’ll

find on top of the dash.

As the lack of door pockets

suggests, elbow room is limited.

0egroom is fine, howeZer ̄ though

there’s nowhere to put your left

The combination of an upright dash, big buttons and switches, a tough, rubberised media screen surround and a
deliberately bolted-together image makes the Wrangler’s dash feel at once old-school and completely modern. The
materials it’s made from are stout and durable, if not the most tactile in every case

4x4 AUGUST 2019 | 35

Above: As you can see here, the side
and centre of the space between the
speedo and rev counter are in the
same time zone. Note also the rather
shattering aZerage 14+ figure©

Right: Headroom is enormous in both
rows of seats, though elbow room is
tighter. There’s enough legroom for
one six-footer to sit behind another
so long as neither is greedy