pizzaman09 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 18 minutes ago, derf said: I'd avoid the pentastar and manual. The engine lacks low end torque and needs short (high number) gears to really be usable. And the manual has really bad history, especially with the shoddy clutch design. If they put a better engine and transmission, with a decent clutch in it, I would absolutely love a 2 door Gladiator. I've driven a 2015 four door Rubicon with the Pentastar and manual and found it to be excellent. I don't much care if my trucks are fast, I have a 99 BMW M3 to go fast in and feel real torque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 1 hour ago, pizzaman09 said: I've driven a 2015 four door Rubicon with the Pentastar and manual and found it to be excellent. I don't much care if my trucks are fast, I have a 99 BMW M3 to go fast in and feel real torque. That was a JK. That had the NSG370 transmission and a much better clutch. And a Rubicon comes with 4.10s which are decent for stock 32" tires. The JL (and JT) have a completely different transmission and clutch that are basically junk. And if you don't get a Rubicon, you get 3.45 gears which are not adequate for even stock tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 1 hour ago, 89 MJ said: The other problem is the price! New Wranglers are absolutely ridiculous in price. From what I've seen, you can't even touch a Rubicon for less than $50k for the most part. When the JLs first came out, I want to say that the base price was somewhere around $29k. Now the base price is closer to $39k from what I've found. Yep. Prices got stupid when Covid hit and they never came back down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokeyyank Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Naw, we all know what we really want and it's not a clapped out fiat with a Jeep badge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 34 minutes ago, Smokeyyank said: Naw, we all know what we really want and it's not a clapped out fiat with a Jeep badge Also horribly overpriced and pretty useless. Speaking of which, I wish that the Aussie Utes were at least offered here. I mean, I wouldn't buy one new, but maybe an old one to daily for a couple months in the summer and then remember how terribly useless they are and sell for a loss in the fall. Yes, I could find an El Camino or Ranchero I guess, but there isn't any good driver ones for the price range I am talking about, plus you can't get them with the 80's build quality and cracked plastic interior that jangles my jimmies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 4 hours ago, Smokeyyank said: Naw, we all know what we really want and it's not a clapped out fiat with a Jeep badge I'd pass on that one too. Now if GM would make one of these brand new, my wallet would be in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 1 hour ago, 89 MJ said: I'd pass on that one too. Now if GM would make one of these brand new, my wallet would be in trouble. You know, you probably could body swap such with a modern drive train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokeyyank Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 6 hours ago, DirtyComanche said: Also horribly overpriced and pretty useless. Speaking of which, I wish that the Aussie Utes were at least offered here. I mean, I wouldn't buy one new, but maybe an old one to daily for a couple months in the summer and then remember how terribly useless they are and sell for a loss in the fall. Overpriced, yeah fn stupid money. Useless? No way, things go to hell and back likes its a Sunday drive. As for the aussie utes, hell yes, those holdens are sweet. There's always a WJ ute...... https://www.smythkitcars.com/jeep-ute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaman09 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 9 hours ago, derf said: That was a JK. That had the NSG370 transmission and a much better clutch. And a Rubicon comes with 4.10s which are decent for stock 32" tires. The JL (and JT) have a completely different transmission and clutch that are basically junk. And if you don't get a Rubicon, you get 3.45 gears which are not adequate for even stock tires. Oh, I didn't realize they changed those bits. Kinda surprising to hear that an OEM would mess up a clutch, it's kind of an easy thing to spec based on torque you need to transmit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 44 minutes ago, pizzaman09 said: Oh, I didn't realize they changed those bits. Kinda surprising to hear that an OEM would mess up a clutch, it's kind of an easy thing to spec based on torque you need to transmit. You would think, wouldn't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 16 hours ago, Smokeyyank said: Overpriced, yeah fn stupid money. Useless? No way, things go to hell and back likes its a Sunday drive. As for the aussie utes, hell yes, those holdens are sweet. There is good reason that modern pickup truck design has evolved to the current state; the market spoke and manufacturers reacted. The last two year round DD trucks I've had have been crew cabs. Before them it was extended cabs, and before them it was the old single cab trucks. That is the natural progression of the market. This is excluding my "fun" DDs, which are always fairly useless and impractical (last was a TJ, before that a 2 door Cutlass, before that a MJ, and they are a whole other story). Yes, the single cab truck can still do truck things, but what it can't do is a much longer list. When I was a single guy doing single guy stuff, sure, you could stuff whatever you wanted to not get stolen/wet into the cab with you; but now, no. I always have a car seat, a backpack or bag of kid stuff, plus apparently I'm expected to pick family up from the airport or whatever and take them places, the average grocery shopping trip is more stuff than would even fit in the cab without a passenger, etc etc. Suddenly you're just accepting that a crew cab is what works. It's not 1980 anymore where you could just put the kids and extra family members in the box and tell them to hang on. There's also a cultural shift where now if it's in the back of your truck and not locked up, it might well walk away in the 10 minutes it takes you to run into a store to buy something. Personally, if I didn't regularly buy construction materials, landscaping supplies, greasy old transmissions and engines, and tow heavy, I would just wind up with a full size SUV myself, as interior space has become much more valuable on most days versus exterior space. So, long story short, for most people a single cab is nearly useless. That's why the sales numbers for them are generally dismal. Plus the other aspect of truck ownership is towing, and with modern everything being bigger/better, the demand is to be able to tow absurd amounts. That said, I think they still should make a 2 door single cab (with a little bit of space behind the seats) JT. My new "fun" DD is a JK because yeah, interior space. I have no idea how the Bogans in Upsidedownland handle using a Ute all the time. When I was working there I was given a fullsize car (a Ford something-or-other, it was a total POS) to tow a very small service trailer with because there is no trucks. I think that since the Land of Oz is basically entirely flat is the only reason you can get away with towing like that, and anyone who has to deal with towing anything bigger winds up with a small medium duty cabover. Meanwhile the Ute crowd seemed to mostly have them as a second vehicle, or they were young/single. The culture is different too, more people are clustered in the few large city centers and the rest of the country is a barren wasteland, so a lot less large outdoor toys, and people seemed to have most building/landscaping supplies delivered normally. I wasn't there long enough to fully flesh out the Ute culture, but I did enjoy the odd VB long neck for breakfast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75sv1 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Oh, Chevy Avalanche. I like mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted Monday at 07:52 PM Share Posted Monday at 07:52 PM I miss the squishy cloth seats of 90s vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted Monday at 08:02 PM Share Posted Monday at 08:02 PM 9 minutes ago, Pete M said: I miss the squishy cloth seats of 90s vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted Monday at 08:46 PM Share Posted Monday at 08:46 PM 9 hours ago, 75sv1 said: Oh, Chevy Avalanche. I like mine. They're terrible. I was going to buy one instead of another JK but I couldn't find one in the right condition/price to do it for me. They all had blown transmissions, rotten frames, or some combination of both of those issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75sv1 Posted Monday at 10:03 PM Share Posted Monday at 10:03 PM 1 hour ago, DirtyComanche said: They're terrible. I was going to buy one instead of another JK but I couldn't find one in the right condition/price to do it for me. They all had blown transmissions, rotten frames, or some combination of both of those issues. I see some pristine ones around here. Yeah, prices can be high for those. They and mine have issues with the AFM lifters and the transmissions. The 6L80E is not cheap to rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJeepGuy Posted Tuesday at 12:41 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 12:41 AM Wasn't this thread called controversial vehicle opinions.... Bring back suicide doors and automatic seat belts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted Wednesday at 03:43 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 03:43 PM On 3/16/2026 at 4:21 AM, 75sv1 said: Oh, Chevy Avalanche. I like mine. I dig an Avalanche. My grandparents had two, but I only remember one of them. Visibility out of the rear isn't great, but other than that, they are a great idea. Plenty of seating for the whole family and enough room to haul enough stuff for a family road trip, but then when its time to do truck stuff, the rear seats can be folded down and the bulkhead folded to be the equivalent of a standard cab long bed pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaman09 Posted Wednesday at 11:17 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 11:17 PM Some CVTs are fun to drive. I'm personally a fan of any CVT that doesn't have fake shift points. I like the rubber band feel. Probably the most fun rental car I've had in the USA was a Nissan Cube because the CVT just gave it a bunch of character when you drove it. I dislike CVTs that have fake shift shock, it ruins the experience and feels really wrong. I once had a rental Optima, of which made 11 simulated shifts from zero to highway speed going up a long on ramp.It just kept taking the car out of peak power for the sake of making it feel like a slush box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scguy Posted 13 hours ago Share Posted 13 hours ago SUVs are unnecessary and worse in every way than minivans. Also, the Honda Ridgeline, albeit ugly, is too often maligned. It's engineered to be pretty practical and I would own one if they weren't so ugly. Final hot take: Internal combustion engines in passenger vehicles should be a joint effort, standardized product between most all of the automakers to ride out the last gasp until Solid State batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokeyyank Posted 9 hours ago Share Posted 9 hours ago Forced induction is waaaayyy more fun than displacement could ever have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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