Jeep Wrangler set for Aussie torture test

Jeep has confirmed it will test its new JL Wrangler hard-core off-roader in Australia in early 2018.

The testing will take place at roughly the same time as the new Wrangler goes on-sale in North America and months before its local launch late next year.

Jeep claims the JL has already been subject to 6.3 million kilometres of testing around the world, the most of any Wrangler generation.

Global venues already visited include China, Brazil, India and Italy. Jeep has also tested the Wrangler off-road in New Zealand.

In North America, it has been subject to the heat of Arizona and the cold of Alaska, as well as the traditional Jeep task of successfully traversing the rugged Rubicon Trail.

However, stakeholders said this week they couldn’t go without testing the Wrangler in gruelling Australian conditions.

Wrangler chief engineer Brian Leyes was unwilling to give away exactly when, where and what Jeep would be testing with the off-roader in Australia.

“We are kinda finalising that right now, just to see what makes sense and what would be unique in the market,” he said.

“We’ll look and see what’s there and available.

“We want to understand the validation there. If we find a shortfall, maybe there is a gap that we just don’t know yet.”

Leyes was speaking at a media briefing on the new Wrangler in Los Angeles today, ahead of its unveil at the Los Angeles auto show tomorrow.

https://www.facebook.com/motoring.com.au/videos/1785165678183192

For more on the tech and preliminary Aussie spec of the JL Wrangler go here. For more on the local distributor’s push to get Autonomous Emergency Braking into the vehicle so it becomes potentially eligible for an ANCAP five-star rating.

Leyes said the fact Wrangler was about to launch wasn’t relevant to the test timing.

“We are always learning, we are always looking,” he said. “Just because we are launching this product doesn’t mean that we don’t go off-roading.

“Next summer I am still going to take these vehicles out west, I am still going to go on the Rubicon Trail, I am still going to go in off-road environments, simply because we are always looking to improve the product.”

Jeep has agreed to test locally after some years of persistent pressure from FCA Australia.

As far back as 2015, during his first visit to Australia, FCA global product planning heavyweight Steve Bartoli backed local chassis tuning.