New Jeep Wrangler hits Aussie Outback

Bernie Trautmann is Mr Jeep Wrangler. Or, to be more accurate, he is the engineer in charge of tuning the Wrangler for off-road use.

As Bernie sums it up: "My job is to ensure the Wrangler remains the world's most capable off-road production vehicle."

Which explains why I am watching on in the front passenger seat of a left-hand drive 'VP-A' pre-production version of the new JL Wrangler while Bernie pounds down a dirt road south of Alice Springs, the centre console covered in wires connected to a laptop recording data.

Following in our dust on this 45-degree January day is John Adams, the JL's engineering program manager. He's in a long-wheelbase Rubicon, while Bernie's in a short-wheelbase two-door.

There's a small moment of history happening here. This is the first time Jeep has brought vehicles to Australia to test - well we thought it was until we found out a crew from Jeep China had brought examples of the new Grand Commander Down Under at roughly the same time for heat testing.

Bernie didn't know anything about that, nor did John, nor local Fiat Chrysler Australia boss Steve Zanlunghi, who was along to observe on this exercise in both that role and his newly added job of Jeep's Asia-Pacific chief.

But unexpected Chinese incursions aside, the arrival of two JLs, Adams and Trautmann in Alice Springs was an important moment for FCA. It has been pushing the case for local testing for a while now and the stars finally aligned for it to happen with JL.

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New beginning

The trials and tribulations of FCA and Jeep, especially in Australia, have been well documented. The rebuild is taking many forms and the local testing of new models to better suit local conditions is one plank of the agenda.

"We have been in discussions to have local testing here in Australia for the last three years and the discussions really picked up in the last nine months with the fact we have so many new products getting ready to launch here in Australia," explained Zanlunghi.

"There are some unique driving conditions here in Australia and we thought it was very important for our engineers to come out here and see them for themselves and test to see if there are any adjustments that need to be made to our vehicles for the Australian market.

"We know our customers also pack up and head to the Outback, so we want to make sure our vehicles are optimally tuned for the Australian Outback and their journeys."

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Up for a challenge

Which brings us back to that dirt road and Bernie's data collection.

We're in search of those legendary corrugations that can turn stock 4x4 dampers to mush in minutes. If you've ever been on the Anne Bedell Highway or the Canning Stock Route you'll know what I am talking about.

But those hideously uncomfortable and difficult conditions are just not materialising for Bernie. The road to Chambers Pillars has been freshly graded and the worst of the impediments smoothed out.

Having ridden on this very piece of dirt a few months ago I know the horrid experience we're missing. Bernie swings the wheel toward any sign if a corrugation, but it's just not indicative of what's out there over the horizon.

It's frustrating for Bernie. As cruel as it sounds, he just wants to hammer the prototype. All in the name of a good cause, of course.

Bernie's a hugely experienced off-roader. He's travelled across the globe developing various iterations of various generation Wranglers in his 20 years of working on the brand.

Naturally, he owns a couple and the off-road course at the Fiat Chrysler test track in Michigan is even dubbed the Trautmann Trial.

He knows the data he is collecting will be valuable, because it will be fed back into the central engineering mix and become grist for the data-driven mill at FCA to assist the development of other Jeeps, as well as models from other brands.

And that's not just Bernie paying lip-service. He also runs FCA's 'off-road club', which brings together all the engineers who work on 4x4 and SUV models, many of which are sold in Australia … or will be in the future.

"This visit is exploratory, taking a look at the different terrain," he said.

"We spent some time on the roads and I have some equipment where I am picking up accelerometer data, looking for inputs to our suspension.

"That is something that will be of interest to my team when I get home to take a look at that data."

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Taste of Australia

He's optimistic that this first taste of Australian conditions will encourage a return visit with more resources. And that in turn could lead to specific tuning for Australian models, either as standard equipment fitted to the Wrangler or as a market-specific accessory.

"This may be phase one of a typical scouting mission where we look at a terrain, gather some data, take that home and decipher the data.

"That might take us into a phase two where we do a deeper dive and we would have more instrumentation going forward and more data collection."

Through all this testing there's a great chance for me to appreciate how much progress Jeep has made from JK to JL Wrangler.

We summarised the big, big changes when the JL was launched at the Los Angeles show in November, ahead of a local release in late 2018.

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All-new, really

Intentionally, the JL looks a lot like its predecessor, the JK, and it's still based on the traditional ladder frame with live axles and coil suspension at either end, but the usual 'lighter, stronger, faster' ambitions apply here. Along with one or two more…

"A very big consideration was to make it better on-road," said Bernie. "For a lot of people a Wrangler is a daily-driver. They drive it to and from the trail, they don't put it on a trailer."

Well, obviously, we couldn't really tell you much about on-road behaviour given we spent our time away from suburbia on this exercise.

And it's always wise to be a little bit cautious when making judgements, especially from the passenger seat of a prototype that's at least five iterations away from the production vehicle.

By the way, VP-A means these are first-stage pre-production vehicles built from prototype tooling, as opposed to the 100-plus hand-made mules based on its predecessor. By the time you read this they will be on their way back to the USA where, sadly, they will eventually be crushed.

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Almost ready

Taking all that into account, it's hard to believe just how close they look to production - especially outside. Inside, they still look good, although fit and finish is a bit dodgy and production grains are missing.

And they feel darn nice to ride in too, both on dirt roads and the rough and tumble of the Alice Springs Off-road Club's racing course.

Out here, Bernie's definitely not sacred to push the Wrangler through big holes, into sizeable berms and churn hard across the red sand that drowns the place.

The SWB's 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine and eight-speed auto (a combo that we won't get in Australia) clearly team well together.

But it's the new suspension that shines in this environment. Both compression and rebound have been beautifully tuned. At times I expect to be fired up out of my seat and brace for impact, but it doesn't happen.

Instead, the bumps and lumps are smothered in a way no Wrangler has managed before. Hey, it's not in the class of the leggy Ranger Raptor prototype we sampled at this very place last year, but it is a clear step ahead of a leaf-spring truck.

We transfer to the LWB, which is powered by a 3.6-litre petrol V6 and eight-speed automatic - a drivetrain that is confirmed for Australia. The impression is much the same. More refined and more capable than ever before.

Then, an issue. We pop over a rise and there's the SWB parked by the side of the road. It's ground to a halt and no-one — not John, not even Bernie — can figure out why.

Turns out the kill switch all prototypes are fitted with has decided to activate without anyone actually triggering it. Of course, the vehicle fired up later and ran without a drama.

But that's testing and in the big scheme of things a small setback.

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In for the long haul

The next day it was rocky climbing — a Wrangler given — and some deep sand testing to make sure various temperatures didn't go off the dial. They didn't, even in the stifling hot conditions.

Bernie and John also continued their hunt for corrugations. They still didn't find the humungous stuff, but they were confident the long runs on typically rocky outback tracks data would be useful for review.

But there was another big win out of coming Down Under. It gave both of them an appreciation of how Australians go off-roading in the Outback for days, weeks and months at a time. It's different to the US, where blacktop and a freeway is never that far away.

"It's been a big thing to get on these roads," said Bernie. "For me getting to the Outback for the first time and seeing how expansive the land is has been important.

"Talking to people about their trips through the Outback which are multiple days; that's a unique type of off-roading and I think that's been for me probably the most interesting part."