SPY PICS: New Jeep Wrangler Unlimited snapped

It's the same, but different.

If you'd ever wondered what Jeep could do to make the long-running Wrangler more stylistically palatable to an ecologically-minded 21st century audience, these spy photos of a Wrangler Unlimited test mule provide the answer: Keep the proportions, but refine them so it's not such a blunt instrument in terms of aerodynamics, and pump out the body so there's space for wider front and rear tracks.

Spy photographers lurking around Jeep's corporate HQ at Auburn Hills in the American state of Michigan observed the ridiculously over-camouflaged Wrangler Unlimited, featuring an ever so slightly more raked windscreen, a reverse-canted grille behind a jutting front bumper and bulging wheel arches – all of which promise to give the mini-Hummer a more hulking, yet more efficient road presence.

In keeping with the improved aero efficiency, the slipperier shape is expected to be accompanied by weight reductions introduced via extensive use of aluminium throughout the (still steel-centric) body.

And although the punchy 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 driving through Chrysler's eight-speed auto transmission will be the base powerplant, a hybrid version is also rumoured.

The photos don't provide any clues, but it's expected that although the company reportedly did play around with the idea of an independent suspension, the next Wrangler will stick with solid Dana beam axles front and rear. Off-road ability is clearly something the company is not prepared to compromise.

The new-look Wrangler is expected to make its debut in the USA some time in 2017. It's not yet known how quickly right hand drive versions for the Australian market will follow.