The Jeep Wrangler Sends the V8 Off With a Bang
Back in the early 1990s, when I was in high school, a friend’s dad owned an off-road parts distribution company, and we had a ton of fun with his Chevy big block-swapped Jeep CJ. I specifically remember shredding the driveshaft on at least three Tennessee backwoods trails. Modified Jeeps are nothing new, but the automaker is jumping into the fray with a send-off model to honor the rowdy V8 it offered for the SUV’s last few model years.
The Jeep Wrangler 392 Final Edition brings a close to the automaker’s eight-cylinder efforts, but at a cost. Loaded down with almost every option available, the new Wrangler will cost around $102,000 to start. That said, the price tag buys not only the Jeep, but a serious tool kit, a Warn winch, and more.
Under the hood, the 6.4-liter Hemi remains the star of the show. It produces 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, and sends it to all four wheels through an eight-speed transmission. Jeep claims a 4.5-second 0-60 mph time, which would be terrifying in a Wrangler, but the bigger admission here is the torque number, which makes the 392 a formidable powertrain off-road.
While those acceleration numbers in a Wrangler on the highway could be terrifying, almost 75 percent of the torque is available from just above idle. That makes rock crawling and climbing tough terrain much less of a hassle, and the 2.72 low-range gear ratio helps crank the SUV over exceedingly difficult obstacles.
Jeep also includes a 35-inch tire package, acoustically-insulated glass, and the Wrangler’s first power seats. The SUV’s interior is massively improved for the 2024 model year, with a new look, better tech, and revised styling.
This might be the V8 Wrangler’s last year on sale, but Jeep will continue selling the plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe, and an all-electric Wrangler is expected soon. At the same time, the gas-powered Wrangler is available in a range of configurations in 2024, including with a V6 or turbocharged inline-four.
[Image: Stellantis/Jeep]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again, everyone makes assumptions about these because they've seen one in a mall. Go to S. Utah and Nevada and you'll see a bunch of these, very popular-and they get used off road. I've met people with these who have done big chunks of the BDR routes in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. No I don't think all of them go off roading beyond driving on the beach- but there are a lot of 392s that aren't mall-crawlers.
Just remember To pack an extra hundred gallons of gas for the trip..