Before Vehicle Testing Assistant Mike Magrath handed me the keys to our 2007 Jeep Wrangler for the weekend, he mentioned how his girlfriend hated it because with its 10-inch ground clearance she had a hard time getting into it without being obscene. As a girl who likes to wear dresses, I got what he meant but then I replied, "Why doesn't she just step up on the running board and hold onto the roof to pull herself in?" But apparently she's shorter than me -- I'm 5'5" -- so she can't reach the roof to do that.
The next day, a friend of mine who is 6'1" complained how the step to get in is as high as the cabin and therefore not that helpful at all. In his words, "It's dumb." He also noted that the running board just gets in the way when exiting the Jeep since it's too high to be of any use in climbing down...
True, I, too, just end up stepping over it to jump down to the ground. But that's fun to me. In any case, although I haven't taken this car off-roading yet, I'm sure that the high ground clearance comes in handy in the wild.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 6,208 miles
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 6,208 miles
carlisimo says:
05:15 PM, 09/10/07
There should be a folding gangplank on the options list. It could double as a skidplate when stowed under the car.
ahightower says:
06:13 PM, 09/10/07
I find most running boards equally useless. The only thing I use mine for is to stand on when I'm washing the roof.
firstwagon says:
07:29 PM, 09/10/07
I actually prefer trucks you climb up into as opposed to cars you climb down into. It's just easier.