With the Wrangler nearing the end of its stay in our long-term fleet, I decided to give its prodigious trail-busting talents one more chance to shine. So I told Vehicle Testing Coordinator Mike Schmidt that I was going to take the long way home.
Schmidt cocked an eyebrow. "The
long way home?"
I nodded slyly. "That's right."
"Well," he sighed, "I guess we know what you're driving tonight."
"Beep beep," I grinned. "Who's got the keys to my Jeep?"
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: The Long Way Home.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
On any other scale, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is not a good car. It's shaped like a brick. It's louder than a dinner with Fran Drescher and Gilbert Gottfried. The engine is anemic, thirsty and sounds horrible. The brake feel instills zero confidence...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler: Unlimited Defying of Logic.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
You can only find the soul of the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara in the wilderness. The farther you drive off the beaten path the more clearly this car asserts itself. Around town, it seems gimmicky and impractical. But tackle a washed out mountain road, or piles of snow, and it seems to say, "Now I'm gonna show you what I'm all about."
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara: Finding its True Nature.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
I just got the 2007 Jeep Wrangler washed and was waiting at a red light waiting to turn down the street to our offices in Santa Monica when I felt a shove from behind. You've gotta be kidding me! Rear-ended? With no thought to traffic, I immediately jumped out of the car (dumb move I know but I was in shock at this person's recklessness) and ran to the back of the Jeep...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler: Tow Hook Meets Bumper.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
This past Saturday I spent the afternoon and most of my knuckle skin reinstalling the doors and top of our 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited. Good fun. Ranks right up there with root canal and the musical stylings of Chikezie.
During the process I realized three things:
1) Reinstalling the doors and top of our 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited royally sucks...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: The VW Thing of Our Time.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
Up to now, I haven't particularly enjoyed driving our long-term 2007 Jeep Wrangler. I think the Unlimited body style adds bulk without adding enough utility, and I don't like having an automatic transmission in a Wrangler.
However, I like our Jeep a lot more with the doors off. It makes our nav-equipped Sahara Unlimited feel much less serious -- and more like the adventure vehicle it's supposed to be.
In addition, it encourages resourcefulness on the part of its driver. I carry my lunch to work in a plastic bag. So I simply tie it to the grab handle to keep it from flying away.
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: Open-Air Storage Solutions.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
I remember the first time I actually got up to any decent speed on my bicycle as a kid. It was down one of those 'Dead Man's HIll' type streets that we would all stand around and dare each other to ride down. Inevitably, this boulevard of death took you past the Creepy Lady's house, past the house that always hands out raisins on Halloween, and past the Haunted House where the Axe Murderer lives.
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler: The Fear.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
This weekend I learned that removing the doors from our 2007 Jeep Wrangler is actually easier than lowering or raising its top. Each door simply pops off after the removal of two bolts (I had to go buy a T-50 Torx head socket) and the unplugging of an electrical connection. Total operation took about 10 minutes.
Trouble is, I now have four huge doors taking up my back porch and of course there's no way to lock the vehicle...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: Look Ma No Doors.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
So this past Saturday, I had to take our 2007 Jeep Wrangler downtown to the L.A. Convention Center to pick up my L.A. Marathon bib. The thing is, though, that parking at the center's garage was $12 and I had only intended to be there for less than half an hour so I really didn't want to pay that...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler: Would You Steal This Car?.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
I got the jeep over the weekend thinking I might take off and do a solo night of camping. The girlfriend was out of town, a bunch of friends were out of town, and I had nothing to do. Even those plans got canceled since Mother Nature decided to swing a rain storm on through Southern Cali.
I mostly stayed indoors for the weekend, but on Sunday I had to scout out a new location for an upcoming shoot...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler: "Don't forget to bring a towel!".
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
I got into the Jeep last Thursday and was hit by a dense cloud of musty funk. The stench was choking. I fumbled for the center mounted window switches and not finding them in time I had to just open the door and bail out.
I've held back pointing the finger at a fellow editor...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler: What the Funk?.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
Death Valley, if you haven't been, is a fantastic place to spend a few days. Lots of hiking to be done, things to be climbed upon, oh and unpaved, 4x4 roads to be driven.
If you have a Wrangler, that is.
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: Saying Good-bye to Death Valley.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
(Photo by Dave)
Let's talk about the head rests in the Wrangler. You're saying, "Sara,
do we have to do this again?" Yes, yes we do.
Because I was the one who complained about them in Caroline's entry and I'm here to say: they still kind of suck.
Here's
the thing: the Wrangler isn't meant for city streets...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: Hearts the Desert.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
Sure it gets you from place to place, but the Wrangler has some other uses, too.
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: so many uses!.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited
Driving in the dark in the desert, y'know where there aren't street lights, you have cause to drive with the high beams on. Friday morning, Dave and I got up at o'dark thirty to make it up to Dante's View for the sunrise. Now, most of the drive from Furnace Creek Ranch to Dante's View is relatively straight road. The peak is 5,475ft and we were starting from
-190ft: so there's a bit of climbing to be done...
Continue reading 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: what high beams?.
Categories: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited