(By Tom Lohnes) – The Ford Bronco just entered production, and the owners who have waited nearly a year for their car are finally getting their orders fulfilled. The catch is, the off-road oriented Sasquatch package-equipped vehicles don’t go on sale until mid 2022. So what did Jeep do with the Bronco’s main rival, the Wrangler? Made it better than the Sasquatch.
Available on both 2-and 4-door Rubicon models, as well as the ridiculous Wrangler 392, This new package called the Xtreme Recon Package fits 35-inch tires on a Wrangler for the first time. Also, it comes with a 1.5-inch suspension lift and a new 4.88:1 Axle ratio. When equipped with the 6-speed manual transmission, the Xtreme Recon now has a best-in-class 100:1 crawl ratio. Impressive stuff.
How does this compare to the Bronco Sasquatch? Well, approach and departure angles are now superior in this Jeep, with a 47.4-degree approach angle compared to the Bronco’s 43.2 degrees, and a 40.4-degree departure angle which is a ton compared to the Ford’s 37-degrees.
So, which one would you get? Xtreme Recon Jeeps will be on sale in August, so you can go and buy one pretty soon.
It’s hilarious to me that folks are focusing on these things for a stock Jeep. Most never leave the highway. This will jack the price up even higher. I’m not taking a $80K Jeep (estimate) out to beat the heck out of it. I’d probably buy a $15K Jeep, install $8K worth of parts and then go play…and be much less concerned about trail rash.
This is just for posers.
Not so many posers around here near the desert, new Jeeps with all the stuff tend to get purchased by families whose members grew up around off-road recreation and they do get pushed to the limit at times as well as serving as drivers. Like people who can work around cars all day and not get greasy, it’s possible to aim between the sagebrush and rocks and not do unnecessary damage.
There is an area club that works to help get out the novice new-owners who want some credibility.
I do chuckle at the apparent snob appeal, a gal climbing out of one at the grocery store will definitely have her nose in the air a little, expecting that people may be looking at her. A good time to be wearing a cute outfit as well as not have a winch that came from Harbor Freight.
A friend picked up a shiny almost-new Jeep this year as his Wrangler which he’s rolled I-believe 3X in nutso terrain over the years is not so good on the highway and he wants to travel. No “poser” there.
All not for me, light/cheap/toughened-up old XJ is fine, but just sayin’
Yep, for posers. Will there ever be a price on a vehicle that people won’t pay? When all the co-vid money runs out, the auto industry is screwed.
still not available on base model like bronco