JEEP: MONSTER TRUCK

Ever since Elon Musk invested most of his $100 million PayPal payout into Tesla, the car market has been steadily heading towards electric power. Manufacturers have been measuring up engine bays for electric motors, or at the very least, looking at hybrid options. That is, most manufacturers apart from Stellantis.

MEMO LOST

Dodge is one of the 15 brands housed under the Stellantis umbrella and its engineers clearly missed the electric/hybrid memo. While counterparts across the motoring world are looking at more economical ways of powering their product, Dodge has been shoehorning its massive Hemi V8 into any engine bay big enough.

IT FITS IN THE JEEP, TOO

Jeep’s Cherokee has always had space for a V8, so Dodge’s 392 naturally made it into the previous Grand Cherokee SRT (475 hp) and Trackhawk (707 hp). However, there was one major model missing from the Hemi blitz.

Jeep hasn’t made a V8 Wrangler since the 1980 CJ7 Golden Eagle and after 40 years it was looking unlikely that it would ever happen – that was until the day before Ford Announced its Bronco, when Jeep teased its Wrangler Rubicon 392. It was a brutal move by Jeep, but the excited social media chatter was enough for the iconic brand to give the Rubicon 392 the green light.

THE WRANGLER RUBICON 392

We get our first glimpse of the Wrangler Rubicon 392 when we meet Jeep’s representatives at Babal Shams. Outwardly, it’s relatively subtle with only a bonnet scoop, a quad exhaust system, Fox shock absorbers and an uprated drivetrain hiding behind 17-inch beadlock-capable wheels with 33-inch BF Goodrich tyres. For the uninitiated, it looks similar to any of the modified Wranglers you’ll find heading out into the desert on a Saturday morning, but the excitement really starts when you press the start button.

FEEL THE NOISE

Sitting in the bolstered leather seats it all feels very JL-like, that is apart from the steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. More of those in a bit, as all I’m interested in, is firing the Hemi up. A quick press and the big V8 purrs into life. For the sake of the neighbours, there’s a button on the dash that controls the dual mode exhaust system. In quiet mode, a pair of valves direct the exhaust flow and noise through the entire silencer, leading to a mellow V8 sound. However press the button and the valves close and bypass the silencer completely – essentially relying on a small resonator fitted earlier in the exhaust system to do the silencing. And it doesn’t.

Revving the engine is therapeutic. The noise coming out of those outer exhaust tips is 100% 1960s muscle car. It’s a deep, loud and aggressive. If you’re more Smokey and the Bandit than Fast and the Furious, then the 392 is the Jeep for you. There’s no supercharger helping it create 470 hp – just 6.4 litres of naturally aspirated beef.

The 392’s standing start is ridiculous. Lining up on an empty stretch of desert road you can hold it on the brake, bring the revs up, and then come of the brake and stomp on the gas. Unlike other Wranglers that can switch between RWD and 4WD, the 392 comes in full-time four-wheel drive only and all four chunky tyres squirm under the onslaught of 470 ponies. It’s not often all terrain tyres are subjected to these sort of accelerative forces but the high-walled 33s are pliable enough to put all the power down to the tarmac. In manual mode, you can bang it through its 8 gears with the paddle shifters and the changes are instantaneous, leading to a 0-100km/h time of only 4.5 seconds. The big Wrangler can cover the standing quarter mile in 13 seconds flat, although unofficially, standard 392s have broken the 12-second barrier on the drag strip.

OFF ROAD

Top speed is limited to 180 km/h, which again is more than enough for any off road tyre. Big, chunky rubber is great for acceleration, but not ideal for high-performance cornering or braking. The 392 is definitely best enjoyed a sensible speeds and that brings us to its off road capabilities.

Every Wrangler ever made has been supremely competent off road. That’s the whole point of them. Bulletproof on-frame chassis and old school solid axles could take on any rock formation with ease. Then the JL Series came along in 2017, changing the Wrangler game with a host of electronics. Off road it was unstoppable and now it’s Hemi powered.

A quick jaunt in the Al Qudra desert highlighted the 392s capabilities. On normal dusty tracks it’s effortless; barely an inconvenience. On slightly more challenging sand it’s again effortless. You can spot the softer areas coming, give it a tad more throttle and the JL cruises through. The V8’s hardly doing anywork, but if you need it, it’s there. It’s almost too easy to drive in the desert and we didn’t even have time to deflate – all our off roading was done with ‘fast road’ tyre pressures.

ALL THE JEEP YOU’LL EVER NEED

The 392 isn’t just one of the best Jeeps ever made, it one of the best off roaders, too. Wranglers are supreme fun and packed with character: the roof and doors can be removed easily and even the windscreen can be dropped down. Add a gloriously evil V8 soundtrack and you have one of the most smile inducing machines on the planet, on, or off road.