Our resident document digger, Bozi Tatarevic, stumbled upon a document submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that may confirm at least some details about the next Jeep Wrangler.
The docs appear to confirm that the upcoming JL-platform Wrangler will offer two engines at launch – a 3.6-liter V6 that makes 285 horsepower and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that makes 368 horsepower. Yes, you read that right.
The other piece of news gleaned from the submitted docs is that the Wrangler will initially debut as four-door only. Just three trim levels were listed: Sport Unlimited, Sahara Unlimited, and Rubicon Unlimited.
Don’t worry, Wrangler fans. Just because a two-door bodystyle isn’t listed, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening (as seen by this camouflaged model). The same goes for a diesel-engine option or the pickup-truck bodystyle, which Jeep has confirmed.
We’ve already reported that the diesel is still a go, and that it will appear later on, probably in the spring of 2018. We’ve also already reported that the truck version will bring back the Scrambler name and go on sale in 2019.
These documents appear to confirm some other bits of our previous reporting – we already wrote about leaks that indicate a production run beginning in November with the four-door hardtop bodystyle and a choice of engines between the 3.6-liter V6 and 2.0-liter turbo four.
We also reported the V6 would be offered with an eight-speed automatic transmission or six-speed manual and that the 2.0-liter would be a “mild hybrid” unit only offered with an automatic. The docs do not confirm anything related to transmissions, nor do they confirm or refute the “mild hybrid” reporting. It’s entirely possible that Jeep could offer a traditional turbo four and a mild hybrid, or that the turbo four is a mild hybrid.
Roof options are likewise not touched upon, nor is the type of 4WD system offered, although the docs do show there will be 4WD of some sort, as one would expect from a Wrangler.
I reached out to Chrysler for comment, and got the usual response, which is to say that Chrysler PR folks won’t talk about future product. I was unable to confirm whether the Wrangler would debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November – which it would if the production run does, in fact, start next month – or at FCA’s hometown auto show, the North American International Auto Show, which takes place in January.
Personally, I’d love to see a manual transmission matched to the 2.0-liter, but whatever the case is, the wraps will be off the package soon.
You can read the documents for yourself below.
UPDATE, 10/12/2017: As noted by our own Steph Willems, FCA has refiled the documentation, and the 368 figure has been replaced with an unrated number. Click here for more.
FCA Trucks NHTSA by BT on Scribd
[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
More power great…..The cowboys will put lift kits on this and drive like hell with all that power on an unstable chassis …that will work out great
Oh geeze.
They should all have 97 hp to put them in their lower-class place, eh? Buncha stupid jerks who like vehicles you don’t. The nerve of them!
Think of it as very very late term abortion. It’s a good thing.
except for you, of course. Because, you know, you’re important or something.
368 out of a turbo 4 2.0 liter. Ya it’s possible but I have to think that’s a typo for 268 or that’s the combined hybrid rating. 268 out of a turbo 4 would be very in line with ‘maintstream’.
I would actually bet real money that thats wrong.
I don’t want to say 368 out of a turbo 4 isn’t possible, but thats more than the 5.7L V8.
It just doesn’t make logical sense.
I would bet & GUESS that this 2.0 turbo engine/transmission combo will be very similar, if not identical, to the Multi-Air 2.0t in Alfa’s Giulia.
I believe it uses an 8 speed but no hybrid? Makes less than 300hp so I am not sure where the 368 figure comes from.
I wish the 5.7 would have been an engine choice as well.
“I wish the 5.7 would have been an engine choice as well.”
Weight.
I suspect it’s the combined power, although even that is a bit too high for a “mild” hybrid that uses a starter/generator/motor.
turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that makes 368 horsepower. Yes, you read that right.
Who do you guys think you are? Volvo?
That’s either a typo, or FCA thinks the Wrangler’s competition is the GLA45AMG.
If Sergio told them that’s the competition, That’s. The. Competition.
BTW, the HP number is real. It’s just 1500 RPM above redline.
I’ll never understand the keen interest in this vehicle. It really is a Jeep thing. I clicked out of interest in the engines.
It’s one of the few left that has a proper transmission. And is available as a convertible to boot. Which, in today’s day and age, means you’re approaching Miata levels of goodness.
They’ve been saying the new Wrangler would have a version of the newish Hurricane 2.0 litre turbo 4, for what, two years now? 280 bhp in the Alfa Romeos now on sale, so what’s it likely to be in the Jeep? Less is the answer.
Common sense alone says it won’t be a mass-produced rival to the all-out handmade AMG 25 psi hotrod which has only 7 horsepower more. So 368 hp is out of the question. But maybe the document is coded so that anyone who publishes the 368 hp figure gives away who “stole” it.
I’m thinking misprint but this is a document to NHTSA available for public download.
Here is the Toyota one for instance
https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/mid/home/displayfile/32872
and here is the main site
https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/mid/
“Less is the answer.”
Insiders were already saying that it was going to be “at least” 300 HP. Just because Alfa uses the same engine, doesn’t mean it’s the same. It doesn’t appear that the Italians are worried about marketing either—as much as Daimler was.
Funny that all three trim levels are “unlimited”. Logically, two of them would be limited in some way.
It’s a Jeep thing. The 4 door Wrangler is the Wrangler Unlimited. The 2 door is the Wrangler Limited.
Did I read that right? 2.0 HP from a 368 liter? Listen, Jeep. You really need to stay away from those Fiat engines. You have enough of your own problems. Stick with the V6.
Those numbers are very real when combined with an electric motor.
The Range Rover Sport P400e combines a 2.0L turbocharged I-4 from the corporate Ingenium engine family with an electric motor and 13.1kWh lithium ion battery, with a combined power output of 398 hp and 472 lb-ft.
I’ll be opting for the diesel.
The V6? Pshaw! Bring back the 242 AMC straight six! The “4.0” was one of the best off-road engines ever put into a Jeep.
Agreed. The H.O. with the AX-15 manual was a great ride.
nonsense. all of the dimps who derided the “minivan engine” in the 2007 Wrangler were too dumb to realize the 3.8 V6 had more horsepower AND torque than the 4.0 straight 6.
For off-road, you want that torque at low 2000s RPMs, not a screaming 4500.
Comic sans for a signature block? What in the eff is going on at FCA…
At least now we know how to email or call Rhonda Curran, so we can find out if the 368HP 2.0 turbo is a typo or the real deal.