I think there are a lot of assumptions being made to suggest that we always have the opportunity to test a vehicle in the environment it was designed for. I would have loved to take the Wrangler mudding, but the truth is I didn't have an opportunity to. It's too bad, cos it would've been a lot of fun.
But, as some have mentioned here, I think there's a lot of value in using a vehicle like this for daily driver duties, as I wound up doing. I drove it on the highway; I drove it in rush hour; I packed four people into it and listened to them b1tch about how uncomfortable the back seat was and what a f***ing pain it was to get in and out of the back seat.
I also would have loved to take the hardtop off and use the convertible top, but I have nowhere to keep the hardtop.
Even if I could have taken the Wrangler off road, I'm no judge of what a truck can and can't do off-road; my off-roading experience is limited to driving an FJ Cruiser over some rocks at the press launch for that truck. I think it's safe to say the Wrangler is probably as capable off-road as its forebears, but it would be up to the people buying them and taking them into the brush to decide that.
Sadly, I don't get to decide what I review. I wanted to be an automotive journalist because I like cars in general. I think off-roading is cool, but like I said, I have no experience and the week I had the Wrangler was a very busy one, with no chance for me to get out to a local Jeep club outing (which, trust me, crossed my mind and would have been a sh**load of fun for me). Next time Jeep throws a Wrangler my way, I hope I'll be able to do some mud bogging.
I really do wish I could use every vehicle for what it was designed for, but it's hard to drive a Porsche to its limits in the dead of winter, and also tough to find terrain I could use a Jeep for its intended purpose on without being charged with trespassing. We're a publication that targets the average consumer, and while many average car buyers buy things like Jeep Wranglers, many of them also don't use them for anything other than I did. Taken in that context, I think my review is perfectly useful.
Thanks for reading, as always.