There was no way they’d ever do it. Not possible.
Stellantis has been stuffing its Hemi V8 in Dodge Challengers, Chargers, Durangos – even the Grand Cherokee, which has even seen the grand poobah Hellcat motor thrown in. That was all a kind of natural progression in that they’re all mid- to full-size vehicles, well-equipped for that kind of power and the Challenger/Charger twins are tailor made. And all of us blue-blooded gearheads are forever grateful to them for doing what they’re doing with these massive powerplants.
But the Jeep Wrangler? They’d never go that far, would they? Well, not past far-out concepts like the Trailcat that have been making the rounds on the auto show circuit for a couple of years now.
After all, the Wrangler has legions of fans that love it for its simplicity, its off-road abilities, even its history or just its ability to look pretty cool in any environment, from the beach parking lot to the trailhead. It’s had a V8 before – back in the 1981 CJ –and it hasn’t had one since, because most Wrangler buyers are happy with the four- and six-cylinder plants it’s always had. They got the job done, and they were light so they didn’t infringe on the Wrangler’s ability to hit the trails.
In the end, though, it seems that Jeep just couldn’t help themselves and now we have this: the 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, eg The One With The Big V8 Inside.
How big? That’s 6.4 litres from tip to tail, pushing out 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque and possibly earning the illustrious award of craziest Hemi-powered thing ever to be available on the showroom floor. And yes; I say that even with consideration to the Challenger Hellcat Redeye, or the Dodge Demon – well, that last one probably still takes the cake, but it’s not like there were that many – if any – found in showrooms, so there’s kind of an asterisk there.
Like pretty much everything save for the Demon and the Charger/Challenger widebody models, the Wrangler 392 is not all that distinguishable from the Rubicons we’ve known and loved for decades now. It even still says “Rubicon” down the side of the hood, just as the model always has – not “Hemi”, or “392” or anything like that; just “Rubicon.” Which, by the way, is the only way you can get the 392 motor. That, and with four doors as opposed to two – because that would be crazy talk. You will find some flourishes of beige-gold trim sprinkled over the body and even on the engine cover, but that’s about the only distinguishing factor style-wise.
So, you get all the good stuff the Rubicon’s always had; Dana axles front and back, Falken Wildpeak off-road tires, mechanical lockers, disconnecting sway bars and Fox shocks with increased ride height. So, it still has all the ability to climb the muddiest of slopes and snowiest of cabin trails.
Climbing up a steep grade on a trail recently muddied by intense rains on the grounds of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (or “Mosport”, for those in the know), the Rubicon 392 did what it always has; clawed its way gamely over the mud, slick roots and sharp rocks, never skipping a beat, never even offering a hint of hesitation as it surged forward. Indeed, with all that torque, you’re scrambling up stuff like this at a faster clip than you’re typically used to, but you’re still doing it, still unflappable as you surge forth.
You will be a little louder though, that’s for sure. The big, gruff V8 makes a big, gruff sound as a V8 should, sounding very similar to the other vehicles in the stable that make use of this bloody great big powerplant.
It isn’t the most powerful Hemi-equipped off-roader you can get – let’s not forget the Ram TRX, which gets the Hellcat 707-hp engine – but the Wrangler remains better suited for trails, while the TRX is more about moving very quickly over sand dunes and the like.
In addition to the familiar looks, the interior environs are what we’ve always known from the Wrangler. There’s still the traditional gauge cluster with a tach and speedo and not a whole lot else, still the window controls mounted to the centre stack, making the doors easier to remove, and you still have the various off-road control mounted low (and a little inconveniently, I might add) on the centre sack. Still the manual 4L/4H/2H controls. It’s all Wrangler in here.
Speaking of the disconnecting sway bar: as if this thing wasn’t capable enough, you can disconnect the front sway bar in the blink of an eye. Sitting there and feeling it as the whole shebang settles down a little as it provides the axle with more breathing room is pretty uncanny, and the way the 392 proceeds to uncannily dismantle elephant tracks, boulder-dotted descents and the like provides a feeling of invulnerability that while not without equal in this game – the Ford Bronco, Toyota 4Runner and Land Rover Defender are all pretty darn good – is still a great look at what has always made the Wrangler such an attractive tool for this kind of work.
Of course, this being the V8 model, I was perhaps even more curious to see how it performed on the road as opposed to off it. You knew it was probably going to be very good off-road – that Rubicon name means a lot – but here’s the thing: no one’s ever going to tell you that their first choice for a road trip on paved rods would be a Wrangler. Of any kind. They aren’t that aerodynamic, all that removable fanfare makes for a loud cockpit, the blocky tires are noisy and all that heavy running gear means a less than cultured ride. What would happen when you jammed all that power into the snout?
Well, the good news is that if you liked the roughshod character the Wrangler has always had, you won’t be missing it here. It still feels like it would be as at home in the farmer’s field alongside the highway you’re on as it is on the highway you‘re on (perhaps more so), except now you do have to keep a somewhat closer eye on things because this baby squats like a sonofagun under hard acceleration. And, when you squat like that, you lose traction up front – as in any racer – and that means you might find the wheel writhing unnervingly in your hands when you get on it, especially if you’re doing so when turning.
It’s a weird sensation because you’ve got this muscle-car growl that you know and love if you’ve driven Hemi-powered vehicles before – as I have, many times – but since it comes accompanied with all of the Wrangler’s high centre-of-gravity foibles, it does kind of feel like the 392’s knees are shaking just a bit. It’s fast, oh, it is fast, but I wouldn’t take it to my favourite winding mountain road, per se.
Indeed, even in 392 form, this Wrangler is still much happier off the beaten track, with its down-and-forward facing camera, Uconnect Off-Road Pages (detailing your angle of attack, axle articulation, steering angle and so forth) and so on.
Which I guess leaves me feeling like they may have taken things a little too far with this particular application of the vaunted 392 Hemi. The motor has always been somewhat superfluous but it seems even more so here. It doesn’t do all that much for you when off-roading, and can’t really be fully exploited when on paved surfaces, either, because even with the reinforced frame rails the 392 gets, it still falls victim to the Rubicon’s inherent on-road skittishness. And to top it all off, it costs over a hundred-thousand dollars if you aren’t careful with your feature choices.
It’s a very cool idea – and I love that they actually had the minerals to do it – and it sounds great and there are plenty of Wrangler-philes and Hemi-philes alike that would probably have one, but I think the thrills the standard Rubicon is capable of offer far better bang for your buck than this.
