2018 Jeep Wrangler - Take a Closer Look

by Tim Healey

Published: November 30th, 2017

Jeep Wrangler fans are the type of enthusiasts who know and appreciate the history of the model, and Jeep knows that. Since we already knew just about everything about the 2018 Wrangler before the sheets came off in Los Angeles, we here at TTAC figured it might be interesting to take a closer look at some of the smaller details that go beyond horsepower, torque, and transmission type.

One of Jeep’s PR folks walked me through the various callbacks to prior Wranglers that are evident, if not obvious, on the new Wrangler.

Wrangler lovers will like the plaque mounted on the inside of the tailgate — it lists the JL’s dimensions and just looks cool.

The next cool detail is the roofline — the softtop can extend out past the C-pillar and give a bit of coverage to the rear cargo area, as shown here.

I wasn’t able to get quality photos, but the doors have different pull hooks and door pins than the current model.

The air vent shown here is functional, helping to cool the motor:

Two footman’s loops adorn the hood, as pictured here.

Perhaps most notable, the Jeep badge deserts the front grille and moves back to the bodyside.

And, of course, the windshield folds down, as previously reported.

The dash also returns to a flat-top design.

And finally, eagle-eyed readers will notice that the doors are bit more rounded-off — this is to make it easier to get in and out of the Jeep when off-roading.

Jeep has loaded the 2018 Wrangler with enough small details to keep the keen-eyed busy. Next up — actually driving the damn thing.

#2017LosAngelesAutoShow #2018JeepWrangler #Jeep #JeepWrangler #JeepWranglerJL #JlWrangler #Wrangler #WranglerJL

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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PrincipalDan on Nov 30, 2017

Sport V6 2-door 4x4 6 speed manual hardtop is how I would want mine. The high resale is the thing that keeps tempting me on buying one new.

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- EquipmentJunkie on Nov 30, 2017
  
  I totally agree on the resale value of Wranglers. I bought my '98 TJ right, drove it for 50k, and sold it for $600 less than I paid for it.
  
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- PrincipalDan on Nov 30, 2017
  
  @EquipmentJunkie Just went to look at "trade in value" on a 5-6 year old Sport S 4x4 manual transmission hardtop with 80,000 miles and even the online sites which tend to low ball trade in a bit were saying that it was roughly $16,000. That's insane when you could buy a new one for about $25,000.
  
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Kato on Nov 30, 2017

Looks like a nice update. I'm intrigued by the photo with a cargo carrier mounted directly to the hardtop. One of the things that has kept me from considering one previously is having to install a giant exoskeleton in order to carry a canoe. If it can carry a boat and can be had with V6, MT, and full-time 4WD, I'm interested. I passed on the Liberty 'cause full-time could only be had with an AT.

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