What is the most capable new off-road vehicle in the world? The answer to that is, of course, “that depends,” because the word “capable” is up for interpretation. But if we define capable as “able to traverse the most obstacles without breaking,” then I have no doubt that the top-dog off-roader available to the average consumer today is the 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. And that’s become obvious with Jeep’s announcement today that it will, for the first time ever, offer 35s on the two-door Wrangler.
One thing I want to be really clear about: Tires don’t make the vehicle. I see it all too often; folks buy Jeeps, jack them up, and slap 40s on them. It totally does increase capability — on certain terrain. But the reality is that adding bigger tires increases stress on driveline components, and what’s more, it increases both the vehicle’s height (which makes getting under obstacles like fallen trees more difficult) and its center of gravity (which makes navigating off-camber trails more challenging).
Designing a vehicle to be as off -road capable as possible is a complex dance that focuses primarily on geometry. Specifically, the goal is to maximize ground clearance in strategic areas, as well as approach, departure, and breakover angles, while keeping the vehicle’s overall dimensions down. Only after geometry do factors like underbody protection, gearing, traction control systems (lockers), tires, and articulation come into play. As I often say: When it comes to off-roading, geometry is king.
And a new king of the off-road geometry game has been crowned today: The 2024 Jeep Wrangler, which now gets 35-inch tires as an option — a two-inch diameter increase from before. The result is phenomenal geometry. Check it out:
- Approach angle – 47.2 degrees (up from 44)
- Breakover angle – 32.4 degrees (up from 27.8)
- Departure angle – 40.4 degrees (up from 37)
- Ground clearance – 12.6 inches (up from 10.8)
- Water fording – 34 inches (up from 30 inches)
For comparison, the Ford Bronco two-door with 35s has the following dimensions:
- Approach angle – 43.2 degrees
- Breakover angle – 29 degrees
- Departure angle – 37.2 degrees
- Ground clearance – 11.6 inches
- Water fording – 33.5 inches
Obviously, Ford also offers the Bronco Raptor, with 37-inch tires, and that thing is an absolute beast off-road. But it’s four-door only and humongous, which is a limitation. Given what that thing can do in the dunes that a Jeep Wrangler can’t, maybe I’ll call it a draw, but in any case, the Jeep is still up top. Just watch a JL on 35 walk through the Rubicon Trail like it’s nothing (Note: I do have concerns about two-door Jeeps being lifted and sitting on too-large tires, as it makes climbs a bit hairy, since the front tires get a bit light; but I think 35s suit the JL pretty well):
The 35s come as part of the $4,495 Xtreme 35 Tire Package, which can be added to the Rubicon or Willys trims. The package comes with the following, per Jeep’s press release:
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LT315/70R17C (35-inch) BF Goodrich KO2 all-terrain tires
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17-by-8-inch beadlock capable wheels
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Swing gate reinforcement
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4.56:1 axle ratio
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1.5-inch factory suspension lift with uniquely tuned shocks
The downside is that this package is only available on the 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four, which only comes with an eight-speed automatic. So no stick-shift on 35s, at least not from the factory. That’s pretty wack, but I’m not surprised; the manual transmission is too low volume to justify development costs, and who knows, maybe there were durability concerns given how many clutch issues Jeep has had with that overly-smooth-shifting six-speed.
Still, incredible geometry plus a flexy dual solid-axle suspension setup shared by no other off-road SUV in the U.S. — it’s a recipe for absurd capability. In my view, the most offered by any vehicle in the world.
Well that doesn’t sound much like a Jeep
I don’t offroad in the sense that I see a big stupid rock off the side of the road and try to drive over it, but I do have to drive on a lot of pretty bad and crazy incline/decline paved-but-destroyed/gravel/dirt roads. I care a lot more about underbody protection and locking diffs than geometry.
If I really wanted to go off road where there might be trees or other things to get stuck between or under or corners to go around I’d get a Suzuki Jimny.
I used to have a friend that lived in a house that she could drive to through the woods in a Fiat 128 and the guys in big 4x4s had to go a mile and a half farther to get to the house from the back.
I saw a ton of Jimny’s in Mexico last week and I loved it.
I don’t understand how increasing tire diameter 2″ can increase ground clearance 1.8″.
Fair statement. I will say this:
Tires are a lot like televisions; a 58.6 inch television is a “60-inch class television.”
My Falken Wildpeak M/T’s are what they call a ’35 inch tire’, but, per Falken’s specs, it is 34.8 inches. There may be some of that at play with the K02s and whatever was on it before.
Yeah I figured a 315/70r17 isn’t actually 35″. Using inches to measure the diameter of a metric tire is dumb, but there’s literally no good way to measure the diameter of a metric tire.
I have no idea why BFG sells/Jeep speccd a 315/70r17 tire and not a 35×12.50r17, which is pretty much the same thing but with a measurable diameter.
315/70r17 comes out to 34.5″, although I don’t know what the actual rolling diameter of this tire is, because with tread depth and manufacturing inconsistencies the stated diameter on the sidewalk is not always the actual diameter.
There are no metric tires other than Michilin’s old TRX tires. Well, the width of a tire may be metric but the inside diameter is in inches and the outside diameter is expressed as a percentage rounded up or down of the metric width added to the inside diameter in inches. The only measurement that counts is the inside diameter and everything else is just a guess, the widths are nothing you can count on.
Supposedly it makes sense to someone.
Oh, and tire pressure and vehicle weight. Why would anyone spec the outside diameter of a tire anyway when it’s so meaningless?
The rolling diameter is not meaningless, and that’s why manufacturers literally specify rolling diameter, but not in the sidewall size. You have to look it up in the manufacturer spec sheet.
Yeah effective rolling diameter changes with weight and pressure, but if you’re running a weight and pressure even remotely reasonable for highway use, it will not change more than maybe a 1/2″ tire diameter change. A 33 is totally different from a 35 even if you have very different pressures.
That would be circumference would it not?
What would be circumference? The circumference never changes, and of course circumference and diameter have a linear relationship for anything circular.
Ground clearance is typically measured from the lowest point on the vehicle, which on a sold axle is the bottom of the differential housing. The suspension height does no effect this. The only way to increase ground clearance on a solid axle vehicle is to increase tire size, and the net increase will be 1/2 the increase in tire size.
Now if they are measuring ground clearance from the body or chassis the suspension would affect that, but that’s not the standard measurement.
Looks like the the big tires is a package so you are probably getting some kind of lift to accommodate the tires so iti s a cumulative effect.
I guess you didn’t see Mike B’s comment? On a solid axle vehicle, a suspension lift has 0 effect on ground clearance. The only modification that can change ground clearance is tire size.
This assumes the axle is the lowest object an obstacle will hit yes. but if something else is lower like a bumper than no.
That’s true. However, on a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with 33s I don’t need to assume that the axle is the lowest point. It most certainly is.
My old 2-door Rubicon was a beast on 33s. While I occasionally dreamt of lifting it and putting it on 35s, I did a fair amount of rocky hill climbing on the trails I did with it, and DT is right on the money that the short wheelbase can get tippy. Obviously, careful driving and proper precautions can motivate a fair amount of the risk, but I won’t be surprised to see one of these on my local trails resting upside down with its novice new owner standing next to it looking terrified. Clueless Jeep and SxS owners with more money than sense are already the bane of my existence on the trails, so I pray this new package won’t make it worse.
Kinda want
Based on the money dealers make with dealer installed lifts and tires on Wranglers I’m not surprised Jeep wanted to get in on a piece of that.
I wonder how that A/T BF Goodrich tire effect NVH. I could literally hear a wrangler passing me the other day before I could even see it in my mirror due to the exceptionally loud tire noise. The drone in the cabin must have been terrible. Crank up the tunes I guess. I wonder how worried Jeep was with this package about that sort of thing.
The 33’s were not bad in the 2020 JL Rubicon I had. Of course I had the hardtop, which helped.
I have been running KO2s on my Suburban since 2018 and I am impressed with how well they blend roadability and reasonable noise during long road trips along with excellent traction. I couldn’t be happier with my tire selection and when I wear these out the same thing is going right back on.
Same here. I ran KO2s on my Xterra for somewhere around 50-60k miles, now have them on my ZR2 with about 34k miles on them. Been a great all around tire and they only really get noisy once you get down to that last bit of tread, or if you don’t rotate them. I usually rotate at each oil change, so roughly every 5-6000 miles.
Great to hear, I’m looking at different tires for my ZR1 once the stock ones wear out and I’m worried about road noise so its good to hear about these.
meant Z71, I will not be putting KOs on my ZR1.
Safari all teh cars!
mopar has offered lift kits as an accessory for a long time but yeah odd they did not offer it from the factory.
Counterpoint: Within reason, tires are always a good upgrade. Sure, it can be taken too far. If you snap your driveshaft because you put massive tires on a stock drivetrain or if you put slicks on your daily driver you’re going to have a bad time, but if you upgrade within the limitations of the rest of the vehicle there are vanishingly few downsides to better tires. I mean, you say geometry is most important and then point out how these tires provide much improved geometry.
I get that you’re trying to be balanced in reporting on this, but aside from presumably poorer fuel economy and the extremely unlikely event of coming across a leaning tree that’s two inches too low for this to get under, it’s an obvious win.
Yes, always. Putting bigger tires on my Honda Accord made it drive better. I’m a huge proponent of putting the biggest tires on your car that will clear with no other modifications.
Tyre size and compound are both potentially massive upgrades… I’ve seen the difference between a 29 inch Khumo Road Venture and a 31 inch BF Goodrich KM3 on a Mitsubishi Triton… no more noise on the road and way better traction on the road… also helped traction on wet roads and cruising on the highway
I can maybe see the reasoning for not offering the manual, but I can’t possibly see the justification for not offering this with the V6. Dumb dumb dumb.
The turbo 4 makes more torque and at a lower rpm
Ok… so? It’s not a friggen racecar. And with a low-range gear box, it’s not like there’s a shortage of torque for crawling. So what other scenario is the V6 not torquey enough?
I’m not some Pentastar lover nor am I up to speed on the turbo-4 paired with the 8-speed, but, a relatively tried and true V6 with meh’ performance numbers seems perfect if you actually want to go off the beaten path.
Sure, off road in low range its irrelevant, but the other 99% of the time on the street the 2.0 will be better to live with.
Having driven a pentastar on 35’s with 3.73 and then 5.13 gears extensively, albeit with a stick, it really needs to be wound up to get rolling with any urgency.
I’ve also driven a few stock-height 2.0t/8 speed jeeps and they felt like the superior powertrain in the wrangler. Though, they were not on 35’s so not a truck apples to apples. I hate to admit as a manual trans, keep it simple, type person.
the v6 would not be torqey enough on the highway in the “appropriate” gear you would have to downshift because the larger tires would start to lug the engine in your overdrive gear.
Such is the ways of having 35″ tires…
And people do it all the time.
Not a big enough difference for me to put up with the other downsides of a 2.0T
you would have to regear the final drives on the front and rear axles to go 35 and bigger, the turbo four already has a higher final drive so it’s not needed. Plus the turbo 4 has more low end torque.
Is the modular front bumper winch-ready? A winch and an aftermarket rear bumper (oem is mostly plastic iirc) would be the only things I would touch to bring it on some tough trails. 4.56 axle gears is pretty incredible. I’m almost disappointed that I wouldn’t get to customize it but I wouldn’t change any other factory equipment.
TJ owner here with a “6-inch” lift that turned out to be 8 inches. What you’re hinting at is an age-old discussion in the Wrangler forums — buy a factory lift or aftermarket? The factory lifts tend to cost less when compared to aftermarket, have a factory warranty, and if the buyer is financing the vehicle purchase, the monthly payment includes the lift. You can also test drive a model with the Xtreme 35 Tire Package to decide if its livable.
Aftermarket parts are, of course, custom and allow the owner to tailor the vehicle to their use cases, which may be non-mainstream. One of the downsides, which I hinted at above, is aftermarket lifts can’t be test driven. Had I known the lift maker under promised and overdelivered on its lifts I would have acted accordingly.
I am willing to bet a dozen aftermarket vendors will offer add-ons to Wranglers equipped with the Xtreme 35 Tire Package.
It would be silly to buy this package and then change the lift. Compared to buying a standard Rubicon and then adding these mods, you may as well keep the warranty. New tires and gears are among the few things that most people won’t attempt in their garage so you’re not saving much on labor costs if you decide to DIY. Incredible value IMO (for the package. Y’all can argue amongst yourselves about the sticker price of a JL.)
I wasn’t clear. I was not trying to suggest someone select the Xtreme 35 Tire Package package and then lift it. The debate I referred to clumsily was between buying and modifying a base model vs buying a Rubicon.
My point was there will be plenty of aftermarket gimcracks and gewgaws to bolt on Wranglers regardless of trim level.
I own a ’22 Willys sport unlimited with the 2.0Turbo motor, and I will say that it’s great on gas (avg. 22mpg) and has some beans to it when you put the pedal down. It’s given me 0 issues in the two years I’ve had it. I’m convinced that it’s Stellantis’ best motor available currently.
As a Jeep owner who recently looked at getting a new(er) one, Jeeps are just too expensive now.
As a former multiple-time Jeep owner, I agree. I loved my Rubicons when I was on the trail, but they were simply too expensive to keep updating to newer versions of – they became so expensive I would be terrified of trail damage, which negated the entire reason I bought them, which was to go off-road.
I will see your Jeep and raise you, the Unimog U4023. It is what to use to rescue Jeeps that have somehow got stuck.
The Miata of Mud has arrived.
I went thru with a guy who had a new in ’95 stock Wrangler. I on the other hand had a bone stock 85 CJ with only a limited slip in the rear and 31″ tires. I finished it, but doing it in one of these rigs would be like having a cheat code.
Does Jeep even have the rights to use the Willys trademark?
“In 2014, the Willys trademark was acquired by Italian Carrozzeria Viotti, declaration of Emanuele Bomboi (head of design of Viotti).[39] Carrozzeria Viotti together with Fabbrica Italiana Maggiora introduced at the Bologna Motor Show 2014 the Willys AW 380 Berlineta, a concept car inspired by the original Willys Interlagos assembled by Willys in Brazil under license of the French Alpine. Viotti and Maggiora plans to produce the vehicle in limited edition and relaunch the Willys marque.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys
After all the s#it they gave Maharindra it would be rather ironic of them to get sued for trademark infringement.
Lots of things play in to that. Licensing is always an option, and may be the case there. Also, the exact trademark definition matters. It may be that it is unable to limit use as a trim name. Thirdly, if you are a small group trying to get a new car off the ground, maybe you ignore the use of Willys as a trim in the US on one vehicle, so as to avoid pissing off one of the largest auto manufacturing groups in the world. Piss them off, and they may place roadblocks in your way to manufacture that are nearly impossible to overcome. Don’t piss them off, and maybe you can get some help from their subsidiaries when necessary.
I don’t know what I was expecting when I decided to dive into this new Willys.
A new exterior on an Alpine A110 was definitely not what I was expecting though.
I salute them for the effort when they know four door sales will dwarf this.
If they offered this on the 4 door, people would actually buy it and the hit the CAFE numbers would be too expensive.
The XR package has been offered on the JLU for years; not exactly the same package IIRC, but close. And interestingly, they offered it with any engine (always paired with the auto trans though).