A-Trac is a must for our IFS

Relax!

 

He's right. Political statements are a good way to get banned.

 

Peace

 

Hey man, the guys that run this site also run Tacomaworld with the same basic rules. Go look at their Banned Members Memorial Thread and take a look at the reason why, most of the time it's politics or trying to sell shit.

Don't join the graveyard.

 

Not to keep the political stuff going but it's funny, I seriously just ran across a snopes article (5 min ago) that said some Nigerian guy in France was making false claims online about the $900 California comment made above. I browsed it over but the jist of what I read was that anything under $950 is just a misdemeanor but still illegal. It was passed as an effort to reduce the prison population of nonviolent offenders. Apparently overcrowded prisons are a big issue there. Illegal, just not a felony

 

True, back on topic...sorry for bringing up politics, I should have stuck with something safe like religion.

In all seriousness, I'm blown away by how capable the 4R is right off the show room floor thanks in part to BOTH the Atrac and rear locker. This is coming from a guy that's been driving Jeeps for almost 50 years. Yes, my Jeep is more capable now, but not when it was new. I'm driving an old school 1991 Jeep Wrangler, not a Rubicon. New it was rolling on 28" street tires and leaf springs that didn't hardly flex thanks to the sway and track bars. Plus it rode like a freight wagon (not much better today either). Fast forward 33 years and it's rolling on 35's, 6" of lift, lockers added front and rear along with beefier axles (and too many other mods!!!). I don't want to talk about how much $$ has been put into that thing to make it what it is today. The 4R would have blown it away, in comfort and with the AC on. I'll be missing the AC when I'm wheeling my dinosaur this weekend in Big Bear with the thermometer hitting 90 degrees.

 

Agree with the stock 4runner capability. I had these wild dreams about taking offroad trips and needing to "build it out" just in case - mild lift, sliders, full skids, winch, etc. I should have researched the trails available to me around here (no gatekeepers because they're pretty much all forest roads that a Honda accord could drive) and listened to other members before going full tilt. A decent set of tires would have been all I really needed.

But, I do like the boyscout mantra to always be prepared and feel it's prepared for anything I would end up throwing at it. And it makes me smile when I see and drive it. I plan to keep it for another 25+ years and will hopefully be retired by then and it will be ready for those trips

 

Ended up with a 4 Door Wrangler Rubicon 4XE Hybrid powertrain.

A couple things I noticed while driving this rental for a week.


Off road
-Factory twin lockers was a nice feature.
-Factory sway bar disconnects were nice but took a very long time to engage and disengage. Didn't inspire confidence.
-Wash board roads were indeed terrible. Sway bar dicso's helped a little. IFS and no sway bar was missed here. But that may be an unfair comparison.
-Visibility while wheeling was better. Reminded me of older vehicle's higher seating position allowing you to see over the hood easier.
-SFA front suspension flex was nice but stock suspension meant I would run out of shock travel pretty quickly.
-Steering components and front axle seemed solid. Like it could handle some abuse without needing an immediate alignment.

On road
-8 Speed transmission always seemed to be in the right gear. No gear hunting or lack of power issues.
-Hybrid powertrain seemed nice at first. But the electric motor only gets you 20 extra miles of range and is used up quickly. Combined horsepower is fun when charged up though.
-Range could be an issue. I was getting 15-16 mpg city and 17-20 Hwy. Range was calculated to be 220 miles with a full tank and no electric charge. Would have been only 240 with a charge. Pretty weak compared to the 4Runner
-Wind noise was terrible. 70mph in this Jeep sounded like 85-90 mph in the 4R.
-Seats weren't incredibly comfortable for long journeys.
-The hybrid powertrain does not allow you to control the engine independently. None of the drive modes I found will keep the engine from randomly turning on and off when needed. Not being able to disable this feature and just keep the engine on was annoying. On road this works seamlessly. Off road it gives me anxiety every time the engine kicks off for no obvious reason.

Overall I liked the Jeep. But I prefer my 4Runner for my use case.

 

Sounds about right. Nice review.

 

I saw one of these hybrids in action once. It was pretty neat to watch it climb a rock in nothing but
electric drive.

So they’re now way to make the drivetrain use the electric drive by itself? There’s always a chance it will kick on mid-obstacle? Was the transition between electric only and hybrid smooth?

 

Yes there's an option for all electric. But no option for all engine... at least not on the surface.

There were three modes. Hybrid, Electric, or eSave.
Esave is the mode that tries to conserve battery and use the engine only. Except I found the engine would still turn off at red lights or deceleration.

During normal driving the system worked well and transitioned between power sources perfectly.

That said, personally I don't think 20 miles of electric range is worth all the hassle. But from a performance aspect I can appreciate it.
The Turbo I4 makes 270hp, 295 lb-ft.
Add the electric motor and its 375 hp, 470 lb-ft

A lot of fun but... doesn't last very long at all. The majority of the time driving this thing the battery would read <1%
If I charged it, the charge would be gone in the first hour of driving.

Fine if you're going around town. But not ideal on a trip imo.

 

I think it might be neat on extended camping trips. Camp a few days in one spot with solar panels out, relocate, camp a few days, recharge with solar, rinse and repeat. Probably a bit too specific of a use case, but it would be neat regardless. Assuming you could recharge with solar.

 

Yeah problem is you can't recharge with solar on any reasonable timeframe. Surface area has been the bane of solar-powered transportation since it was first attempted.

 

Battery is 17,000 watt hours. Most portable solar panels would need about 150 days to charge that xD

 

oof, yeah ok. You just burst my dreams man lol.

I figured a big 400w might make a dent, but that would still require a while in perfect conditions

 

Haha yeah sorry man xD Maybe some big portable solar panels could? idk.

I will say it was a lot of fun when it had battery. But with how quick the battery drained I'd rather have a big v6 or v8 personally.
If the 392 wasn't going for 100,000k I'd opt for that over the 4xe. Embrace the 14 mpg.

 

Gee, I’m ready rather close to embracing 14mpg lol

 

My thoughts exactly.
On 34s I'm already at 14-15 city. 17 hwy.

Then again I think the 392 requires premium fuel... and people report less than 10mpg in the city after some 35" tires are added.

So our boringly reliable 270 hp v6 getting 14 mpg is a good compromise I suppose.

 

@1SilverRunner , maybe it's what you meant, but the 392 comes stock with 35" tires, and yes it requires premium fuel. EPA rating is 13 city, 16 hwy and 14 combined.

 

Standard is 33s

 

Straight from Jeeps website

 

Nah, the 392 comes stock with 35" tires, 315/70/17. The Xtreme Recon, and the 392, come with 35".

 

Yes it says in the quote 33" come standard on the 392 but you can get the "xtreme recon" package which adds 35s.

 

Whew, the cut and paste pictures are cool, but the build and price, the manufacturer spec sheets, and the dealer order guides all confirm the 392 comes with 35" tires as standard equipment. The Xtreme Recon adds 35" tires. The 392 comes with them standard. In fact, the 392 is the only model that has 35" as standard equipment, not part of a "package" or optional equipment.

 

That's good. Must have changed from the 2023 year model where 33s were standard and you would have to add that dealer package to get 35's.

 

Yep, it was optional up to 2023 and became standard in 2024 (for the 392).

 

Missed that it changed randomly for the 2024 ym. Thanks.

470 lb-ft of v8 torque sounds fun...

 

Back on A-Trac question. Does a moderate lift, say 1" to 2"s reduce/improve the effectiveness of A-Trac? since lifts
inadvertently reduce upward travel or droop? meaning a wheel on a lifted truck would come out of contact with the surface sooner then one with out a lift?

Cheers

 

Lift has nothing to do with Atrac. Tire size might.

 

When you lift Toyota IFS you are essentially trading some available down travel for ground clearance.
The only exception to this is using top hat coil spacers.

ATRAC still works the same. But you're on the right track...
Because a typical lift will reduce available down travel, you'd be more likely to lift a front wheel off of the ground. Which theoretically would make ATRAC have to engage more often.

More simply put: No, ATRAC works the same. You'll just be more likely to lift a wheel if you've reduced available down travel.