2014 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk on 2040-cars

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If you love this Lego Jeep Wrangler you can help make it a reality

Lego and Jeep: two great tastes that taste great together. At least, that's our theory. The Jeep Wrangler is already a blocky and charismatic thing, and we've seen enough Lego vehicle builds to be intimately familiar with the tug on our heatstrings for a tiny version of it. Remember the Lego BMW motorcycle, or the Lego Caterham? There's a perfect storm here of nostalgia, disposable income among its target audience, and admirable creativity on the part of the builder. Just look at this model! The proportions are really close, and things like the curve of the hood and the seven-slot grille are spot-on. The hardtop is removable, revealing a roll cage, just like on the real thing. The 62-mm tires look plenty tough to handle a mountain of blocks. Here's the thing, though: This model isn't available yet, and might never be. Unless you (yes, you!) command your mouse-clicking finger to vote for this user-submitted model proposal on Lego Ideas. At the time of this writing, submitter CK80 is at around 1,100 votes, and he or she needs 10,000 for this DIY Wrangler to be elevated into the pantheon of official Lego kits. Related Video:

Off-roading the Lyman Trail in the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk

Lyman Trail is in the backwoods of the Chelsea Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Mich. It's where FCA goes to push off-roaders to the limits. Autoblog's Greg Miglore made a recent visit to Lyman Trail with the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk. Check out the video to see how the SUV performed. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] We are on Lyman Trail here, deep within the Chelsea proving grounds in the woods. This is where they test all the off-roaders, the Jeeps, the Rams, everything that's capable and needs some sort of a trail rating - this is where they bring it to shake it down. It's all downhill from here. Except when it's rocky and wet. Here we go! [00:00:30] Grand Cherokee Trailhawk is very capable off-road. Of course it's trail-rated. It definitely has all of the gizmos and things that you need to get over the obstacles that we're going to encounter. This first one is called traction. This is where, basically, to be trail-rated the vehicles need to have a certain degree of traction so they can basically, you know, stay sure-footed over certain obstacles. When going up things like this, pick your line, I'm going straight up the middle, and just stay nice and even. [00:10:00] Go straight up let the Jeep do the work, keep on going, skid plates doing their thing, there ya go. This one is over the riverbed. This simulates a dried riverbed. It's rocky, lots of stones here, things you might see on the shores of Lake Michigan. We're just gonna go right over it. Keep it nice and simple. Nice and easy. Okay, hit it kind of hard, gonna straighten the wheels. Again, you hear those skid plates, they are protecting the fuel tank, ... [00:01:30] the transfer case, and the front of the vehicle. So I'm not gonna touch the brakes, I just want to go over it nice and easy. We've come upon one of my favorite events here. This is where you go through the water. It's basically mud, a little bit of a bog kind of thing. Jeeps are so capable, you don't even have to worry about it.The trick about going through the water is to keep a nice even pace ... [00:02:00] and don't loose your nerve. Some people go in the water and are like "woah," freaking out because literally there's water all around you. So, just keep right on going, steer, point the vehicle right on through. We're making some waves here. Keep on going. Keep it smooth. Up the hill we go. And there you have it. Your Jeep not only went off-roading, it went off-landing. That's a bad joke.

FCA goes all-in on Jeep and Ram brands on cheap gas bet

It's no surprise that as SUV and truck sales remain strong in the wake of unusually cheap gas, Jeep and Ram sales are taking off. What is a surprise is that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne thinks that cheap gas will be a "permanent condition," and feels strongly enough about it to change up North American manufacturing plans. Jeep appears to be the biggest beneficiary of the product realignment. In addition to increasing the sales estimates for the brand worldwide upwards to 2 million units a year by 2018, the brand will get a flood of investment for new product and powertrains. Consider the Wrangler Pickup to be part of the salvo, as well as the Grand Wagoneer three-row announced in 2014 as part of the original five-year plan. The Wrangler four-door will get at least two new powertrains, a diesel and mild hybrid version, in its next generation. That mild hybrid powertrain may utilize a 48-volt electrical system like the one that's being developed by Delphi and Bosch – which the suppliers think will be worth a 10 to 15 percent fuel economy gain at a minimum. Down the road, in the 2020s, the Wrangler could adopt a full hybrid system. The diesel powertrain is planned for 2019 or 2020. The Ram 1500 is also pegged to receive a mild hybrid system, again potentially based on 48-volt architecture, sometime after 2020. Lastly, Jeep and Ram will take over some of the production capacity of existing plants. The Sterling Heights, MI, plant that builds the Chrysler 200 will now build the Ram 1500; the Belvidere, IL, facility that produces the Dodge Dart will take over Cherokee output; the big Jeep facility in Toledo, OH, will be used for increased Wrangler demand. In 2015, according to FCA's numbers, car and van demand went down by 10 percent, but SUV demand went up 8 percent and truck demand 2 percent. Considering that these are high-margin vehicles, FCA can't ignore the math. FCA also won't build any new factories to supplement production to meet demand, but instead are reshuffling production priorities. Think of it this way: FCA is gambling on cheap gas being a permanent part of our lives, at least into the 2020s. By doubling down on SUVs and trucks, the company stands to win big, unless a spike in gas prices changes the landscape. FCA isn't talking about a Plan B, so they're all in. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.