2024 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4 Door 4x4 on 2040-cars

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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.

332,000 Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo models recalled over faulty seat belt buckle sensors

Stellantis has recalled 332,000 Alfa Romeo, Jeep, and Fiat vehicles in the United States due to faulty seat belt sensors. Included in the recall are certain 2017-2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia and 2018-2025 Stelvio models along with 2019-2023 Fiat 500X, Jeep Renegade, and 2024 Fiat 500E models. According to documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "A disrupted connector on the buckle switch hall effect may affect the conduction on the connectors of the seat wiring and buckle which may cause the front seat air bag to not perform as expected during a crash." In more simple terms, the sensor that tells the vehicle's onboard computer if an occupant's seat belt is buckled may fail. If this happens, an airbag may not inflate in the event of a crash as intended. As of June 26, 2024, Stellantis says it has identified 578 field reports in North America potentially related to this issue. "The remedy will be to replace the connector by directly wiring the sensor to the harness with a solder tube," according to documentation provided by Stellantis. All repairs will be made free of charge.

Jeep and Ram do the pre-Super Bowl ad thing again

Fiat Chrysler is experimenting this year with pre-Super Bowl advertising that isn't — yet — Super Bowl advertising. The automaker's released five ads so far this week for Jeep and Ram. including two more today for the new Ram heavy duty trucks. But at the moment there are no plans to run them during the game. With a new focus on efficiency, the marketing team at Auburn Hills wants to see how the spots play online. The latest long-form Ram ads are called "Roll Rams Roll" and "Fourth Quarter," to go along with the long-form spot, "Make Sure of It," featuring the new voice of Ram commercials, actor Jeremy Renner. The latter spot represents the beginning of a collaboration with Ram and Renner. The wide-ranging actor will provide vocals for Ram's new campaign called "Led or Be Led" that begins later this month. "Roll Rams Roll" presents the classic scenario of two folks arriving at a four-way intersection at the same time. This time, however, one party is a seriously gung-ho tailgating crew in a Ram 3500 HD pulling a giant travel trailer, the other is a ginormous herd of Rams that have come from across the country to see their namesakes play. "Fourth Quarter" celebrates the unheralded workers who, like the best players, give their all until the final whistle, no matter how long it takes for that whistle to blow. Over in the Jeep-verse, fresh off of crushing a 1963 Gladiator, the off-road brand continues the association with the band OneRepublic that began last summer. The group mostly lets the images do the singing in the spot "More Than Just Words," which pairs the lyrics of the U.S. national anthem with representative visuals. FCA marketing honcho Olivier Francois called the week's commercials "a taste of what's to come." Whether that taste comes during the game, we don't know. Spots are rumored to cost $5.5 million for 30 seconds this year, up from $5.2 million last year, which comes on top of production costs that run into the millions. If an ad does well online, there's a chance it could appear during the show in Atlanta. Otherwise, you can check them out above and below, and watch out for rumored multi-brand Twitter shenanigans during the game. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.