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2016 Jeep Wrangler Backcountry is Xtremely Purple

Assuming you're headed into so-called backcountry to do fun, outdoorsy kinds of things, chances are, you wouldn't want to use a bright purple vehicle with hot pink graphics as your means to get off the beaten path. Particularly if you're doing those outdoor activities in a winter wonderland, surrounded by nature's own cold, white blanket. Fortunately, then, Jeep is offering its new Wrangler Backcountry in four colors that aren't called Xtreme Purple: blue, black, white, and gray. No matter which hue you choose, though, you'll get the graphics package, so best to bear that in mind. Besides its searing shade of paint, the Wrangler Backcountry is based on the Sahara model and comes equipped as you'd expect for a real, useful, backwoods vehicle. An off-road-spec front bumper joins a matching powdercoated rear bumper, and its 17-inch wheels are borrowed from the hardcore Rubicon model. Buyers will have a choice of Rubicon Rock Rails or Sahara side steps to ease ingress and egress, and a hardtop in either black or, for an added price, a body-color. But hopefully not purple. The interior is updated for the Wrangler Backcountry with black and grey plastics and stitching, along with black leather and "sport mesh" seating surfaces. A nine-speaker Alpine sound system pumps up the jams, and Bluetooth comes standard. You can read more about the Jeep Wrangler Backcountry in the press release below, but first, check out our high-res image gallery of live photos from the show floor in LA. Oh, and if you do really like Xtreme Purple, you should know that the Wrangler Backcountry is the only Jeep you can get in this particular retina-assaulting hue. 2016 Jeep Wrangler Backcountry The Jeep Wrangler Backcountry boasts a winter capability theme and is based on the Wrangler Sahara model. It features a Backcountry decal on the front fender and rear quarter panel, a unique off-road front and rear powder coated bumper, 17-inch Rubicon wheels painted in Mid-gloss Black and a black fuel fill door. Wrangler Rubicon rock rails are standard on the Wrangler Backcountry, but Sahara side steps are also available at no additional charge. A black hard top is standard, but an optional body color hard top is also available. Wrangler Backcountry is available in five colors: Hydro Blue, Black, Bright White, Granite Crystal and Xtreme Purple. Backcountry is the only model in Wrangler's lineup available in Xtreme Purple.

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | At the edge of the Arctic Ocean

Our man Jonathon Ramsey is driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on a 14-week, 14,000-mile journey across North America. Check out his first, second, third, and fourth installments. TUKTOYAKTUK, Alaska – The picture above merely hints at the magic turn the Rubicon Alaska Cannonball took after Port Orford, Oregon. The three dramatis personae are Shelby, on the right, an Inuit and Tuktoyaktuk local with a supernova smile, sitting on the hood of her 2014 Wrangler; Jason, a top Canuck who rode his BMW up from the Lake Louise area, takes the middle; I'm on the left, wearing an Inuit parka lent me by Shelby's father, John Steen. The parka, full of snow goose down and lined with wolverine fur, is the nicest piece of winter gear I've ever put on. Any kind of winter gear. Ever. We're effectively in John Steen's back yard, the sun setting on the Arctic Ocean behind us, pingos – earth-covered mounds of ice that Tuk is known for – in the background. I took this picture at the beginning of a long night of laughs, learnin', beer, whale, Northern Lights, extraordinary kindness, more laughs, followed by a long sleep in a man cave garage. But let's pick up right after Oregon. I drove to Seattle to regroup after the Trans-America Trail and visit a Jeep dealer for an oil change, tire rotation and balance, and a thorough inspection. For reasons neither Jeep nor I could understand, the dealer wouldn't do anything more than change the oil. The Jeep rep couldn't make the dealer budge. The punchline: as I left the service department, the service writer I dealt with turned to his colleague and said, "Another happy customer." My head exploded. And then I made an appointment at a Jeep dealer in Fairbanks, Alaska to complete the work. Google said Fairbanks lies 2,145 miles from Seattle. I wanted to be in Fairbanks in three days, so I hit I-5 north determined to chalk up 715 miles. Instead of taking the Alaska-Canada Highway (the AlCan), I turned left at Prince George to take the Cassiar Mountain route, and clocked about 830 miles before pulling into a rest stop in New Hazelton. That first day would be the only one on schedule. I don't know how Canada has managed to keep this a secret, but the western provinces are shockingly gorgeous. One of Canada's tricks: California's 163,707 square miles host 39.5 million people; Canada's 3.855 million square miles house 35.2 million people.

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.