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2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Off-road Review | Earning our trail rating the easy way

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — When all 4,145 pounds of Jeep slams down on the rock, the BANG! cuts the tranquility of California's Sierra Nevada mountains, echoes off the surrounding hillsides, and travels for miles through the thick unmolested forest of ancient pines. The brutality of the impact sends a shutter though the Wrangler's chassis, compresses our spines into its seat padding, and momentarily yanks my hands from its leather wrapped steering wheel. Then comes the high-pitch screeching as the torque of the Jeep's 3.6-liter V6 and the frenetic clawing from its knobby BFGoodrich All-Terrains as it violently drags the steel of the Wrangler's floorpan along the rock's face. There's a groan from the front suspension as it reaches max articulation and the inevitable crunch when the solid mass mangles the thin gauge stainless steel of the JL's tailpipe. With the first obstacle cleared and 16 miles of America's most challenging off-road trail still ahead, I realize the Rubicon Trail Foundation has a lively sense of humor. Flip open the organization's printed map of the "world-famous Rubicon Trail" and the first thing you see is a quick list of tips to help you get from one trailhead to the other safely and responsibly. Right under where it advises you to pack out all trash and use the portable toilets, it states, "High clearance vehicles recommended." LOL. ROTF. LMAO. Bwaaaaahaaaaaaaa. That's a good one. But I guess it takes just one jerk in a Camry to ruin it for the rest of us. Jeep Jamboree USA, an organization famous for its off-road events on the trail, makes the point with a little less comicality, "A minimum of 33-inch tires, front & rear lockers, tow points, skid plates, rocker panel protection and CB Radios are mandatory requirements for the Rubicon Trail Jeep Jamboree," states its website in oversized bold letters. Our 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, the latest ultimate off-road factory Jeep on the new JL chassis, has all of it with the exception of the CB radio, which is unfortunate since black bears are easier to come by on the Rubicon than cell service. Our iPhones are as useless out here as mechanical sympathy for our steed. "Don't even try it," says one of our trail guides as he watches me fish my device from my luggage. "There's no service until we get back to Tahoe." That's a big 10-4. Lake Tahoe's crystal blue waters and charming downtown are about 30 miles from the Rubicon's eastern most trailhead. It's our finish line.

The List: Best of proving grounds

Proving grounds are where automakers and enthusiasts alike go to push their vehicles to their mechanical limits. The Rubicon Trail, located in the Sierra Nevada, is the ultimate off-road test, while Germany's Nurburgring is a grueling 13 mile road and track course. Jessi and Patrick visit both iconic proving grounds in this "best of" compilation of The List. If you like what you see, stay tuned to watch the full episodes, or click here to go directly to our episode archive and pick out some of your own favorite moments of The List to revisit. The List #0004: Conquer the Rubicon Trail The List #0073: Drive the Nurburgring Have an RSS feed? Click here to add The List. Click here to subscribe to The List in iTunes. Click here to learn more about our hosts, Jessi and Patrick. BMW Jeep Off-Road Vehicles Racing Vehicles The List Videos Original Video

Fiat Chrysler target 850k sales in China by 2018

Behind the vanguard of numerous Jeep models, two Chryslers, a smattering of Fiats and Alfa Romeos and local production through a joint venture with Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAG), Fiat Chrysler wants to increase sales in China more than six-fold by 2018. The group sold 130,000 cars in China in 2013, the aim for 2018 being 850,000 cars.
Ultimately it's expected that the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Wrangler, Renegade, the coming Grand Wagoneer and a sub-Renegade-sized crossover will either be built in or exported to the People's Republic. The Chrysler Town & Country and 300 will join the export list in 2016 and 2018 respectively, according to a report in Automotive News.
With a number of those vehicles not in production or perhaps even envisaged yet, and others not due on the local market until 2018, it will be interesting to see how Fiat Chrysler plans to achieve the target in the specified timeframe. The joint venture with GAG builds two products now, the Dodge Dart-based Fiat Viaggio launched two years ago - supposedly designed just for China - and the just-launched Fiat Ottimo, a hatchback version of the Viaggio. Fiat projected 300,000 Viagio sales in its first two years, that number has been adjusted downward to 94,000 and there doesn't appear to be an analyst alive that sees a good future for Fiat in China's overrun mainstream market. Still, last year's 130,000 group sales in China is a huge jump from 2012 sales of 66,000 units, but less than half the 300,000 units it projected.