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EPA posts 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited fuel economy

When Jeep loosed a trio of 2018 Wrangler photos in October, Jeep cognoscenti parried over details like radio antenna placement and painted tailgate hinges, while every other viewer merely noted, "It's still a Wrangler." Now that the Environmental Protection Agency's listed fuel economy ratings for the 2018 Wrangler Unlimited with the 3.6-liter V6, Jeep savants will again parry over details. Every other viewer will merely note, "It's still got Wrangler gas mileage." According to the EPA, the current Wrangler Unlimited with the 3.6-liter V6 and six-speed manual clocks 16 miles per gallon in the city, 21 on the highway, and 18 combined. The 2018 version with the same six-speed manual comes in at 17/23/19. Switching transmissions, the current model with the five-speed automatic hooks up 16/20/18, the 2018 model with an eight-speed automatic does 18/23/20. Those numbers might not jump off the page, yet according to the EPA's cost calculator, you'll save $250 per year on gas with the eight-speed auto 2018 Wrangler Unlimited, $150 per year with the coming six-speed manual. The eight-speed auto option also exceeds Chrysler's prediction from 2014 of a nine-percent improvement in fuel economy over the five-speed auto. Now we wait for numbers on the dark horse four-cylinder, which we'd expect to best the sixer's numbers, unless the rumors are true and the four-pot really is packing every wild horse it can handle. In that case, we'll turn to the EcoDiesel for frugal kicks. If we don't find out beforehand, we can expect those goodies and more at the LA Auto Show in December. Related Video: News Source: FuelEconomy.gov via Motor Trend Auto News Government/Legal Jeep SUV Off-Road Vehicles

Federal investigations about safety of rear-mounted gas tanks is nothing new

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Chrysler are currently making waves in our daily news feeds due to a disagreement over the safety of a few million Jeep Liberty and Grand Cherokee models. Specifically, NHTSA has asked Chrysler to recall the SUVs because of the location of their fuel tanks, but you may be interested to know that requests such as this are nothing new.
Besides the two Jeep models, NHTSA has launched investigations over the years in such models as the Ford Crown Victoria (and its police-car counterpart), GM pickups built between 1972 and 1987, and rather famously the Ford Pinto.
Understanding how automakers and NHTSA have dealt with fuel-tank-safety concerns in the past may offer a better understanding of how Chrysler and the government agency will settle their current dispute. Check out the complete article from The Detroit News here.

Updated 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee ace same controversial moose test it failed in 2012 [w/video]

Some background: one of the more scandalous international incidents of he-said/he-said from 2012 was when Swedish magazine Teknikens Varld put the Jeep Grand Cherokee through its "moose (or elk) test" and reported that the SUV nearly rolled over. That lead to a whole lot of accusations and rebuttals: more than one website and Chrysler's own blog reported that the Jeep was overloaded; Chrysler said Teknikens printed the magazine then let Chrysler respond, Teknikens answered all of the charges in a lengthy post and said Chrysler was given a chance to comment before it went to print; when Chrysler sent investigators to oversee the test and the Jeep didn't go up on two wheels as it did in the first test, furthermore all four wheels stayed on the ground when Auto Motor und Sport tested a Grand Cherokee in the same way.
Teknikens then re-ran the test with a new vehicle and said it's been doing this test since the 1970s, uses the loading information that Chrysler provides to the Swedish motor authority and the previous Grand Cherokee passed with no problem. In the second test, the Jeep failed again, then it gave Chrysler engineers access to the car's electronics and ran the test again. In that second round the Grand Cherokee didn't repeat the lurid two-wheel action, but in eleven runs it blew out front left tire seven times. Chrysler still objects to the results of all of those tests and maintains that vehicle was safe.
The 2014 Grand Cherokee was given its shot at the gauntlet in the latest round of moose tests, and Teknikens Varld reports that it passed without any problem at all, its stability control working perfectly, controlling motion at low speeds and all the way up to 44.1 miles per hour. You can watch the video of the new test and read the press release from the magazine on the updated Grand Cherokee below.