Since before I could drive, I'd always been a sports car person. I've gone through MR2s, Miatas, and an FR-S. "Off road" for me meant auto-x, hill climb, or some other closed course time trial. 
One of my brothers was into the whole lowered S-10 thing and I had an uncle who was into competitive winching. I found the S-10s to be miserable to drive and couldn't wrap my head around wanting to get stuck in the mud. "To each his own."
Fast forward as few years and I found myself with a career I liked and my 2018 Chevy Camaro 2SS 1LE dream car as my only car. (Not much out there that sounds better, IMO.) I loved the thing because I'd never expected a factory muscle car to handle well enough get me out of a sports car. It was really heavy as far as I'm concerned but there was seemingly no end to the torque or cornering grip. It also got the best highway economy of any car I'd ever owned at just over 34 mpg measured at the pump. Short story longer, I found myself in need of a winter car. I didn't want the Camaro out on salted roads and didn't want to bother with storing summer and winter tires.
I didn't really care what it was. The only condition I had is that it had to be a manual. Maybe I'm a snob in that sense but I can't stand driving an auto and I just wanted something cheap that I could drive all winter. I test drove everything from Fiestas to Foresters and Tacomas. I saw an ad for an 07 Wrangler X 2dr 6spd that had a clean interior, brand new wheels and tires, and was severely under priced. I went in, test drove it and gave it a good top-down mechanical check. (Side note: it amazes me how many sales people get confused when you want to even so much as open the hood before buying a used vehicle.) I thought, "meh, I guess I could live with this," and I bought it. Still blathering on but I wound up being impressed with the heater. It didn't take long to warm up and max heat would burn my knuckles. I'm always cold, so I loved it.
The funny thing was that by the time spring rolled around and it was finally warm enough to get the Camaro back out, I found myself still commuting in the Jeep. Once it was warm enough to take the top and doors off, the Camaro turned into just a Sunday driver. I still can't explain why, so maybe I still don't "get it," but I like driving the Jeep more than my muscle car or any of my previous sports cars. It doesn't explain anything at all really but the best I can say is that I realized that it has a special "character" to it like my MR2s and older Miatas had. So this fall I made the decision to trade in the Camaro and current Jeep in on a new Rubicon rather than store the Camaro again. I initially started looking for a used JL but used prices are so high that I started considering going new. I wanted to trade both cars in to consolidate and wanted to match trade in value and wound up going for a Rubicon. (Felt kinda nice getting both trades appraised and then having to add options to match trade value... the nice side of the used car shortage. The Camaro cost as much in insurance as it did in depreciation over the 3+ years I owned it.)
That's a very long way of saying that I'm 6 weeks into my order and who knows how many more until I get a new Rubicon.
I still wouldn't say that I've ever been off road in my current Wrangler but I've enjoyed it enough that I don't really care. It's been on trails and what I'd call "farm roads" but most of those are paths that I wouldn't think twice taking a Miata. (I don't make the snotty youtube comments on the Wrangler reviews but honestly many of their "off road" segments are the types of places where I have actually taken a Miata.
) The closest I've come to needing 4lo was because I was following farm equipment out to a field and got tired of clutching and I've only used 4wd when things got muddy. One of the things I've promised myself (or lied to myself about, only time will tell) is that I will find a local group and start taking the Rubicon to local off road parks in the spring.
I'm really curious how I'll like the JL manual. I know the final ratios will be night and day different from the 07 X to a 21 Rubicon but I kinda hope the JL doesn't drive too car-like.
Anyway... I'll stop now.
One of my brothers was into the whole lowered S-10 thing and I had an uncle who was into competitive winching. I found the S-10s to be miserable to drive and couldn't wrap my head around wanting to get stuck in the mud. "To each his own."Fast forward as few years and I found myself with a career I liked and my 2018 Chevy Camaro 2SS 1LE dream car as my only car. (Not much out there that sounds better, IMO.) I loved the thing because I'd never expected a factory muscle car to handle well enough get me out of a sports car. It was really heavy as far as I'm concerned but there was seemingly no end to the torque or cornering grip. It also got the best highway economy of any car I'd ever owned at just over 34 mpg measured at the pump. Short story longer, I found myself in need of a winter car. I didn't want the Camaro out on salted roads and didn't want to bother with storing summer and winter tires.
I didn't really care what it was. The only condition I had is that it had to be a manual. Maybe I'm a snob in that sense but I can't stand driving an auto and I just wanted something cheap that I could drive all winter. I test drove everything from Fiestas to Foresters and Tacomas. I saw an ad for an 07 Wrangler X 2dr 6spd that had a clean interior, brand new wheels and tires, and was severely under priced. I went in, test drove it and gave it a good top-down mechanical check. (Side note: it amazes me how many sales people get confused when you want to even so much as open the hood before buying a used vehicle.) I thought, "meh, I guess I could live with this," and I bought it. Still blathering on but I wound up being impressed with the heater. It didn't take long to warm up and max heat would burn my knuckles. I'm always cold, so I loved it.
The funny thing was that by the time spring rolled around and it was finally warm enough to get the Camaro back out, I found myself still commuting in the Jeep. Once it was warm enough to take the top and doors off, the Camaro turned into just a Sunday driver. I still can't explain why, so maybe I still don't "get it," but I like driving the Jeep more than my muscle car or any of my previous sports cars. It doesn't explain anything at all really but the best I can say is that I realized that it has a special "character" to it like my MR2s and older Miatas had. So this fall I made the decision to trade in the Camaro and current Jeep in on a new Rubicon rather than store the Camaro again. I initially started looking for a used JL but used prices are so high that I started considering going new. I wanted to trade both cars in to consolidate and wanted to match trade in value and wound up going for a Rubicon. (Felt kinda nice getting both trades appraised and then having to add options to match trade value... the nice side of the used car shortage. The Camaro cost as much in insurance as it did in depreciation over the 3+ years I owned it.)
That's a very long way of saying that I'm 6 weeks into my order and who knows how many more until I get a new Rubicon.
I still wouldn't say that I've ever been off road in my current Wrangler but I've enjoyed it enough that I don't really care. It's been on trails and what I'd call "farm roads" but most of those are paths that I wouldn't think twice taking a Miata. (I don't make the snotty youtube comments on the Wrangler reviews but honestly many of their "off road" segments are the types of places where I have actually taken a Miata.
) The closest I've come to needing 4lo was because I was following farm equipment out to a field and got tired of clutching and I've only used 4wd when things got muddy. One of the things I've promised myself (or lied to myself about, only time will tell) is that I will find a local group and start taking the Rubicon to local off road parks in the spring.I'm really curious how I'll like the JL manual. I know the final ratios will be night and day different from the 07 X to a 21 Rubicon but I kinda hope the JL doesn't drive too car-like.
Anyway... I'll stop now.
