Jeep adds V6 Ecodiesel to the wide range of Wrangler choices

That really is the wonderment of the Jeep brand, as evinced by the iconic Wrangler. It manages to hold so true to much of the old look and heritage, while also remaining current and relevant. To wit: this week’s tester is the 2020 Wrangler Unlimited Sahara with the 3.0-liter turbo diesel engine.

This is the same powerplant, with just a few tweaks, that FCA has been successful with in the Ram 1500 pickup, too. I drove the Ram 1500 with the EcoDiesel recently and absolutely loved it.

In the Wrangler, I loved it too, but felt it was more suited for a pickup truck platform. I do believe this engine has merit and it makes sense for the Jeep family, as the torque changes the performance of this Wrangler, but due to chassis limitation does not change the icon’s puny towing ability of 3,500 pounds.

Rather, Jeepers might consider the Wrangler diesel due to the improved fuel economy, more than anything.

The 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine has 260 horsepower and 442 lbs.-ft. of torque. The Ecodiesel engine comes exclusively with the outstanding, 8-speed automatic transmission. With a diesel engine comes the obvious increase in engine noise. Some find the ping of the diesel engine to be soothing or melodic. I don’t necessarily enjoy it, but I’ve also found the standard Pentastar V6 gasoline engine for the Jeep to be on the loud side, too.

Given how Jeeps are constructed, they’re naturally noisier. The biggest thing to realize with the Ecodiesel engine is the added cost. It’s a $4,000 upcharge to add this engine to any Wrangler. You’d really have to want that torque for a very specific reason to take on that added cost.

Another added cost to my tester – that is totally worth it – is the Sky One Touch Power Top. At $3,995, this turns the Wrangler into a convertible quite easily. As much as I love Jeeps with the doors off and the roof off (there’s nothing quite like it), often getting the hard top or the soft top off is quite an ordeal and a multi-person job. This power top feature is outstanding and requires nothing more than the push of a button.

The rest of the interior of my Wrangler Unlimited tester is as you’d expect a higher trim Wrangler to be. Jeeps aren’t always easy to get in and out of, but the Unlimited has much easier access to the back seat, along with additional legroom for rear passengers. I know diehard Jeepers love the two-door variant, but for me, I would always want a four-door Wrangler.

Pricing a Jeep can be overwhelming with a plethora of options, packages and trims. But that also makes it easy to customize and that’s a good thing for the consumer.

My tester, which was the Unlimited Sahara 4x4, had a base price of $38,645 (that’s without the aforementioned diesel engine or power top). With those outstanding features, along with other options like hill descent and several safety features, my tester had a final MSRP of $56,945. You can see how the Wrangler you may want can get expensive quickly.

When it comes to fuel economy one of the chief reasons to consider the $4,000 add-on of the Ecodiesel engine is improved MPG. Fuel economy for my tester is 22 mpg/city and 29 mpg/highway. When compared to the 18/23 mpg in the gasoline V6 engine, that’s a noticeable improvement.

With fuel prices incredibly low, is that $4,000 worth it? My guess is the extra torque and the diesel growl will be more of an incentive for Jeepers than are the fuel economy gains.

The 442 lbs.-ft. of torque in this modern turbocharged diesel engine is certainly light years better than the old CJ-5 Wrangler. Kudos to Jeep for continually reinventing itself while holding true to what it does best.

2020 JEEP WRANGLER UNLIMITED SAHARA 4X4