crankandpiston.com welcomes a new project car to the team, a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Sport
[Not a valid template]Project Cars. For many true automotive enthusiasts, restoring a classic or modifying an existing road car into something truly special is as satisfying as it gets. It’s been quite some time since crankandpiston.com undertook a project such as this, and given that our last examples were road or track-going models, we figured we’d do things a little differently this time and got ourselves a brand new Jeep Wrangler. And we really do mean new: driving off the dealership forecourt, there was barely 46km on the clock.
Why a Wrangler you may ask? With its strong chassis, excellent ground clearance, solid front axles and a lineage that dates back to the early 1940s, the Wrangler is largely considered THE all-terrain weapon of choice. And given that swapping body panels and components on the Wrangler is as easy as swapping Lego bricks, it seemed the perfect core for our soon-to-be extreme off-roader.
The new Wrangler comes with the new 3.6-litre V6 Pentastar engine that was introduced to the range in 2012. Both more powerful and more efficient that its predecessor, the new unit is mated to a five-speed automatic and pushes 285bhp – 40 per cent up on the older generation – and 260lb ft of torque. Time on the dyno has already been booked, so expect these numbers to go up over the next few weeks (particularly the torque since, let’s face it, that’s what you really need on the loose stuff).
There’s going to be some cosmetic changes too. That iconic ‘Jeep look’ will remain intact, as will most of the interior other than a cool aftermarket stereo system and bespoke leather seats. But over the next few weeks we’ll see significant work done to the standard-duty suspension (a lift kit in mind), under the hood and to the bodywork: we’ve already got a new look in mind for the fenders, hood and bumpers.
We’ve got a budget to try and stick with, but the C&P Wrangler should look and feel badass when we’re finished. Watch this space…
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