The two-door Wrangler looks macho and fun and is all business.Mark Richardson/JOBFlocks
There are many reasons why you should not buy a Jeep Wrangler, and especially not the least expensive, two-door Sport. Like seriously – unless you’re a special kind of driver, forget it now.
It’s a niche vehicle. It looks macho and it looks fun, but it does this to the exclusion of most everything else. That rugged design means it has the aerodynamics of a brick being thrown through a window and it drives about the same, too. It surges up to speed, slowly, and when it gets there, the wide off-road tires and soft suspension encourage it to wallow in its lane like a drunken sailor. This all works well on a bumpy dirt road – very well indeed – but not so much on the highway.
The interior is not fancy, but has a lot of buttons and knobs.Mark Richardson/JOBFlocks
You won’t want to complain about it while driving, because you have to shout above the wind noise to be heard by any passengers. The person beside you is probably sick of hearing all about your Jeep and, if there’s anyone behind in the two-door, they’re busy thinking of how cramped their legs feel, despite all the head space. And maybe they’re distracted by seeing the notice on the driver’s sun visor that reads, “WARNING – Higher rollover risk. Avoid abrupt maneuvers and excessive speed.”
There are plenty of other little things to moan about, if you should ever be cornered at a Jeep owners’ meeting and want to be thrown out – perhaps a merciful release from all the conversation about approach angles and differential ratios. The clutch pedal for the stick shift leaves no room for a dead pedal, to stretch your left leg while driving. The removeable doors are not equipped with blind spot monitors, except in the most expensive edition, and they blow open too easily once off the latch. If you remove those doors in the summertime, they’re not quick to replace, so you’ll want to park inside during any rainstorm; the canvas roof is not quick to replace either, though it does roll back easily like a giant sunroof.
The Wrangler is great off road, while sacrificing nearly everything else.Mark Richardson/JOBFlocks
But then there are the bigger challenges. It’s a high climb into the cabin, getting your legs over the lower door sill with a little hop, and especially if you have the 33- or 35-inch tires fitted; my elderly mother required an outside step. Those big, expensive tires have a winter snowflake for a mud-and-snow rating, but you’ll want true winter tires for the safest grip on ice and then your Wrangler won’t look as cool. And, of course, the fuel consumption literally sucks – it’s better with the smaller turbocharged engine that’s sold with an eight-speed automatic transmission, but that unit prefers premium fuel.
These are all things you may not have thought of when considering a Jeep Wrangler, but to be fair, they’re all compromises made on the highway for having a better trail-rated vehicle. You just need to be aware of them, that’s all. Maybe you’re more like my cousin Becky in Montreal, who drives her family to Costco in her 2017 Wrangler Sahara and still absolutely loves her Jeep.
Mark Richardson's cousin Rebecca Sinclair-Smith in her Wrangler, which she says makes driving fun.Supplied
Rebecca Sinclair-Smith's Wrangler covered in mud.Supplied
“I love being able to drive through anything and never worrying about getting stuck,” she told me. “It’s definitely not for everyone – it jumps around a lot (on the highway) but I’m so used to it now. I’ve pulled cars and trucks and tractors out of sticky situations. I love the Jeep community and the wave. It’s just made driving fun for me again.”
Looks
It looks like a Jeep – all business. That’s all that matters.
Interior
Not too fancy, but comfortable enough in the front seats. It’s noisy at speed from the wind through the canvas roof – maybe you get used to that.
The second row has little leg room despite a lot of head room.Mark Richardson/JOBFlocks
Performance
The Wrangler’s not fast on the highway, though it holds its own with traffic. It’s off the highway where its performance counts, anyway. If you appreciate a manual transmission, the Wrangler’s available six-speed is marvellous. The engine itself is quiet – it’s the wind that’s loud – and I once found myself cruising at highway speed in third gear, quite pleasantly, when I forgot the Jeep was not automatic.
Technology
The off-road tech is the best there can be, but the Jeep’s connectivity is still sometimes glitchy. For example, if I listened to the radio and then responded to a text from my iPhone on Apple CarPlay, I would need to reset to Radio every time afterward. That’s unnecessary and annoying.
Cargo
The statistics sound good but in reality, with the two-door, there’s hardly any space behind the second row (365 awkward litres) and 898 litres high up when the second row is folded flat. Or just be a purist and pull out the second row entirely to create 1,328 litres. The four-door Wrangler is much better, with 898 litres behind the second row and 2,050 litres when it’s folded flat.
When the rear seats are up, there is very little room in the trunk, only an awkward 365 litres.Mark Richardson/JOBFlocks
The verdict
The price has dropped recently for all Wranglers: the MSRP for the 2024 Wrangler Sport was $46,220, but the equivalent 2025 test vehicle I drove is listed at an MSRP of $40,700, and that now includes power locks and windows. Jeep acknowledges its vehicles had become too expensive and it’s spent the last year restoring value and making its prices more realistic.
The Wrangler is one of the least forgiving and most annoying vehicles on the road, but that’s immediately forgotten when you take it off the asphalt. And maybe that off-road prowess is enough for you to let slide all its highway foibles.
Tech specs
2025 Jeep Wrangler Sport Two-Door
- Base price / as tested: $40,700 / $51,795 including freight and pre-delivery inspection, plus taxes
- Engine: 3.6-litre V6 or two-litre inline-four cylinder turbo
- Horsepower / torque (lb-ft): V6 - 285 /260; i4 - 270 / 295
- Transmission / drive: six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic / four-wheel drive
- Fuel consumption (litres per 100 kilometres, city, highway, combined): V6 - 13.9, 10.2, 12.2, 12.9 Observed; i4 - 10.6, 10.2, 11
- Alternatives: Ford Bronco, Toyota 4Runner
The gauge cluster shows pitch and roll.Mark Richardson/JOBFlocks
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