V-6 Wrangler Rubicon owners - How many miles per tank?

[RyeDaddy]

Just curious, I had a 2006 Rubicon Unlimited that had to be filled every 210 miles, which is about 3 days of commuting for me. Got annoying. Not worried about MPG, just how often you gotta go to a gas station.

Looking at buying a new one and want to know if that's changed at all with the more efficient V6 or if the tank is any larger on the body style vs mine.

 

[rjacobs]

I have a 14 Unlimited Rubicon(3.73 gears, 4.10 are an option, not standard anymore). I would say on mixed driving I am getting 18mpg across a TON of tanks of gas(well not a ton, I have about 8500 miles right now). On the highway on longer trips I am getting 19.5 doing 65mph. Rated for 16 city, 21 highway. I havent seen the 21 highway personally, I would think you would have to run like 55mph to get that, but I feel I am beating the 16 city, although I would say my "city" driving is mixed city(70%) and highway(30%). Like I said I rarely exceed 65mph on the highway. At 70 I have seen a 1 mpg drop on the same route(200+ mile drive between St. Louis and Kansas City).

I am getting 350-400 miles out of a tank depending on if its mostly all city driving or all highway. Its supposed to be a 22.5 gallon tank, ive never put more than ~18.x gallons IIRC in it when I am down to basically zero and starting to get scared. I know my old Wrangler(02 4.0 Sport) was supposed to have a 20.5 gallon tank and I never got more than 16 or so gallons into it. I know the Jeeps have a ridiculous "built in" reserve I.E. the gauges arent accurate for SHIT.

 

[RyeDaddy]

Thanks a bunch, sounds like a big improvement. I didn't realize you could get 3.73 gears now on the Rubicons, I'll opt for that. My old 2006 with 4.11 gears got about 15.5 MPG combined driving and was running around 4k RPM at 70 MPH, it was horrendous I thought.

Fun off road, but the soft top combined with the highway engine noise sucked. Mostly just got sick of having to fill up every 3-4 days, I could live with 350 miles on a tank. This time I'll go with the hardtop.

 

[Javelin]

Yeah it's your rear differential that's sucking the gas from your tank.

 

[rjacobs]

yea the 3.73 are stock with 410(or 411, cant remember) as the option. Most guys say the 410 are NOT that much better, especially if you plan to go to like 35" tires and swap gears to 4.56 anyway, just save your money. I couldnt find a dealer within 50 miles either that had a Rubicon with 410's in it, they were all special order.

I went with a hard top only and got a Spider Web Shades sun shade for when the top is off. I didnt get the factory soft top at all since I think its a $1295 option which is ridiculous. Its a nice top, dont get me wrong, but there are a LOT of aftermarket soft tops that are just as nice for 600 bucks. The Spider Web Shade cost all of $99 I think. I also keep a Jeep Rain Coat from from JeepCovers.com in the back when I dont have the top on. Takes about 3 minutes to put it on(after the 20 minute first time) and its water tight. My jeep has sat in a few overnight rain storms while out on the trails camping and was bone dry in the morning. I think the rain coat was 129 bucks or something and really well built.

The JK's are SUCH a big improvement over the TJ's its not even a comparison. I have gone one some crazy trails in my basically stock Rubicon(I only have a Currie Anti Rock on it for now, but I am collecting parts for a 4" lift, 37" tires, high steer, etc..., but its a long 10k dollar proposition so I have to space out the parts purchases).

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

The new 3.6L DOHC V6 is way better than the old 3.8L one.

Still, the old 4.0 I6 is better suited to the platform.

Considering it fits and fuel economy is no worse, it boggles my mind Chrysler doesn't install the 5.7L Eagle V8 in these...

 

[Bradu]

I just have a 2012 sport model but had the gears swapped out to 4.56 when I put 33" tires on it. I am getting 16 in the city and right at 19 on the highway as long as I don't go above 70.

 

[RyeDaddy]

The new 3.6L DOHC V6 is way better than the old 3.8L one.

Still, the old 4.0 I6 is better suited to the platform.

Considering it fits and fuel economy is no worse, it boggles my mind Chrysler doesn't install the 5.7L Eagle V8 in these...

Agreed 100%. I've waited to see if Chrysler put the damn 3.0L diesel in them. After 5 years I'm not waiting anymore, but the diesel makes so much sense it's a head scratcher too as to why they haven't. The 5.7L V8 would make for a fun ride too.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

Agreed 100%. I've waited to see if Chrysler put the damn 3.0L diesel in them. After 5 years I'm not waiting anymore, but the diesel makes so much sense it's a head scratcher too as to why they haven't. The 5.7L V8 would make for a fun ride too.

Chrysler sells the JK with CRD diesel in other markets... I realize you are referring to the new VM Motori 3.0L though. The one going into the WK and DS.

Sure seems like a no brainer to me, too... But alas, ain't happening.

 

[sab9259]

After having them all, and waiting now for the 2012 to get out of the shop for warranty replacement of rocker arms and lifters...I'll take my old 4.0 in my TJ. It knocks out 15-16 mpg running around town and goes anywhere I point it with the 35s. As for you guys looking a rubicon with a HEMI, look no longer!! This guy will put the 5.7 or the 6.4 in a JK as well as a TJ. I have personally owned one of his rubitrux and been to his shop a few times and it's pretty impressive to open the good and see the big HEMI's sitting under the hood.

Jeep Wrangler Hemi Conversions at RubiTrux

 

[rjacobs]

Diesel in 16 was announced. I wouldn't wait though the up charge will probably make it ridiculous and they will probably only offer it in Rubicon and Sahara models. They only offer it in the grands in the high dollar models.