2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition
Tenth years of conquering the toughest trail on Earth
By Imthishan Giado
There is no better gimmick for an automaker than the badge-special edition. Slap on some stickers, add some chrome, throw in extra electra options – and hey presto! You have a whole new car to sell to unsuspecting punters. For an example of how this produces a whole lot of nothing, google ‘Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition.’
For an example of how it’s done right you only have to look at the pictures. The Wrangler Rubicon is the real deal; a factory truck with the best hardware available built to take on America’s toughest trail with ease, with none of the warranty issues of an aftermarket setup.
As the name suggests, the Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition is here to commemorate a decade of being, as Jeep claim, the most capable production offroad vehicle on the planet. Yes, that includes the mighty Raptor – this compact Wrangler will squeeze into and out of tight spots that the colossal Ford would never dare to enter.
For the 10th Anniversary edition, there’s a host of new improvements that make this a better truck for the kind of hardcore offroader who will buy it. The one you’ll notice straight away is the bumper – it’s a fully steel item front and rear that adds extra protection and improves approach and departure angles through its removable end caps – which to be honest should never be attached because without them, the Rubicon is just plain cool to look at. And it’s not all for show: peel away the Rubicon logo on the front and you’ll find a perfectly-sized space to mount a winch, right between the Rubicon-exclusive red tow hooks.
The other big change is the hood; this is a dual-intake version that adds plenty of visual aggression but is also function as an engine cooling aid. Relax; it’s waterproofed. More importantly, a ‘version’ of this hood – Jeep Chief Enginer Tony Petit was particularly coy about this – will make its way to all regular Wranglers in the future.
The rest of the mechanical package is largely standard Rubicon – there’s still the great 285bhp Pentastar V6 under the hood of either a two-door or four-door Unlimited. Rubicon gets a slight extra increase in ride height – half an inch – from the new standard tyre, a BF Goodrich KM2 265/70R17 mud/terrain tyre which is BFG’s next generation item. The satin-black 17-inch wheels with polished faces are exclusive to Rubicon, as is the grey-blue Anvil colour you see on the cars here. The latter inspired by an dustbin in the design studio, incidentally…
Interior gets a few 10th Anniversary-specific updates – there’s a 2013-only red leather interior with red stitching for the steering wheel, custom commemorative logos for the headrests, gauge cluster and grab handle.
Check back later for a full driving impression of the new Wrangler Rubicon ON the impossibly-tough Rubicon trail!
