A motoring icon yes, but surely one that's close to its sell-by date?

These days the Jeep Wrangler wouldn't look out of place in a museum rather than a new-car showroom. The ride and handling, the design, space and materials of the cabin, the versatility of the interior - all are woeful when compared to the new breed of compact SUVs. Their practicality makes the Wrangler seem obsolete.

But it's amazingly that doesn't stop it from selling. People love the car for its heritage, simplicity, ease of modification, and legendary go-anywhere ability. And those attributes seemed to hold true again as we drove the new Wrangler through the bush and veldt of the African nation of Zambia.


Change for the better

For 2007 the Wrangler has been completely redesigned. A host of major changes, including a four-door Unlimited version and a more user-friendly roof system, have been penned in to boost its appeal. But you don't mess with success: the external styling is deliberately similar to keep the purists happy. The Jeep grille, round headlamps, exposed door hinges, and fold-flat windshield with rubber stops are all still there.

On smooth roads - the few we could find in Zambia - it's immediately obvious the new Wrangler, codename JK, is a huge improvement over the outgoing TJ. Driving a two-door car, the soft ride and dreadful body roll of the old car are gone, replaced by a feeling that you are actually in a proper SUV. The steering is much tighter, and the vagueness that blighted the TJ, especially in a straight line, has been removed.

The 3.8-liter V-6 has that familiar Wrangler hum when you fire it up, but the noise isn't so intrusive in the cabin. And that's also true of the tire rumble, which was essentially all you could hear in the old car when doing motorway speeds. There's no official 0-60 mph time for the Wrangler or the Unlimited yet, but it's at least on a par with the 8.8 seconds of the TJ. Top speed has been raised from 108 to 112 mph, and fuel economy for both is around 18 mpg.


More finished, easier roof

The new Wrangler's interior has had the biggest change. It feels like it's been designed, rather than cobbled together from what was available. Gone is the bare metal in the footwell, complete with ugly welding marks, replaced by proper upholstery. The switchgear is attractive and chunky, and there's speed-activated central locking and electric windows for the first time on a Wrangler. But there are still plenty of concessions to the car's tradition; you have to wind down the window and leave a greasy thumbprint on the reflective surface when you want to adjust the door mirrors.

In the Unlimited the front section of the cabin is the same, but with a wheelbase that's 19.7 inches longer the rear is vastly different. There's a large bench seat and it's surprisingly roomy. I was expecting it to be cramped, but it's vast. There's plenty of knee space even with the front seats right back, and huge headroom. With the two-door car only really a four-seater, the Unlimited can take five in comfort. There's impressive cargo capacity, too; with the rear seats in place it's 46.4 cubic feet, but fold them down and it's 86.7 cubes.

The new roof systems are impressive, too. Both the two and four-door cars come with either a soft or hard top. The former is called Sunrider, and has been made easier to use than the fiddly canvas hood of the TJ. It opens to expose the front row seats to the elements (or the second row as well in the Unlimited), then folds back completely. There's still no solution to the untidy way in which is stores in the boot, though. Freedom Top is the name for the plastic roof, which comes off targa-style separately above each front seat occupant - these can be stored in the vehicle - or can be removed totally. Whichever roof buyers choose, the other one will fit and be available aftermarket. Both are a bit tricky the first time you use them, but infinitely better than what came before.


Bush country

So what about the off-road ability? Surely Jeep isn't going to get that wrong? During our three-day first drive in the remote bushland of Zambia in eastern Africa, the Wrangler tackled a 300-mile route of smooth tarmac, dust roads, dried-up riverbeds, uncharted grassland and boulder-strewn tracks used only by the local wildlife. There were also several wide streams to be forded, and a ravine so extreme and far from civilization that cars had never been in it before.

The latter was a fearsome sight from the top. The route down was a very uneven 40-plus degree slope covered in large loose rocks. The trip out was the same, while the base was a jagged, rocky riverbed with barely a trickle of water and some very obvious crocodile footprints in the sand. Traditional off-road rules would dictate use of the low-range box and first gear, but we would descend too quickly. It was a case of sticking the car in neutral and dragging it down on the footbrake. The Wrangler creaked and groaned in protest, and the scraping on the steel rock rails under the flanks was enough to make you wince. But the Jeep never flinched.

Using the low-range box we shunted back and forth to clear tight corners, knocking the front and rear diffs on and off regularly to maximize grip. The car's new Active Sway Bar System (ASBS) was electronically disconnected via a dashboard button to boost wheel articulation. Getting up and out of the ravine was a case of locking the axles, selecting first, giving it just enough revs to keep going and letting the car do the work. I felt like an airline pilot at take-off, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing but sky.

The car performed admirably on what the engineers confessed was the toughest off-roading they'd ever done with journalists. But it's not without its irritations; all the off-roading switches are very low down on the center console and don't fall immediately to hand. Jeep engineers admitted their position was a question of compromise, with priority given to the audio and climate controls - sited higher up - because more owners will use them more often.

Dynamically the new Wrangler isn't as good on the tarmac as the class-leading SUVs, but that's missing the point. It can go where virtually no other vehicle can, and if you want that capability for under $20,000, the engineering has to be a compromise. It now feels like a proper SUV, with road manners that are acceptable and miles better than they used to be.

It's 4 o'clock in the morning, we're still 100 miles from home and we've been driving the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited in one form or another for nearly 24 hours. Our trip from the top of California to the bottom was supposed to include a stop at a resort town along the way, but our photographer/tour guide didn't anticipate people on vacation in August so it's one "No Vacancy" after another.

We expect he'll also be startled when the sun rises in the morning, but until then we've decided to plow the rest of the way home. An endless stream of Howard Stern on the Sirius Satellite Radio is keeping us sane, but the new Wrangler deserves a little credit, too.

You see, unlike previous Wranglers which at 75 mph provided all the solitude of a parachute jump, the 2007 Wrangler has a tight canvas top and much less wind howl. Add in decent seats, extra sound insulation and a spacious interior and driving this Wrangler at highway speeds feels less like a Fear Factor challenge and more like a normal SUV. Oh, and it's still pretty good in the dirt, too.

Trail running
We started the day on the trail, specifically the Rubicon Trail. It's a legendary off-road route near Lake Tahoe, California, used by Jeep in the development of nearly all of its vehicles. It's not so much a trail as it is a series of loosely grouped boulders, ravines and ledges which leave just enough room to squeeze a well-driven four-wheel drive through, or in our case, a four-door Wrangler Unlimited.

That's right, a four-door Wrangler. It's the first one ever and unlike the previous Wrangler Unlimited, which was the stretched version of the standard two-door, the 2007 Wrangler Unlimited uses a 20.6-inch-longer wheelbase to make room for full-size rear doors. It's 5.5 inches wider than previous Wranglers, too, a trait it shares with the standard two-door model.

Actually, other than its longer wheelbase, extra doors and optional two-wheel drive, the Unlimited shares almost everything with the standard Wrangler. It comes in three trim levels — X, Sahara and Rubicon — and is powered by a 3.8-liter V6 with 202 horsepower and 237 pound-feet of torque. Its standard transmission is a six-speed manual; a four-speed automatic is optional.

All Wranglers also get a five-link straight axle suspension front and rear, revised shocks and springs, a recirculating ball steering system and a fully boxed frame that Jeep says is twice as stiff as the previous version.

Makes the Rubicon easy
On the trail we drove none other than the heavy-duty Rubicon model. It's upgraded for serious off-road duty with electronically lockable front and rear differentials, heavy-duty Dana 44 axles, 32-inch BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires and extra-low 4.00:1 transfer case gears. All Rubicons also get a new detachable front sway bar that improves suspension articulation by 28 percent at the touch of a button, according to Jeep.

Saying the Wrangler made the trail easy might be putting it lightly. Tackling the Rubicon requires a good spotter, Gandhi-like patience and the right vehicle, and we only had two out of three. The Wrangler made up for it with more than 10 inches of ground clearance, multiple skid plates and class-leading approach and departure angles. Throw in the new electronic throttle control system, which reduces pedal sensitivity in 4-low, and maintaining a smooth pace up tough sections like Cadillac Hill was…well, easy.

Since there will be inevitable comparisons between the Wrangler's off-road abilities and other trail-hungry SUVs like the Hummer H3, Nissan Xterra and Toyota FJ Cruiser we'll settle it right now. Any of the four could tackle the Rubicon, but none would do it as easily and with less body damage than a Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.

Back to the real world
It wasn't even noon before we had finished off three bags of beef jerky and one of the world's toughest backcountry trails. Having switched into an Unlimited in Sahara trim, we hit the pavement feeling pretty good about the new Wrangler. Although it has a part-time transfer case with a floor-mounted shifter like the Rubicon, the Sahara has softer suspension tuning so we expected a decent ride.

It wasn't long, however, before we remembered why the Wrangler is a trail machine first and a daily driver second. It started out with little things like the lack of storage space up front and small cupholders. But as the miles piled up it was clear the Wrangler has bigger issues.

For one, the engine is gutless. It revved smoothly up the first highway grade, but when a 3-year-old toasted his sippy cup to us as his mom blew by in her minivan we knew there was a problem. Subsequent track tests confirmed the Wrangler's laziness as our six-speed tester posted a 0-to-60 time of 9.7 seconds. The Nissan Xterra completes the same sprint a full 2 seconds faster and it's 134 pounds heavier.

Its braking and handling performance aren't any better. Actually, they are better if you compare them to the previous Wrangler as the '07 version benefits from a 3.5-inch wider track, high-pressure monotube shocks and standard antilock disc brakes at each corner. It tracks better on the highway and leans less in the turns, too, but its 143-foot stop from 60 was 20 feet longer than the last FJ we tested.

Clearly the slalom is no place for a Jeep, but given that we were able to coax a Dodge Ram Megacab dually through the cones at a faster clip, the Wrangler's 54.4-mph run is a little embarrassing.

Redeeming qualities
After a few hundred miles on the highway, we readjust to the Wrangler's anemic performance and begin to appreciate its relatively comfortable cabin. Despite generic-looking seats with basic adjustments, our backsides feel pretty good. The seating position is a little too upright and the dash is tall, but visibility isn't a problem. Power windows and locks are offered for the first time ever, and clever engineering assures that the doors are still fully removable if that's your style.

Up front, this Wrangler has as much room as the FJ and in back there's more leg- , head- and hip room than either the Toyota or the Xterra. Cargo room is class-leading as well, with up to 86 cubic feet available with the second-row seats folded.

If you were hoping Jeep would spend a little time giving the Wrangler's interior some interesting design elements you're out of luck. You get characterless analog gauges; small, cheap-feeling climate control *****; and plenty of Kia-grade plastic on the dash and doors. We're all for keeping a Jeep a Jeep, but with an as-tested price of just over $30K we expected a little more.

The modern design of the new Chrysler corporate stereo looks a little out of place, but our upgraded unit delivers solid sound not to mention an auxiliary input jack and an in-dash six-disc CD changer with DVD-Audio capability. A navigation system is also an option as is a 20-gig hard drive with a USB interface. If the designers had put as much time into the cabin as the audio engineers did this Wrangler would be a bombshell.

Admittedly some of those resources went toward improved safety as all Jeeps now come standard with electronic stability control and a roll mitigation system which can sense an impending rollover and try to stop it through selective application of the brakes. It's good to know as our Wrangler Unlimited is running the Sunrider soft top. A three-piece, hard shell "Freedom top" is also available, although the noise of the canvas cover is well controlled, not to mention you can fold it down in a matter of minutes.

Home at last
Rolling into L.A. just before the sun comes up, we've got mixed feelings about this Wrangler. In any trim it's like a rock climber who doesn't need a rope, but with four doors the Unlimited needs to be equally as comfortable on the pavement. It's not. In Sahara trim the Wrangler Unlimited is already crude and miserably slow, while in Rubicon trim, with its larger off-road tires and stiffer shocks, performance and daily comfort are compromised even further.

Still, it's far more livable than any Wrangler before it. If you're willing to trade refinement and power for agility on the trail and a convertible top, the Unlimited may be worth the dough. After nearly a full day behind the wheel we're convinced of two things: The Jeep Wrangler will remain a niche player, and we'll never rely on a photographer to make our travel plans ever again.