2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland Review: the Most Capable SUV?

For years the Jeep Wrangler has been the vehicle of choice for the off-road enthusiast. With its superior ride height and off road-ability, the Wrangler is a capable vehicle. So far in Australia the quirky off roader has had a nearly 25-year run with three different generations. For 2019, Jeep updated the Wrangler with a new interior, more safety kit and a more modern exterior to bring it up to today’s standards. We tested the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland three-door to see if this new model can live up to what the old model left behind.

Price/Specs:

The 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland will set buyers back $59,450 plus on-road costs. While this is a price increase over the previous JK model of nearly $10,000, you do get significantly more kit for your extra buck.

Standard on the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland Are features such as dual-zone climate control, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, automatic all-LED lighting (that turn on with the wipers – all cars should feature this!) with front and rear fog lights, keyless entry with push button start, leather upholstery with a leather shift knob and steering wheel, a removable hard top, a nine-speaker Alpine sound system, an 8.4-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, 18-inch alloy wheels and remote start.

There are a few additional items we would like to see in the Wrangler. The addition of auto wipers would be handy and for the price should be included. There is also no foot rest to the left of the brake pedal so your left foot just dangles when not in use.

The 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland comes equipped with a decent amount of safety features for a hard-core off roader with adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, a rear-view camera with front and rear parking sensors, roll over stability control, a hill holder, hill descent control, trailer sway detection and an alarm. The 2020 Jeep Wrangler was given a three-star ANCAP safety rating, which was due largely to the lack of a lane-departure warning system.

It’s hard to say what competes with the 2020 Jeep Wrangler as it is sort of in a stand-alone market in Australia. Once upon a time we would have said the Toyota FJ Cruiser but unfortunately Toyota doesn’t sell the FJ in Australia. There is the Suzuki Jimny at $27,990 for the four-speed auto but that doesn’t have the equipment nor power that the Wrangler offers.

The colour seen on out test car is called ‘Granite Crystal’ and comes at a $745 premium and the other colours that demand this premium are ‘Bikini’, ’Ocean Blue Metallic’, ’Sting Grey’, ’Firecracker Red’ and ’Bilet Silver’. The colours that come standard with the 2020 Jeep Wrangler are ’Solid Black’ and ’Bright White’.

Engine & Drive:

As with the previous model, Wrangler the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland is powered by a 202kW/347Nm 3.6-litre V6 which drives all four wheels through a two-speed transfer case and is connected to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The engine has a signature sonorous V6 noise and is very smooth when accelerating. The gearbox is also smooth and shifts effortlessly without any indication of shifts. When asked to move the Wrangler can get up and move – the engine feels powerful and the transmission does a good job of choosing the right gear for the moment.

Overseas the Wrangler can be had with a 2.0-litre turbocharged ‘etorque’ four-cylinder engine that is offered with the same eight-speed automatic as the V6. In North America, you can also have the 3.6-litre V6 attached to a six-speed manual gearbox, which we would love to see offered on the Wrangler in Australia. American Wranglers are also available with a V6 diesel engine, which would be much stronger than the 2.2-litre diesel we get in Australia.

The claimed average fuel consumption figure for the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland is 9.6L/100km but we found this hard to achieve as with a mixture of highway and city driving, we saw 13L/100km.

Ride/Handling:

The ride of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland is a little choppy on city roads but once on the open road the ride frees up and you can drive without being bumped around the cabin. The reason the Wrangler Overland’s ride is a little choppy around town is mostly due to its short wheelbase – we have experienced the longer Wrangler Overland and it was much more composed.

For a car of this size and height the handling is not too bad, there is a reasonable amount of body-roll that’s accented by the flat front seats, but the Wrangler does a good job of keeping it composed. We didn’t test the Wrangler off-road but a quick search shows just how capable they are when the going gets tough.

Interior/Practicality:

The interior of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland is feature-packed and offers a great amount of creature comforts. The 8.4-inch ‘U-Connect’ centre touchscreen is fantastic – truly one of the best we’ve ever experienced. There is no confusion as to where menus are as there are shortcut keys down the bottom of the screen. The screen itself is bright and responsive, though we wish it had a dimming sensor instead of just dimming with the headlights being switched on. The off-road section of the screen is also quite handy when adventuring in the Wrangler off the beaten track as it shows the pitch and angle of the vehicle among other gauges.

The seats of the Wrangler are comfortable and the leather is of good quality too. There is no electronic adjustment to the seats but that won’t bother most. The rear seat is a comfortable space with good knee and head room while the rear amenities are the best we’ve currently seen on the market. It comes with rear air-conditioning vents, two USB ports, two USB-C ports and a regular house plug. Access to the rear seat is pretty difficult however – those who will use the rear seat somewhat regularly should buy the four-door model.

The boot of the regular 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland model comes in at 197-litres with all four seats in place. While this isn’t amazing, once the rear seats are folded down the cargo space opens up to 587-litres. It is also worth noting that if it is space you want then the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland Unlimited (5-door model) can hold 897-litres of cargo space with the rear seats upright and 2,050-litres with the second row folded down.

Running Costs/ Warranty:

All Jeeps sold in Australia are offered with the brand’s five-year/100,000km warranty that also comes with a lifetime of roadside assistance if the car is serviced at a Jeep dealership. The Wrangler also comes with five-years of capped price servicing.

Servicing comes around every 12-months or 12,000km and for the V6 Overland model servicing will cost a pretty excellent $399 per service. This is a five-year cost of $1,995. The overall cost of owning a 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland over the span of three-years including servicing and fuel (average of 15,000 per year at $1.50 a litre) is $7,677.

Conclusion:

The 2020 Jeep Wrangler Overland is a car that doesn’t really have any competition in Australia and that it’s a good thing. It’s a niche vehicle in a market of manufacturers only offering to the masses. We love the way the Wrangler looks, drives and how capable it is off the road. It’s a very personable vehicle that seems to have multiple characters. It can be a hard core off-roader, a convertible cruiser and everything in between. While it’s not cheap, it’s easy to see why the Wrangler is an iconic vehicle.