My wife and I are leaning toward a 2015 Trail hawk over a Wrangler because 95% of the time it will be on pavement, but we want the ability to go wheeling into areas that most city folk cant get to. We realize that it most likely wont be able to crawl larger scale trails but that's OK with us.

I want the 6 for power, how does the 4 banger hold up?

9 speed trans.....oh my..... sounds too delicate, and heard about trans programming issues. True or not?

Rear end locker, does it hold up, sounds like a plus.

Over all we are just looking for honest opinions on how the Trail Hawk performs off road. Not just on a dirt fire road but mild to medium wheeling.

Thanks for your honest opinion.

Bill
Long Beach, Ca.

 

I'll leave the evaluation of hard core off-roading to the more experienced. But we just bought a new Latitude with the Active Drive II. We had a Wrangler (for 14 years), and now also have a '96 Cherokee Country so we have some perspective.

Regarding a Wrangler, even the newer ones I've driven are still somewhat crude by design, very purposeful. On the road they are going to be less pleasant than a Cherokee. We had the inline 6 in the Wrangler and in the current XJ and got the V6 in the new one. I don't think it's essential for off-roading, but it's definitely nice to have on the highway.

I took our Cherokee to a shooting range this morning that is about a mile into the NC woods with a fairly steep up/down hill badly rutted dirt road. Cherokee felt very planted and very capable.

As to the transmission, I'm trusting that the programming issues have been essentially sorted out and it should be a dependable component now.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

I've gone somewhat off-road (construction sites with broken terrain, dirt roads, hills of grass, etc.) and have had zero issues. In fact, the skid plates on the Trailhawk give me plenty of confidence although I haven't had any clearance issues yet.

I have the 6 cyl engine and I think it makes a difference in terms of power and performance, but to be honest, I haven't driven a 4 cyl version: I base my assessment from what I've read here.

And I can assure you I have had NO issues with the transmission. As anyone here will tell you, the software that governs your transmission is constantly learning and adapting.

I believe therefore that most of the current complaints about transmissions arise from owners who aren't aware or don't believe this, and don't realize they're the ones teaching their transmissions to misbehave. Seriously.

When you drive the Trailhawk, you need to push it. Stomp on the gas if you want to go fast, feather the throttle if you want it to float. It'll figure out what you want to do within a few days of owning it.

And as always, if it lacks pick up, just pop the transmission into its faux manual mode and tap it upward to drop it a gear. I do that a lot, and the beast takes off--I use this a lot when merging onto expressways or turning a fast corner. The Trailhawk really can respond like a fast machine... if you TELL it to.

Should you get one? Yeah. I found it has a lot of vehicle packed into the cost. A LOT of vehicle.

 

i have the 4 banger, and the lower gear ratio makes up for less power.. drove the 6, and yes its stronger, of course.. but its not as peppy feeling if that makes sense.. ?
and you are correct, ya gotta drive these things, they dont start performing until over 3k then its on.. 3rd gear, tops out at 68mph for those who have not tested it yet.. 4th..?? dunno.. i dont want a speeding ticket finding out..

 

4:56:1 in the 4 bangers gears, you will not miss the 6s power, if your going to tow a huge boat or camper naturally go with the bigger engine..
the mountain i went up was a horse back/atv trail.. washouts 4 feet deep, rocks, steps, mud holes from springs.. blue clay mudd...
i had to lock em in, on that trail.. all forward progression was lost.. no where to turn.. locked em in.. and went on..
it was impressive, and i did scratch the paint up.. which i care less about paint.. i dont like dents however...
your answer.. a stock rubicon with average driver would have a hard time leaving the trailhawk.. if the TH had the same clearance, Rubicons would be in big big trouble.. ill say it like that..
PS: dont water ford the 4 banger... it has a ram air intake on nose.. nothing to deflect water when pushing a wave and it hits the bank.. the back pressure may give the engine a drink.. trust me on this..