Jeep Wrangler Rubicon two-door returns

The two-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has returned to the range as a permanent member of the family.

It slots into a rejigged line-up that no longer includes the two-door Sport S and Overland, leaving the Rubicon as the only ‘shorty’ in the line-up.

It’s priced at $64,950 before on-road costs, $5000 less than the Rubicon Unlimited, with deliveries starting early in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Pearlescent ‘Gecko’ green metallic paint will be available on the Rubicon for a limited run.

Both the two-door and four-door Unlimited versions of the Rubicon now include the old Rubicon Luxury Package as standard.

This includes leather upholstery, a leather-wrapped shifter, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

Both Rubicon variants include Jeep’s Rock-Trac four-wheel drive system with Tru-Lok front and rear locking differentials, plus a two-speed transfer case and electronic front sway-bar disconnect.

In contrast, Night Eagle and Overland models use Jeep’s Selec-Trac system and do without the locking diffs.

Introduced for 2021, there’s also an Off-Road+ mode in Rubicon models which in high-range 4WD engages sand mode and in low-range 4WD engages rock mode.

Rubicon models upgrade from Dana M186 front and M200 rear axles to M210 and M220 axles, and feature a 4.10 rear axle ratio.

They also include a 240A alternator and 700A maintenance battery, while an optional Trail-Ready package adds an off-road camera, 17-inch black alloy wheels and a steel front bumper.

The Trail-Ready package costs $2950 in the two-door and $3835 in the Unlimited.

An optional Rubicon Premium Package adds body-colour fender flares and a body-colour hardtop, and has identical pricing to the Trail-Ready package.

Premium paint is a $745 option in the two-door and $945 in the Unlimited.

With the demise of the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine for 2021, all Wrangler models are now powered by a naturally-aspirated 3.6-litre V6 engine producing 209kW of power and 347Nm of torque and mated to an eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.

Other standard equipment on the Rubicon includes an 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system with satellite navigation and wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, keyless entry and start, rear cross-traffic alert, and a reversing camera with front and rear parking sensors.

The return of the two-door Rubicon follows Jeep’s limited run of two-door Rubicon Recon models late in 2020.

The 40 examples were priced at $66,950 before on-road costs, but included a steel front bumper and various aesthetic enhancements.