For one I think it looks better. Not...great, but better. Second, they snuck in the hurricane 2.0 engine. 270 hp and 295 lbs feet. Which beats out the 3.2 at 271 hp and 239 lbs-ft. Whats interesting is that it not only gets a more aggressive axle ratio (3.734:1 VS 3.517 for the V6), which seems backwards for a more powerful engine but it also comes with a lesser tow rating. 4000 lbs VS 4500 lbs. The upshot is a better crawl ratio of 52:1 plus they claim a few mpg boost Trailhawk VS Trailhawk
20/26/22 city highway combined VS 18/24/21
The downside is that, like the Wrangler with this engine, its not predicted to actually save you any money since it requires premium. In fact the 2.0 is predicted to cost $50 a year more in fuel than the V6.
I dunno, I feel like I could really like this car. It fills in so many boxes (boxen?)
Can tow the a decent sized trailer
can do decently difficult trails
can get decent mileage
no longer looks like it wants to chomp me like a tootsie pop (as much)
And yet...no. I think if they redesigned the next gen with some lessons learned from the renegade and made it a little more “Jeep” and engineered in an upgrade path (lift kits, ets) they would really have something.