4cyl Wrangler MPG?

Storz

Explorer
Rover is up for sale, the horrible gas mileage is costing me too much $$.

One of the vehicles I am thinking about replacing it with is a 4cyl Wrangler (TJ?) What kind of gas mileage can be expected?

Would it tow a 2300lbs boat/trailer combo alright?

Thanks!
 

bob91yj

Resident **************
I've never owned a 4 banger, but worked at a dealership and worked on a few. Generally speaking the fuel economy isn't much better than the 6 cylinder. TJ's are heavy, all the gains you get from 2 less cylinders are lost by pushing it harder to get the rig moving.

I'd guess 18-19 MPG with the 4 banger on the highway, probably not a huge gain over your Rover.

I've heard plenty of 4 banger owners wishing they had the 6 cylinder, never heard of a 6 cylinder owner wishing he had a 4 banger.

Hills will be tortuous pulling a trailer.
 

Storz

Explorer
Good info, quite a bit less than I would have expected. Currently getting ~15 with the Rover and looking to be in the 20-25mpg range. $65-70 bucks per week of premium adds up quick
 

bob91yj

Resident **************
Compass or a Patriot will get you into those numbers, but nothing else Jeep makes will.

Fuel economy and Jeep are usually not used in the same sentence. I get about 14 in my modified LJ.
 

Storz

Explorer
Compass or a Patriot will get you into those numbers, but nothing else Jeep makes will.

Fuel economy and Jeep are usually not used in the same sentence. I get about 14 in my modified LJ.

Yeah same with Rover/ecomomy. The other truck I am looking at is a 4cyl 4x4Colorado, said to get 24mpg highway and I can get a GM discount on a new one, also thinking about a 2nd gen RAV4, just not sure I want to loose a 2-speed transfer case as I drive on the beach here in NC quite a bit.
 

X-Roop

Observer
I had a 4cyl yj with 33s and will not do that again. off road was not so bad but on the highway was awful! no hope of getting in the 20s with it. I would defffget the 6 if i were to do it again. I was the opposite of you however. Jeep went away then i got a disco. Gas sucked as well so now i got my x which seems a nice medium.
 

preacherman

Explorer
I have a 1999 TJ with a 4cyl and the mpg is surprisingly bad. It's actually worse on the highway bc you have to cram you foot to the floor to get anywhere. I get 16 city and 14 highway...

I have a 2 inch lift and 31's with the 5 speed, if that helps.
 

HarryT

Adventurer
Keep the Land Rover for pulling the boat and get a $1500 Suzuki Samurai for everything else. The Samurai will easily get 25 mpg, cheaper insurance/taxes, and it's fun to drive.
A slightly modified Samurai with 1.6 engine, air conditioning, and 31 inch tires would be the cat's (car's) meow.
 

redveloce

Adventurer
We had a '97 TJ with the 4 cylinder before getting t-boned in August '09, and the best we ever got was around 17mpg. It averaged 13-16mpg mixed highway and in town. We now have a '99 TJ with the 6 cylinder, and it averages between 16 and 18mpg. Both are soft tops with manuals, and little 29" tires.

The 4 cylinder was extremely sensitive to fuel quality. It could never do better than 14mpg when they switched to 10% ethanol 'winter gas'. The 6 cylinder doesn't seem nearly as finicky about fuel, which is good, because they've gone to the ethanol gas year round around here.
 

Storz

Explorer
Keep the Land Rover for pulling the boat and get a $1500 Suzuki Samurai for everything else. The Samurai will easily get 25 mpg, cheaper insurance/taxes, and it's fun to drive.
A slightly modified Samurai with 1.6 engine, air conditioning, and 31 inch tires would be the cat's (car's) meow.

I would absolutely love a tintop :)
 

Jim K in PA

Adventurer
Rover is up for sale, the horrible gas mileage is costing me too much $$.

One of the vehicles I am thinking about replacing it with is a 4cyl Wrangler (TJ?) What kind of gas mileage can be expected?

Would it tow a 2300lbs boat/trailer combo alright?

Thanks!

The mileage issue has been covered well above, and my experience has been the same. 4 cyl fuel economy is the same or worse than the 4.0 six.

However, as to towing, a short wheel base Wrangler is not suitable for towing that heavy a boat and trailer combo. I think the 6 cyl TJ is rated at 1500# max towing capacity. A long wheel base Unlimited is rated at 3000#. The issue is the wheelbase, not power, brakes or frame strength.
 

Storz

Explorer
However, as to towing, a short wheel base Wrangler is not suitable for towing that heavy a boat and trailer combo. I think the 6 cyl TJ is rated at 1500# max towing capacity. A long wheel base Unlimited is rated at 3000#. The issue is the wheelbase, not power, brakes or frame strength.

Interesting, my Rover has a 100" wheelbase, which is only marginally longer than a Wrangler and shorter than a JKU and its rated up to 7700lbs...Though I do agree 100% that longer wheelbased vehicles are much more suited to tow with than shorter.

All of that is neither here nor there though as the gas mileage on the 4cyl is quite a bit lower than I expected so its sort of out of the running. Thanks again for the info though :wings:
 

Dan Grec

Expedition Leader
I think mileage is much more about how you drive your Jeep than the Jeep itself.

I've just driven my 2000 4-cyl 2.5ltr TJ about 60,000kms, and it gets 20mpg (12.3L/100km) every single day, day in day out. I know I'll get 600km out of every single tank.
31" tires, no lift, 5-speed, soft top.

I do drive like a granny in the city, and on the highway I cruise at 100km/h (60mp/h) - any faster and she's not really happy and I know the mileage is much worse.

That being said, I'm pretty sure towing even something tiny and light would destroy those figures.
I'm also buying a diesel next time, no matter what.

-Dan
 

Storz

Explorer
I'm also buying a diesel next time, no matter what.

-Dan

I wish we had more diesel options here, my wife's TDI Jetta gets 50mpg but even more surprising is a friends 7.3 liter Excursion gets better mileage than my Rover!!
 

hudsonhawk

Observer
I wish we had more diesel options here, my wife's TDI Jetta gets 50mpg but even more surprising is a friends 7.3 liter Excursion gets better mileage than my Rover!!

I traded in an 03 RAM CTD that regularly got 20~21MPG mixed and up to 27 MPG highway for my 06 LJ 4.0L Automatic. The LJ gets about 16 in town and highway seems to be around 18 or 19. It would be better if I kept my foot out of it.

I made the trade because I parted out my '73 built CJ-5 and no longer needed a tow vehicle or trailer. The cost savings in insurance and trailer storage more then makes up for the increased fuel costs of the Wrangler.

I wish they would sell the diesel wrangler here too. To bad the mass public opinion of diesels is so bad. Not a lot of demand for diesel cars here in the states.
 

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