[Liles]

Will all the spy photos and leaked information, I'm curious to know what specific specs and features you want to see from the Wagoneer?

I was reading this article from Jalopnik and they make a point about the Grand Wagoneer competing with the Toyota Land Cruiser and I really want that to happen. Ultimately I just off-road capability to be a top priority and for it to be comfortable to drive.

As for the Grand Wagoneer, I’m hoping it’s a Toyota Land Cruiser competitor: A beefy off-road brute that nobody will actually take off-road, since it’s stuffed with insane amounts of luxury and costs over $80,000, but that will still have lockers and skid plates and all the fun hardware just for fun. That way, ten years down the road when these things depreciate, I can buy one for cheap and actually take it off-road.

Under the hood, I’d like to see some big motors. Allpar wrote a while back that maybe there will be an inline-six based on the same engine architecture as the GME-T4 four-cylinder in the Wrangler and Cherokee. Offer that and a 5.7-liter V8—and maybe a higher performance Hemi for the Grand Wagoneer—and bolt them to eight-speed automatic transmissions hooked up to two-speed transfer cases, and the moderately-priced overland Wagoneer and extremely expensive luxury off-roader that nobody’s going to take off-road, the Grand Wagoneer, will be irresistible to SUV-hungry Americans. Especially me.

 

[Simcoe]

Putting in the Hemi is always a great start, inside I want the infotainment screen to be very responsive and interactive. But overall I just want higher quality materials, especially for the price it's likely going to command.

 

[Liles]

That's going to have to be the place where Jeep/FCA makes the biggest step forward. They know how to make off-roaders, but they need to step things up with interior design and build quality.

If the Wagoneer is competing with the Escalade and other high-end SUVs that's where it has to shine to get people interested.