Jeep brings stretched TJ in for $29,195
DaimlerChrysler Canada has begun selling the new Jeep TJ Unlimited, an extended length version of the base TJ model, for $29,195.
This sticker price is $7,000 more than the standard TJ, but the Unlimited is 381 mm longer and has better towing capability, more interior space, and a new soft-top design.
The automaker decided to build the extended length Jeep TJ Unlimited because many potential owners thought passenger room and the cargo area were inadequate in the TJ. Owners repeatedly told Jeep not to change a thing on their TJ (or Wrangler, as it's known in the U.S.), but to give them more interior space for their stuff.
The vice-president for Chrysler/Jeep marketing, Jeff Bell, says, ''We set out to create a longer wheelbase TJ that could give those customers what they really wanted, while maintaining the true fun and freedom of the original Jeep TJ.''
The Unlimited has twice the cargo area, at 323 mm, and 50 extra mm for passenger's legs and knees in the second-row seating. The wheelbase is 245 mm longer, which contributes to its best-in-segment towing capability of 1,588 kilograms, which is 681 kilograms more than the T J.
''Those who always wanted to drive an off-road icon, but wanted more room will find that the legendary Jeep T J Unlimited has taken the limit out of interior space,'' says Mark Norman, chairman, president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Canada.
''The extension of the Jeep T J Unlimited was not just an exercise in stretching the wheelbase,'' Norman claims. ''The rear seat provides for more leg room, the trunk has been enlarged for double the cargo space, and the new Sunrider soft top operates like a huge sunroof. It all adds up to more versatility, capability and comfort.''
That Sunrider soft-top includes a sun roof feature, in addition to the full-top down option. The Unlimited soft-top has larger, deep-tinted side windows than the TJ .
A hard top model with deep-tinted rear windows, rear defroster, back glass wiper and washer is available as an option.
For now, the 4.0-litre inline-six mated with 42RLE four-speed automatic transmission is standard. DaimlerChrysler will start producing a five-speed manual transmission as the new base model later this year. The output is 190 hp at 4,600 rpm and 235 lb.-ft. of torque at 3,200 rpm.