THE "DOZER" IS A NEW 2012 JK JEEP WE ARE EXPERIENCING
Stacie and I have driven and owned several Jeeps, but now we have added a loaner JK to our inventory of off-road/backcountry rigs. The "Dozer" was loaned to us after Jeep brought several rigs to the Fall Conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC).
Our mission is to test, drive, wheel and learn the differences of the Jeep JK (4-door in this case), compared to other models of Jeep. First thing off the bat, we're headed home when we see a big wildfire alongside hwy. 395 near Lake Topaz, called the Coho Fire. Yup, that big cloud formation is a fire, creating its own weather system.
The fire blocked the highway for a couple days and we had to drive an hour out of our way to get around it. The good news is that the JK has tons of power and rides like "butter," to quote an outdoor writer friend of ours who also got to drive it.
Acceleration is crisp and responsive; passing is impressive; and the pavement ride is smooth.
Here we are enjoying the Tahoe Rim Trail above Lake Tahoe (CA/NV) with some NV friends. The JK handled the bumpy, rocky trail with ease, and we did use the push button sway-bar disconnect. Talk about simple and effective.
We tested the dash push-button built-in lockers and well, what can I say? They WORK.
All and all, our first impressions are excellent and impressive. We see why there are so many JK's on the road.
