2012 Jeep Wrangler Pentastar Fuel Economy Ratings

Now that we know Jeep will be selling the 2012 Wrangler with the Chrysler Group's award-winning Pentastar V6, fuel economy becomes the main concern. Power will be plentiful: around 285 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque mark significant improvements over the antiquated 3.8L in the otherwise-improved 2011 Wrangler. It'll be quicker, for sure, and it should stem the tide of complaints from lovers of Jeep's old 4.0L inline-six.

Nevertheless, the current Wrangler guzzles fuel like a heavy V8 pickup truck, when it should drink more like the small-to-midsize sport-utility vehicle that it is. And fortunately, along with the better engine comes better efficiency. The EPA ratings for the 2012 Wrangler have been released and we're looking at gains of up to 13% in the city and 11% on the highway. Yep, that's only a couple miles per gallon at the most, but a couple extra miles per gallon is a lot when you consider the old Wrangler's embarrassing 15 mpg city figures.

Broken down by model, the basic 2-door short-wheelbase 2012 Jeep Wrangler will be rated at 17/21 city/highway mpg when fitted with either the new 5-speed automatic or the standard 6-speed manual. That's an 18 mpg average according to FuelEconomy.gov.

As for the long-wheelbase 4-door 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, highway mileage should be the same as in the smaller Wrangler, but city mileage drops a single mpg to 16. That's for the 6-speed manual-equipped Wrangler Unlimited. If your Wrangler Unlimited is equipped with the 5-speed automatic, the EPA ratings are 16 mpg city and 20 mpg highway, still an average of 18 mpg, the government says.

Jeep Wrangler sales have more than remained steady in the last couple of months despite believeable rumours that this Pentastar V6 was about to replace the old 3.8L. The Wrangler was America's fourth-best-selling SUV in June; Canada's sixth. Whether Jeep can keep that up in the time preceding the 2012 Wrangler's launch is another story. Two Chrysler dealers near GCBC Towers are nearly out of Wranglers thanks in no small part to $3200+ in incentives. They're not anticipating receipt of MY2012 Wranglers until October, so it's certainly possible we'll see low Sales Stats reported by Jeep over the next couple months, though probably not in the July 2011 figures which will be released this week.

The Wrangler was already a Good 12 winner here at GoodCarBadCar.net. Its excellent new powerplant will only help matters when selection for 2012's The Good 12 v5.0 begins, before improved fuel economy is even taken into account. The design isn't supposed to be changing so The Good Car Guy has included a Gallery of the 2011 Jeep Wrangler Mojave below. Simple but beautiful, the Wrangler deserves to be discussed with images alongside.

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Ford F-Series And Toyota Camry vs The World: 2003-2011 Auto Market Fluctuations

Auto sales fluctuate like Bay of Fundy tides. While you're going to buy groceries no matter what, and while you'll forever remain keen on replacing your shoes when the sole is worn through, delaying the acquisition of a new car as a result of prevailing economic conditions is downright normal behaviour.

The reverse is true, as well. A sudden decline in interest rates may speed up your trade-in. Drastic incentives on high-priced vehicles may propel you toward premium showrooms you hadn't previously entered. As quickly as your mind can change, so can the minds of millions of other car buyers. Thus, when you're not buying a new car for specific reasons, it's quite likely that hundreds of thousands of others aren't buying new cars for the exact same reasons. 

Starting in 2003, the overall new vehicle market in the United States declined slightly, then rose slightly in 2004, improved again in 2005, slid a bit in 2006, slid a bit more in 2007, fell way back in 2008 and 2009, then improved markedly in 2010 and again in 2011. This is based on half-year numbers from the last nine years, the last ten if you consider the fact that 2003's numbers are based on year-over-year declines compared with 2002.

America's best-selling vehicle is - and has been for quite some time - the Ford F-Series. Naturally, the F-Series rises and falls with the overall market, but it often takes the trend to the extreme. Its fall in 2003 was worse; its gains in 2004 were greater. In the first half of 2005, when the new car market was growing slightly, F-Series sales were falling, but not dreadfully so. But in 2007 and 2008 Ford's full-size pickup line felt the brunt of buyer rejection far more than the overall market. And while the first six months of 2010 manifested tremendous gains for the F-Series, particularly when compared with the overall new vehicle market, still-rising 2011 totals are 39% down from 2004 half-year levels. That's in a market which has fallen 24.7%. 

CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW

There are numerous factors at play here, most notably an amazingly repercussive recession and rising fuel prices. This also holds true for America's best-selling car, the Toyota Camry. Added to ever-changing market conditions were recalls which severely impacted the Camry's reputation in 2009 and 2010 as well as inventory issues in 2011. Nevertheless, the Camry has remained popular, never completely following the U.S. automotive market's trend. 

In 2003, the Camry was hit harder than the overall market, but its bounce back in 2004 was more substantial. The same could not be said of its growth in 2005, although the gap was close. And then during times of declining sales in 2006, 2007, and 2008 the Camry held firm or improved. The first half of 2009 was bad for everybody; only a little worse for the Camry. 2010 auto sales figures were full of year-over-year growth statistics, but the Camry's volume gain was insubstantial. Finally, in the first six months of 2011, the Camry hasn't been able to maintain last year's volume while the market is up 12.8%.

All of these figures are displayed simply in the chart above. Just click it to see a larger view.

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GM Canada Leftover Sales In 2011

In case you hadn't noticed, the Pontiac sign at your local General Motors dealership is no longer hanging.

Based on the vehicles Pontiac was producing over the last couple of decades, this isn't a sad fact. But based on the reputation held when our fathers first started buying cars, and on the cars Pontiac was just starting to actively market before its untimely death, it's something of a travesty. 

Cheer up, then. GM Canada has provided the opportunity for the faithful to collect leftover Pontiacs in 2011, along with a couple Hummers and a Chevrolet minivan which must have been manufactured before Obama became president. In the chart below you'll see the Chevrolet Cobalt included for a bit of context. The Cobalt-replacing Cruze first started appearing in stores last fall but there've been some of the antiquated Chevy compacts left to languish anyhow. The volume put up by these Cobalts in the first half of 2011 (one of them in June) will help you understand the volume put up by truly defunct GM products.

And don't go thinking that all of this action came in January 2011. Pontiac sold 27 cars in June. That ties Pontiac with Saab and has it ahead of Maserati and Bentley. And The Good Car Guy didn't include Pontiac in June's monthly by-the-brand recap. Gasp.

Click the chart for a closer look. And remember, the Pontiac G6 is out-selling the Lexus LFA this year; the Uplander and Montana SV6 are out-selling the Cadillac STS; and the Pontiac Vibe is out-selling the Nissan GT-R.

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Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - June 2011

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2011 Ford Edge SEL AWD Driven

By the time we drove to the bottom of Bothwell Beach Road in our silver 2011 Ford Edge SEL AWD tester, there wasn't a soul to be seen. This wasn't surprising given that, on this mid-July afternoon, the temperature was just 16°C (61°F) and, to make matters much, much worse, it was raining. It was raining kind of hard.

We arrived in terrific comfort, sure. But we hopped out of the Ford Edge preparing our bare feet for cold red mud (not the dry red dirt for which Prince Edward Island is famous). Then we strolled along the most beautiful beach I've ever seen on cold and wet sand.

Why is this journey to the best beach in the wooorld so important in a review of the 2011 Ford Edge? For starters, when the slope away from the beach is steep, strewn with all manner of imported rock and lacking in traction, the Edge's all-wheel drive was called upon. It worked.

Second, and not at all unimportant, was the fact that this weather, though worse than what we'd encounter the remainder of the week, wasn't really all that different from what we'd see on all but a couple of days. As you would thus assume, we spent a lot of time inside the Ford Edge: living with it, sitting in it, being bothered by it, and enjoying it. 

Finally, this Bothwell Beach Road run is key to understanding the nature of the journey. Our 6-year-old American niece sure wasn't going to get a sunshiny PEI vacation, but we would drive near and far, fast and furious, in search of a beach with sand dry enough to take home to her mother, who'd never had the privilege of visiting the Gentle Island.

A disclaimer before we continue then. Don't judge Prince Edward Island's weather based on the week our Edge and our niece suffered through. It's really always divine. Just not in mid-July 2011. And on that note, how did the 2011 Ford Edge SEL AWD cope hauling three passengers, tons of camping gear, a dozen filthy beach towels, and multiple beach artifacts? Read on after the jump for The Good Car Guy's complete Driven review of the 2011 Ford Edge SEL AWD.

It had been a while since I'd last been able to lounge about in a Ford product for such a lengthy period. The Taurus from the fall of 2009 wasn't geared to my taste, being a big sedan my grandfathers would have loved and all. Nevertheless, that Taurus demonstrated Ford's strength in making large automobiles feel surprisingly nimble and even, I reckon, a bit fun. 

Indeed, many of the same words could be used in an Edge-related discussion. For a reasonably sized machine, it weighs too much. At 4266 pounds the Edge isn't particularly weighty in contrast to its rivals but it feels heavy when maneuvering around a parking lot and when you first shove off.

Then, as I suspected, the Edge's 285-horsepower 3.5L V6 takes over and provides decent shove. Passing power on rural two-laners was plentiful, all the more so as revs rose toward the 6500 rpm power peak. Brake feel was consistent just before turning in. Then, upon turning in, despite the anticipated lack of feel and proper weighting through the steering wheel, there's a pleasing amount of outright handling ability present in the Edge. We've come to expect this in Fiestas and Focuses and Mustangs, too, but the Edge, going about it differently of course, copes with corners like a heavy low-slung sedan, not an SUV with 70 cubic feet of cargo capacity and eight inches of ground clearance. 

The Ford Edge isn't at all sporty, but that's what makes its handling awareness so much more impressive. The ride is serene and there's none of the annoying stuff that comes with an overly aggressive crossover. Yet the Edge manages to cope admirably when challenged by a rather aggressive driving manner. It feels as though the Edge would be a swell starting point for an SVT product.

More Ford Edge Pictures Can Be Seen In The Flickr Slideshow Below

There are problems, even before we move from the actual driving to the living. A toggle switch on the side of the shifter is a dreadful way to ask people to shift an automatic for themselves. The steering feels like the rack you'd yield to in a Ford Expedition, not the multiple-rungs-down-on-the-scale Edge. And that power peak seems awfully high for a vehicle of this sort. If there's 253 lb-ft of torque to be had in a high-riding utility vehicle, I want it all before I get to 4000 rpm.

In general, however, any righteous complaint you'll care to level at the 2011 Ford Edge SEL shouldn't relate to how feels on the road. Rather, life in the Edge just doesn't feel quite worthy of the price tag. The steering wheel and shifter are well cared for, but the rest? Ugh. The materials used on switches and knobs and seats come straight from Kia circa 2003. Okay, maybe 2005. At $35,999 CDN, or even the current discounted $31,559 price, the Edge SEL's interior feels like it's $5000 or more overpriced, although it doesn't look that way at first glance.

This vehicle wasn't kitted out with the allegedly awful MyFord Touch, but even without complex touch screens, working the blinker stalks and climate controls required patience, patience I don't possess and likely never will. The wind rushing by the B-pillars was loud enough to tragically impact what little sound we could enjoy from the tinny stereo. Lights just didn't sound like herself. 

Ford also thought to install the rear seats with a power folding mechanism that wasn't powerful and couldn't fold the seats more than half-way. Thanks for that useless bit of so-called innovation. 

Apparently, buying an Edge means you can cancel your gym membership. Ford figures you want to get your daily upper body workout from closing the tailgate. Seriously, I do plenty of push-ups everyday. I'm not kidding, I really do. But I wouldn't need to if I had this tailgate to close a few times every day. 

Is the sound of frustration starting to make you as tense as I felt living with the Ford Edge for a week? See, what's so troubling about this is that the Edge, in all honesty, would be like the student who answers eight or nine of his ten math questions correctly but misses the one that was worth 50% of the final score.

All Photo Credits: Timothy Cain © www.GoodCarBadCar.net
Most Photos Captured By HTC Desire Camera Phone

The Edge looks good. At the very least it has a wild amount of presence. It's terrific to drive, particularly in contrast with popular small crossovers from Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. There's abundant levels of space, and it's pretty comfortable for four or five people. It's not that expensive, either. But, for the amount of perceived quality you simply won't perceive, the Edge comes across as a product from a previous era. An era like... oh I don't know, 2006, when the pre-facelifted Edge was introduced. 

This hasn't held Ford back from selling boatloads of these vehicles to customers all over North America. The Ford Edge was Canada's fourth-best-selling and America's seventh-best-selling SUV in June. Imagine what Ford could do if the 2011 Edge didn't want for higher class ingredients and a bit more interior intelligence.

By the end of our week in Prince Edward Island we were enjoying 29 miles per gallon in the Edge SEL AWD, three mpg up on the EPA's highway rating. During the first couple days we were down around 21 mpg. The latter was tolerable; the former more than acceptable. Are those figures enough to make the Edge a recommended purchase? Ford Canada is willing to take $4440 off the price of an all-wheel drive-equipped Edge SEL. Push that figure downward by another couple thousand and the Edge starts to feel worth it. 

Drive to Bothwell Beach when it's sunny and warm and you won't care if you're driving an Edge or an Econoline. It'll be worth it. Honestly, it was worth it in a cold rain. 



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U.S. Midsize Car Sales: Camry vs Accord vs Altima vs Fusion vs Malibu vs Sonata

Think the midsize car segment in the United States isn't growing more competitive by the day? Back in the first half of 2002 Toyota sold 225,605 Camrys. The U.S. new vehicle market fell 25% since then. Camry sales, on the other hand, fell 53%. 

On the flip side, you have the Hyundai Sonata. Hyundai only sold 34,777 of them in the first half of 2002. Since then, Hyundai Sonata sales soared upward at a 231% clip. 

The Camry and Sonata are the extremes in a group that includes the six most popular midsize cars on sale in America. The competitiveness of this midsize class is easily seen at the far right of the chart below. By the end of June 2011, America's six best-selling midsize cars were packed in very tightly. Chevrolet sold 122,783 Malibus in the first six months of 2011. Ford sold 131,686 Fusions. Honda Accord sales reached 137,146. Hyundai ranked sixth with the Sonata's 115,014 sales. Nissan sold 131,842 Altimas. And Toyota was still number one with the Camry's 147,469 sales. 

That sales gap - just 32,455 units between the Camry and Sonata - is nearly six times smaller than it was in 2002.

Of course, things have changed in the last ten years. Toyota no longer offers the Camry Solara. Instead Toyota markets the Venza, a sort of tall, much better-looking Camry wagon. Hyundai has accelerated past two generations. We know that two generations for Hyundai isn't like two generations for every other automaker. The old, old Taurus is no longer, more about which you can read after scanning the chart. The Altima was newly competitive in 2002 and is now pervasive. The Malibu royally sucked a decade ago. Finally, Honda gave up on clean lines in favour of unclean lines and then bloated lines.

Yeah, things have changed, but emphasizing that fact is only a means for excusing one automaker's failures or celebrating another's overstated success. It is what it is, a hugely competitive segment ruled by a fleet of commanders with one pacesetter but no supreme head. Click the chart for a bigger view and see for yourself.

2002-2005 Fusion stats actually refer to the Taurus - there was no Fusion at that time. 

103,705 "Old" Tauruses were sold in 2006 in addition to 71,089 Fusions.

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Top 100 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - 2011 January To June

U.S. Auto Market Size 2001-2010

Hyundai USA Market Share Growth 1999-2010

Top 100 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada - 2011 January To June

Shockin'. The Ford F-Series was Canada's best-selling vehicle in the first half of 2011. Absolutely shockin'.

Only four out of Canada's ten best-selling vehicles from January to June were passenger cars. That compares with eight passenger cars in the U.S. top ten. You won't see a minivan enter the American equation until the Dodge Grand Caravan slides in at 28th. In Canada, the very same model is the country's third-best-selling vehicle overall.

The Good Car Guy's favourites? Well, apart from the obvious first-place and Good 12-winning Ford F-150, members of The Good 12 are also positioned in 96th, 95th, 94th (sort of), 90th, 80th, 77th, 71st, 37th, and 23rd.

Understand two final things before you analyze the findings. Not present on this list is the Hyundai Genesis. If counted as one car - as it always is in America because that's how Hyundai USA releases data - the Genesis would slot in at 97th. But since we possess separate Canadian sales statistics for the Genesis and the Genesis Coupe, it seems as though it'd be a mistake to combine such different, if related, automotive product lines. Hyundai sold 1394 Genesis Coupes in the first half of 2011 along with 317 Genesis sedans.

Also missing are commercial vans like the Ford E-Series (5126 sales), GMC Savana (2760 sales), Chevrolet Express (2607 sales), and Ford Transit Connect (2163 sales). Sure, they can be acquired as passenger vehicles, and if you want to see it this way, you can imagine the E-Series ahead of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Savana and Express alongside the Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia, and the Transit Connect mixing it up with the Dodge Charger.

Here are the Top 100 Best-Selling Vehicles in Canada from January through June of 2011.

Rank	Vehicle	January-June 2011	YTD % Change
#1	Ford F-Series	46,825	+0.5
#2	Dodge Ram	30,459	+18.6
#3	Dodge Grand Caravan	29,986	+5.1
#4	Honda Civic	26,371	-2.0
#5	Hyundai Elantra	24,283	+69.8
#6	Ford Escape	23,183	+5.0
#7	GMC Sierra	22,225	-1.3
#8	Chevrolet Silverado	19,233	-4.5
#9	Chevrolet Cruze/Cobalt	19,127	+68.0
#10	Toyota Corolla	18,853	-9.0
#11	Mazda 3	18,446	-30.1
#12	Dodge Journey	16,069	+52.7
#13	Volkswagen Jetta	14,068	+157.4
#14	Hyundai Santa Fe	12,883	-4.0
#15	Ford Focus	12,659	+11.4
#16	Honda CR-V	12,426	+8.2
#17	Chevrolet Equinox	12,175	+31.0
#18	Toyota RAV4	11,373	-5.1
#19	Hyundai Accent	11,304	-19.4
#20	Ford Fusion	10,154	-8.6
#21	Hyundai Sonata	9269	+28.2
#22	Hyundai Tucson	8507	+17.3
#23	Jeep Wrangler	8280	+14.1
#24	Nissan Versa	8084	-5.2
#25	Nissan Altima	7838	+14.9
#26	Nissan Sentra	7826	-5.0
#27	Ford Ranger	7819	-31.0
#28	Ford Edge	7814	-0.7
#29	Kia Forte	7738	+15.5
#30	Toyota Matrix	7154	-32.1
#31	Ford Fiesta	7144	+44,550
#32	Kia Sorento	7134	+74.8
#33	Volkswagen Golf	7013	-33.3
#34	GMC Terrain	6375	+33.4
#35	Nissan Rogue	6020	-3.8
#36	BMW 3-Series	5972	-3.1
#37	Toyota Venza	5950	-6.3
#38	Chevrolet Malibu	5932	-14.9
#39	Kia Soul	5896	+21.4
#40	Chevrolet Impala	5670	-9.7
#41	Toyota Sienna	5279	+23.8
#42	Jeep Grand Cherokee	5024	+129.5
#43	Mazda 2	4934	-----
#44	Toyota Camry	4842	-38.8
#45	Ford Explorer	4686	+109.6
#46	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	4621	+5.6
#47	Subaru Impreza	4538	+12.0
#48	Honda Odyssey	4343	+48.1
#49	Honda Accord	4260	-39.6
#50	Jeep Patriot	4214	-15.6
#51	Subaru Forester	4084	-6.6
#52	Mitsubishi RVR	3945	-----
#53	Chrysler 200/Sebring	3877	+60.5
#54	Kia Rio	3831	-16.9
#55	Toyota Tacoma	3744	-19.9
#56	Subaru Outback	3696	+22.0
#57	Mazda 5	3692	-8.2
#58	Kia Rondo	3619	+9.3
#59	Kia Sportage	3520	+111.9
#60	Dodge Caliber	3489	-31.9
#61	Toyota Tundra	3457	-13.0
#62	Jeep Compass	3444	+40.7
#63	Toyota Yaris	3366	-61.4
#64	Lexus RX	3350	-10.3
#65	Mitsubishi Lancer	3330	-31.1
#66	Chevrolet Aveo	3319	-2.8
#67	Dodge Avenger	3210	+26.0
#68	Audi A4	3012	+14.0
#69	Volkswagen Tiguan	2986	level
#70	Toyota Highlander	2858	+33.0
#71	Ford Mustang	2818	+5.7
#72	Chevrolet Traverse	2753	-9.8
#73	Mazda CX-7	2697	+29.7
#74	Mercedes-Benz GLK	2694	-12.4
#75	GMC Acadia	2693	+2.3
#76	Mitsubishi Outlander	2595	-36.2
#77	Fiat 500	2560	-----
#78	Chrysler Town & Country	2529	-0.1
#79	Acura MDX	2404	-19.4
#80	Audi Q5	2395	+58.8
#81	Chevrolet Camaro	2274	-14.0
#82	BMW X3	2264	+36.7
#83	Nissan Murano	2215	+28.6
#84	Dodge Charger	2135	-28.9
#85	Lincoln MKX	2054	+3.8
#86	Mazda 6	1916	-36.4
#87	BMW X5	1899	-9.6
#88	Mercedes-Benz B-Class	1877	+30.8
#89	Mercedes-Benz E & CLS-Class	1871	-2.3
#90	Nissan Juke	1848	-----
#91	Honda Pilot	1847	-24.6
#92	Mini Cooper	1798	-13.9
#93	Chevrolet Avalanche	1780	+0.8
#94	Cadillac CTS	1764	+7.4
#95	Infiniti G	1758	-19.4
#96	Buick Enclave	1756	-20.4
#97	Ford Taurus	1749	-22.3
#99	Ford Flex	1686	-42.3
#99	Subaru Legacy	1648	+4.9
#100	Honda Fit	1641	-45.9

Source: Manufacturers And Automotive News Data Center
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