The 2008 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is a mountain goat, better suited to rugged terrain than the slog of the daily commute.

LK Photographic

When the Jeep Wrangler was redesigned for 2007, most all the attention went to the Unlimited, the extended model with, for the first time in a Wrangler, four full doors and genuine rear seats.

And as nice as the Unlimited is, it remains 173.4 inches long. That’s more than 20 inches longer than the regular two-door Wrangler. So for dedicated off-roaders—and I’m not really sure why anyone else would buy a two-door Wrangler—the Unlimited is nimble for its size, but can’t match the regular Wrangler for maneuverability.

The test vehicle is a two-door 2008 Wrangler Rubicon, named after the brutal Jeep trail on the California/Nevada border. I’ve driven the Rubicon Trail, in a Jeep, but that had to be—what? Fifteen years ago? Twenty? What’s surprising is how little the Jeep has changed; it’s certainly the most traditional, old-fashioned vehicle currently available in mass-market in the United States.

Which is great, because the Wrangler Rubicon is a genuine mountain goat off the road, with a stiff suspension, lots of ground clearance and meaty 17-inch radials on handsome five-spoke cast aluminum wheels.

What’s not great is that the Wrangler Rubicon just isn’t that much fun to drive on the road. That stiff suspension translates to a moderately jarring ride, especially on rougher pavement. The very quick steering that makes it dart around rocks and trees with alacrity makes it a little scary to change lanes in heavy traffic. All these are things that true Jeep fans not only willingly overlook, but also embrace as endearing nuance.

What I couldn’t warm up to was the tepid performance of the 3.8-liter, 202-horsepower V6, especially with the six-speed manual transmission. I prefer an automatic transmission, even for the Rubicon trail, as the light, grabby clutch and the long shift throws on this transmission would just be too much work off-road, and very nearly is on the road. You still get the same mileage with the four-speed automatic transmission — 15 miles per gallon city, 19 mpg highway—and it’s worth the extra $825, especially given the heady $31,365 list price of the manual-transmission test vehicle.

It was, at least, heavily optioned, with a three-piece hard top and a soft top stored just below the rear window; a navigation system, Sirius satellite radio, and a “power convenience group” that included power windows, keyless entry, an alarm and power locks. The Rubicon already is pretty loaded for a Jeep, with traction control, heavy-duty front and rear Dana 44 axles, stability control and antilock brakes.

I like the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, but not nearly enough to make it my daily driver, especially with the manual transmission, and especially at more than $31,000. The rear seat is uncomfortable and difficult to access, and there isn’t that much storage space behind it. For regular commuting, the four-door Unlimited drives and rides better, and the extra room makes it genuinely useful as transportation. With two doors? It’s still a toy, though one I can genuinely appreciate on the weekends. Just not so much Monday through Friday.

ProjoCars’ archive of test drives is like visiting a single showroom that features all current makes and models: projocars.com