In a way, this ridiculous hundred-thousand-dollar 2026 Jeep Wrangler 392 Moab makes more sense to me than a Wrangler worth half that. A base or base-ish Wrangler is an interesting, but deliberately compromised vehicle that’s leaning an extremely niche capability to enable a distinct vibe that’s very easy to love, but they’re not an objectively good means of transportation. Charming as they may be, there are other vehicles I think I’d rather have, that make more sense and/or offer more fun that matters more to me, for about the same money. 

That goes right out the window with this resurrected, balls-to-the-wall Wrangler 392 Moab, because that already-healthy charm is amplified by several orders of magnitude by the elephant heart beating under its hood, and in this six-figure realm, nothing really “makes sense” anyway. In this luxury and up price bracket, the way a car makes you feel is more important than what it is or can do, and this is about as good as it gets in that world of intangible magic.

None of that is to imply that the Wrangler 392 doesn’t have a lot of measurable goodness going for it, however. I knew I was going to like it for being the fun kind of obnoxious, saving face for its inevitable shortcomings with palpable charisma. I did not to expect for love it for not really having much in the way of shortcomings to overcome at all - this working-class hero can hold its head high against the bourgeois's best.

What is this moab edition?

There’s been a lot of back and forth about the Stellantis’ vaunted V8 engine being discontinued, final edition’d, final edition'd for realsies, and then resurrected. This confusion about Schrodinger’s Hemi has extended through Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. While production never completely stopped in the States (it was continued by “one more year” for two years), Jeep Canada ceased taking orders for the V8 Wrangler for 2025.

The Moab is the first of Jeep’s Twelve-for-Twelve campaign; a program launching limited-run special edition Wrangler for every month of a year to celebrate the Wrangler's 85th birthday. In the exhaustive arsenal of options that Jeep offers, the Moab ticks damn near every single box, with the most notable of which being the eagerly awaited return of the never-quite-dead 392 V8.

Alongside the hulking Hemi, the Moab also has every luxury amenity and every offering of off-road kit Jeep has available. For $99,995, this includes but is not limited to: Selec-Trac full-time four wheel drive, Dana M210 wide heavy-duty tube front axle with E-Locker, Dana M220 wide full floating rear axle with E-Locker, electronic disconnecting front sway bar, steel bumpers, skid plates, rock rails, 35-inch BFGoodrich K02 tires wrapped around beadlock rims, heated Nappa leather seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, acoustic laminated glass, acoustic carpeting, Alpine premium audio with subwoofer, etcetera, etcetera.

The only options left are a Warn Winch, a powered-opening canvas top, and this incredible paint, simply called Reign, bringing the total of this tester to $106,250 before destination, dealer fees, and while I can’t imagine why (...cough...), it’s also slapped with the Federal Green Levy (Canada’s version of the US gas guzzler tax).

I would like to note that Jeep has adjusted their pricing downward lately, and this absolutely decked-out 392 is some ten grand less than the last one we drove a few years ago, despite being loaded up even further. 

Under the hood

It should make for approximately zero surprise that outfitting this most delightfully absurd vehicle with a most delightfully absurd engine goes a long way to making it feel special.

Crammed tightly into the snug confines of the Wrangler’s nose is a thoroughly old-school 6.4-Litre (or 392 cubic inch; hence the name) pushrod-actuated V8, producing 470 horsepower and 470 foot-pounds of torque. Every, and I do mean literally every vehicle I’ve sampled with this engine, I have come away saying this is my favourite engine on the market. For all of BMW’s incredible prowess with power and efficiency, and Lexus’s symphonic musicality, there is nothing like a single-cam brute of a V8, and no V8 on the market is more hilariously brutish than this one (at least, not until Ford decides to do something cool with their Godzilla engine).

It is comically loud. It wakes up like a startled giant, and only gets angrier if you leave the active exhaust in performance mode (...which you’re obviously going to do, you paid a hundred grand for this). I want to stress that it’s more than just loud; too many cars are too loud, too harsh, too raspy, and far too adulterated with nastiness in the form of fake percussion from the Kellogg’s Rice Crispies contingent. No no, this 392 the correct kind and quantity of loud. Accelerating from every stop is a stirring speech from a gifted, barrel-chested orator, rising into a heroic, bellowing war cry that will stir your soul and rouse you every single time.

You may notice the exhaust does have a tendency to create an ugly booming resonance, specifically when off-throttle at just under 2,000 rpms, and you may notice it giving you a headache very quickly. Fear not, even if you take the exhaust out of Braveheart mode, it still automatically opens back up at around 3,500 rpm, so you never have to miss out. I personally love the mechanical gurgles of a big engine lugging at low revs, but even I’ll concede that occasional drone can be a lot. It's still appropriately mighty in mild mode, just muted, and I might even say refined.

Driving impressions

On that note, it drives quite well, actually. 

I don’t know if its the extra weight from the engine, or maybe it’s just that this JL platform is designed to shine when built to the hilt, but it is not the bouncy, awkward, meandering gorilla you might expect it to be. The steering isn’t the last word in precision, but it’s surprisingly good, better than a solid front axle on monster truck tires has any right to be, and it’s easy to place the nose confidently, with enough heft to feel substantial but not so much that you can’t palm it in a parking lot.

On that note: for as much of an ogre as you might perceive this thing to be, it’s still a lot smaller than any half-ton pickup truck, and easy to park - especially with the wide front axle enabling a ridiculous turning circle. This makes sense to read, but when you’re at the helm, you’re thinking and feeling that you’re riding a bear, but it’s not a bear to live with.

Similarly, it rides well; it obviously gobbles up broken pavement like it’s nothing because it is nothing, the chassis doesn’t shudder much, and it all feels pretty well buttoned-down and controlled. With the top up, ambient noise is even pretty decently controlled for the soft-top brick that it is, and more importantly, it’s quite lovely and not overly turbulent with the top open. It is by no means a chore to helm, and I wouldn’t (and didn’t) hesitate to take every excuse I could to drive it every day.

Lastly, as pleasant as it is to cruise around on a tidal wave of heaving eight-cylinder grunt with no turbos to muddy the waters, this Wrangle can haul ass. The ZF-sourced 8-speed automatic is (once again) brilliant, and pairs well with the truck’s aggressive 4.56 gearing to enable alarming acceleration and relatively sedate highway cruising all at once. I may or may not have measured a 13 second quarter mile on a dirt road, and definitely did return an average fuel use of 17.8L/100km, which really isn’t that bad given how much is working against it (...and how often I was rewinding that Braveheart speech with the skinny pedal).

Value

This is where you’d expect things to come apart, but I feel this is where it comes together. The cabin is actually quite nice; Stellantis switchgear always feels of quality, and they’re smart about use of materials to create a cohesive feel. It’s an attractive layout that’s easy to make sense of, and it’s only aided by the excellent seats and leather trimmings. It has a great sound system, decent driver aids, and a snappy infotainment system. It’d be nice to drive even if you were deaf and/or didn't care for the backing track. All the niceties on this Jeep don’t feel like lipstick on a pig, they just feel nice. 

On top of feeling nice, its charm is abundant and readily accessible at all times. A particularly fast car is at its most charming when being driven particularly fast, which is rarely the case, and you’re left dragging around a car that’s miserable most of the time.

Conversely, this big-dawg Jeep is just as delightful around town as it is when making the most of its niche element, which only entails you wandering off the road, rather than breaking the road’s laws. It has the added charm of being a very good convertible too, with one-touch top movement that works at any speed, any powerful enough HVAC to handily cancel out blazing sun or brisk air.

And, lastly, it’s an icon, which carries some real value, fitted with an iconic engine. Like the Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes G-Wagen, and Land Rover Defender, the Jeep Wrangler has military origins, and carries an inimitable, timeless utilitarian style as part of that.

The Wrangler is the OG of that entire tough-chic segment that’s since become very desirable, and I would argue that, especially when fitted like this, carries as much or more swagger and presence than any of them. I’d have this over a G-Wagen without even blinking, even if it wasn’t three times the price (admittedly, I’d have to think real long and hard about the Defender).

Wrap it up

The 2026 Jeep Wrangler 392 Moab exists in rarified air; there are almost no other vehicles that blend this kind of style, presence, charm, and extreme capability all at once. Yes it is ridiculous, yes you will probably never take the doors off (but you should), yes you will probably never go far enough off the beaten path to actually need it’s triple lockers, and yes, turning this much fossil fuel into noise just because you can is absurd, but in a package like this, it all adds up better than you'd expect.