I got my new Rubi as a retirement/mid-life crisis present when I retired from the USAF. I researched the hell out of this very question. I have some bolt on mods, but the only significant things I'm doing are a 2.5" lift and some 33's. Other than that the Rubi is more than I'll ever need which suits me just fine.
I wanted power convienience, leather, remote start, and all the good Rubi stuff, so thats what I got and couldn't be happier!
Wife asked me while I was debating..."If you pull up to a stop light next to a Rubi, is it always gonna bother you that you didn't just go for it?" I'll admit that it probably would have, lol. I guess I'm a little shallow also, I love the RUBICON on my hood.
Someone said in a thread, "If you want to look cool at the mall, get a sport and jack it up, if you are gonna do the majority of camping/fire roads and trails that most people do, a Rubi is overkill, which is good! Better to have and not need, just for those oh $hit moments. If you're gonna get REALLY serious, go back to a Sport and build from the ground up into a rock killing machine." (Or something like that.)
I dont do ANY serious rock crawling in Vegas, high desert and rocky washes, etc. I love my Rubi for being more Jeep than I probably really need.
Of course, I DID want all the interior niceties, so for me a Sport wasn't on the table. The price gap between the Sahara and Rubi was much smaller, so I went for it.
Not knocking ANYBODY for their taste or budget! Just my rational for me, but I am apparently a shallow egomaniac...