Cool, I'm recording the repeat at 1am.

 

It's 20 minutes in and the Brute looks freaking awesome!

 

I'd sell my soul for one of those Brutes..........or my house

 

At the beginning of the show they said that the Brute they are testing cost $130,000

 

Fully loaded Rubicon plus it looks like a fully loaded Brute with the 6.3 V8 I think they said 37" tires. Yeah I'd say $130,000 well spent

 

That thing is a beast I want it soooo bad.

 

470 hp 6.4 and 38"s

 

Haha you are correct. I was too excited seeing that thing go crazy to get my figures right .

 

Love the show! I wish they would have put up a stock Jeep Rubicon up against the FJ.

 

I think AEV might have paid for a hour long commercial ;-) I still loved it.

 

Hope it sparks more interest in a jeep truck!

 

I was telling my wife that is the truck I want. She laughed when she heard the price. But then I explained $80K of that price was probably just the Brute conversion and the Hemi.

I bet a "regular" AEV Rubicon could have done everything the Brute did and could take the top off

All for a lot less $$$$

 

I was a bit surprised how bad the FJ Cruiser did. It was not too capable off road.

 

I wouldn't put all of your faith in its capabilities in what it did in this show.

 

X2. And remember- it did make it. Just took a few extra tries. And it was rolling against $70K and $120K vehicles. Honestly it wasn't a fair comparison- little blue Toyota turtle or not. The Brute was kick-ass :worthy: but it should be at that price.
I still prefer BBC Top Gear for the sheer spectacle. You simply CANNOT do what they do over there in the states. Ie: have the British army fire fake missiles from a tank at a LandRover. Or shoot fake bullets at a Porsche. Or push a "caravan" off the side of a cliff. :beerdrinking::atomic:

 

"I didn't roll off a mountain...that's good" - Adam Ferrara

 

Pretty entertaining, IMO AEV makes the best Jeep stuff out there, it appeared they beat that Brute and took it pretty well.

 

Hell, I thought the FJ stole the show. If dollar$ weren't a factor, damn right I'll take a Brute every day of the week and twice on Sunday! At half the cost of the Land Rover, a third the cost of the Brute, it did it all. Plus for me it was extra amusing, my wife has an FJ and she cheered it on the whole way.

 

I liked the FJ as well but I would have loved to see a fair comparison. Rubi X or AEV JK.

Everyone keeps bringing up the cost of the Brute, but seriously, how much of that cost was the Brute conversion and the hemi? Neither of which made a huge difference in the outcome. I bet a regular AEV Rubi would have done just as well and we would not have to listen to "well the Brute costs XXXX it should be better".

 

I'm wondering if the brute did or didn't have the lockers on when he went halfway up the staircase

 

I believe Tanner said "does he even have the locker on?" and they then show Adam flipping a switch. The lack of climb didn't surprise me- low and slow every time. And the tires weren't aired down. Both of them were giving it too much gas- while Rutt went nice and slow.
The river crossing was fun to watch. But you have to wonder just how much AEV was cringing during filming. It will be interesting to see where that cargo plane is taking them....
There was an EXCELLENT episode where they raced the "Honeybadger"- a crazy dude in a kayak down a waterfall. Rutt was driving a KOH winning truck. History channel doesn't have it in their episode guide anymore- it was insane to watch the guy in a kayak go down 100ft. rock strewn waterfalls. If you ever see it watch it....

 

I haven't seen this yet but I can tell you guys this for sure. A Brute conversion on any Wrangler costs $40,000. The 6.4L Hemi conversion including the AEV accessories (bumpers, tire carrier, etc) is $40,000. Add that to a loaded Rubicon at $45,000+ and that comes out to be right around $125,000+ so yeah right on point.

 

I was surprised how much wheel slip he was getting on the stairs. My wife kept yelling for him to lock the diffs! There was a lot of BRUTE force going on and not a lot of finesse. I can’t believe that the Land Rover could beat the Brute up that loose gravel hill. The Brute should have killed him up that. We were out playing in our JKUR a couple weeks ago and a Land Rover that looked just like that one was there. He was really struggling to get over one obstacle with lots of wheel spin and bouncing. My wife had gone over the same obstacle and looked like she was driving in a mall parking lot. No spin, no bounce, no drama and no lockers. I am surprised the FJ made it without breaking or bending something. The lower rear control arms on those things are really easy to bend. I would have loved to see a stock Rubicon in the comparison. For less than $40K I bet it still would have beat the other two. I can’t speak from much experience with the Land Rover. But my JK runs circles around my buddy’s FJ.

 

The amount of tire slip he had was due to terrible driving skills... with a 470 hp hemi he could have locked the diffs in and put it and first gear and just steered.. hemi would have crawled right up it effortlessly. So would my bone stock Rubi. I enjoyed the show but this part I was frustrated with.

 

I guess they had to have the Land Rover do good at something cause the Brute was a beast...but I would love to see a Rubi X or AEV JK compare. I think it would have done every bit as good. Props to the little Fake Jeep...it did better than I thought it would do.

 

AEV Brute....the beast takes it all. FJ's are done, this is the last year as the numbers were just not there for Toyota. Probably a good thing for Jeep sales...no FJ, more Jeep sales. FWIW...

 

I like the Brute... but it would have been interesting to see a Rubicon in action on the show. I'm sure the Rubi could have buried that Land Rover and the FJ. Fun to watch tho!

 

It would have nice to have seen a more stock Jeep in the challenge but I think the Brute was the perfect choice. Adam Ferrara has an over the top personality and the Brute fit that more than any stock Jeep would.

 

I enjoyed the show and so did my wife. My wife has a 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser Trail Teams Edition and I have a 2014 Wrangler JK Unlimited, we watched it together, without incident

I am on my 4th Jeep and also owned my own FJ, there wasn't anything my FJ wouldn't go through, but my Jeep and IMO, the Jeep is a way more capable vehicle. Most of my time with my FJ was spent in Colorado.

I loved seeing the Brute, however I would have loved to seen maybe just a Rubicon or something more basic, just to keep it more honest. I think the FJ could have used some better tires.

The Land Rover is really ugly, but still impressive.

 

I have an FJC and a JK Rubicon....as a stock to stock comparison the FJC seems pretty close. The JK wins in the fun factor simply because the top comes off.

It would have been great if the comparison would have been a stock JK Rubi vs the others....it would have been more entertaining.


Doc

 

Does anyone know if the British version ever had a JK on their show? I've seen quite a few episodes and they've never talked about the Wrangler. I think they had a Grand Cherokee once but I'm not sure?

 

Doesn't matter; Clarkson can't say anything positive about an American automobile without following it up with 47 quibbling defects that ruin it for him.

 

Found it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttTDQEHKBW0

 

So. you are telling me that a TV show host driving a new vehicle (even if it is an FJ) has trouble climbing a trail that the local Jeep rental place sends FIRST TIMERS to, and then gets lost so that he ends camping out on the ONLY ski slope in Northern Arizona and we are supposed to believe that this is reality TV?

The Brute is a great jeep, but I am fairly convinced that a stock JK sport could have done all that they did. It seemed to me that the whole thing seem staged and that the outcome was pre-determined (based upon sticker price). I am dissappointed with Top Gear America.

 

So. you are telling me that a TV show host driving a new vehicle (even if it is an FJ) has trouble climbing a trail that the local Jeep rental place sends FIRST TIMERS to, and then gets lost so that he ends camping out on the ONLY ski slope in Northern Arizona and we are supposed to believe that this is reality TV?

The Brute is a great jeep, but I am fairly convinced that a stock JK sport could have done all that they did. It seemed to me that the whole thing seem staged and that the outcome was pre-determined (based upon sticker price). I am dissappointed with Top Gear America.

Lol the American show has always been this way so is the British one, they just do a better job of acting.