After a development process with more leaks than the Titanic, the all-new 2018 Jeep Wrangler is finally here, and we can finally spill the beans on the original SUV. Get a drink, get comfortable, and strap in, because there are a lot of beans to spill.

Let's start with the bones. It's still a boxed ladder frame, and it still rides on solid axles at both ends, but that frame has been augmented with judicious applications of high-strength steels. The updates are said to have taken 100 pounds out of the frame alone. Even still, two-door Wranglers get a 1.4-inch wheelbase stretch, and the four-doors pick up 2.4 inches between the wheels, all of which goes to rear-seat room.

Sitting on top of the new frame is a conservatively but artfully updated body with a number of historical callbacks. We can finally put to rest rumors of an all-aluminum body because that's not the case. Jeep studied it and decided that using aluminum for the hood, doors, and windshield frame and magnesium for the tailgate was the right approach while making the main body shell out of high-strength steel. The fenders, such as they are, are plastic, so you won't feel bad about bashing them on rocks. In total, the new Wrangler is as much as 200 pounds lighter than the old model.

Up top, the "sports bars," as Jeep calls them (you and I would call them roll bars), are completely redesigned. Rather than a collection of tubes, they're now one piece of blow-formed ultra-high-strength steel and painted the body color for the first time. Don't worry, though. They're still bolted to the frame rather than welded if you want to take them off and install a custom cage.

Moving to the muscles, the standard engine is the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 you know but also with internal updates meant to improve fuel economy, which is up 1-2 mpg city, 2-3 mpg highway, and 2 mpg combined on the four-door Unlimited model, depending on transmission. The automatic option is Fiat Chrysler's eight-speed, and the manual is a new Aisin six-speed with reverse relocated next to first for quick shifts when rocking the vehicle. Peak power and torque are unchanged at 285 hp and 260 lb-ft, but Jeep says low-end torque has improved.

2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon tires

[image id="04dc55cd-b758-52cd-b9e4-f1106ddbf84a" mediaId="b8c55847-9208-5eac-8f64-b1010588cb3e" align="center" size="medium" share="false" caption="" expand="" crop="original"][/image]

Your first available option, coming shortly after the V-6 launches, is an all-new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It makes 270 hp and 295 lb-ft and, we expect, significantly better fuel economy, thanks in part to a belt alternator starter system. Jeep won't say it, but it's a variant of the new Alfa Romeo engine using dual overhead cams rather than the MultiAir valve system. Unfortunately, you can only get it with the automatic.

Your other option, currently scheduled for the 2019 model year once the last legal hurdles are cleared, is the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6. That engine makes an improved 240 hp and, more importantly, 442 lb-ft. It also makes Jeep guys and girls weak in the knees, but there's no standard rating system for that. They'll be less pleased to hear it'll only be available with the automatic and only in four-door Unlimiteds. All three engines get automatic stop/start.

Making Jeepers swoon was mission one back in Michigan and Ohio. Soliciting input early on from hardcore fans and off-road journalists, Jeep's made a wish list of changes to the Wrangler. Everything from taking the Jeep badge off the grille and putting it back behind the front wheels where it belongs to vastly simplifying the folding windshield—now just the windshield wipers, four bolts, and a latch behind the sunvisors all easily removed with the supplied toolkit (which also comes with a tie-down strap). Also in the kit: the Torx T-50 bit you need to pull the doors off ("T-50" is also stamped on the door hinges in case you need to buy another). The tools will also help you completely remove the hard top or folding soft top, but the power rollback top doesn't come off. Regardless of roof choice, there are now drip rails where you can mount a cargo rack (which Mopar will sell you for $295), and they can support 100 pounds.

[image id="ca0de5b6-5bb3-5039-9f93-fe1c86db0a85" mediaId="21f2ecb1-e866-580c-80a6-498d8077461e" align="center" size="medium" share="false" caption="" expand="" crop="original"][/image]

The tops are their own story. Folding the soft top used to take nearly as long as folding the windshield and required a monk's patience and Elon Musk's engineering chops. No more. Pop two latches behind the sunvisors, and the top folds back. Pop out the rails holding the side and rear windows on, slide them out (no more zippers), and grab the central release lever, and the whole top folds right back. Putting it up is just as easy. It's barely more difficult than a Miata roof.

If you prefer a hard roof, you'll be happy to know it's now made of a lighter composite material. The removable "Freedom Panels" up front are also lighter and held on by four simple latches each rather than knobs you have to turn a billion times.