The first thing that you really notice driving the JK around town is how quiet it is. The new soft top design is so quiet compared to the older TJ's top. You don't have the wind buffeting that you had before. Even at 85mph you can just hear the wind, you can still have a normal conversation with the people in the back seat and don't have to yell to be heard. You don't even need to adjust the stereo up. The other thing you immediately notice is not only can you not hear the engine, but you can't feel it through the gas pedal like you used to. This is really disconcerting for those of us that drive by hearing. You know how you get used to a familiar whine of the engine, or feel back through the gas pedal, well it's not there. At first I was a little dismayed at the lack of power that the V6 had versus the I6, I probably killed it 6 or more times trying to do the same thing that I did in the TJ. I almost regretted getting the newer V6, but after learning where the power curve really was the V6 is a blast. Once you learn where the power band is and manage to figure out how to feel the engine again I'm back to the same pull out of the drive way, drop it in second and take off like I did with the TJ. I do notice that it doesn't have the same idle power that the TJ had, it's a little harder to hold on a hill at a light. I have tired to duplicate the left turn pick that the TJ's are famous for, with no success, the ESP system kicks in and won't let me do it. That system is actually really cool. It had been pouring rain all day here, so the roads were flooded and at times it was blowing and raining so hard I could barely see past the front of the hood, I just love Florida. I ran into a very deep puddle with the passenger side going a little to fast, I fully expected to have to fight the steering wheel and slam on the brakes to keep control. I was to late, the ESP system had already hit the brakes on the drivers side and kept the vehicle straight. It was really weird to just plow through the water. I don't recommend going out and just doing this, I did it by accident and have seen to many vehicles lose control doing exactly what I did. The steering is responsive, so takes a little getting used to. I kept finding myself over correcting for the steering, I was used to the vagueness of the TJ's system. I was prepared to get a little more feedback into the steering wheel when hitting bumps, but the new system and steering box soak up the bumps, so you get very little movement in the steering wheel as the front end rides over the bumps. The Jeep does feels more stable with the wider wheelbase, it's almost to comfortable to drive. It feels like the old days of going from the YJ's leaf springs to the TJ's coils. I remember how nice it was not to leave a kidney behind after any drive. The new steering wheel could be a little better, it looks to much like some of the other vehicles that Chrysler has, it's still nice to use, though the horn is a little harder to hit, it's only at the bottom half of the center section. They did move all the cruise control functions to a lever in the bottom right side of the steering wheel. Once you get used to the cruise control lever, it almost becomes second nature to use just like the old style. I still forget at times and try to to set the cruise control by pushing on air. Jeep did add a feature to the turn signal lever, push it momentary for left or right and it will flash 4 times and cut off, now you don't need to hold it when you go to change lanes. The one thing I discovered is that if you do it accidentally, you will catch yourself trying to cancel it by doing the same thing in the opposite direction, then having it do the same thing and you will repeat yourself again. I can just imagine the car behind you... blink left 4 times, blink right 4 times, blink left 4 time... you get the idea. You will have to retrain your hand for the functions in the center console, but it's no different than jumping into any new car, I have the same issues with the wife's Honda, trying to get the wipers to work can be a lesson in humility. I did get the power windows and locks feature on the 2 door. At first I was a little bit old fashion about power windows and locks in a Jeep, but today as I ran through the pouring rain to the Jeep I realized how nice it was to key the locks, and grab the big handle on the outside to whip open the door. I did discover something about that nice new soft top design at the same time, it still dumps rain water into the cab when you climb in. Still true to the Jeep name on that point. The drive to work each morning is almost to comfortable with the new seats. The headrest does lean a little to far forward for some people tastes. I didn't like it at first, but after adjusting the seat to the position that I liked and the headrest to where it should be I really don't notice it anymore. Overall the comfort and driveablilty of the JK is an improvement over the TJ's.
