I have been offered a heck of a trade in deal to move up from my 08 Sahara to a 2012 Rubicon (special order). The final stage is first to test drive a 2012 unlimited A/T. After driving my 08 with a Superchips tuned to 91 Tow tune (as outlined in my other thread) I may be underwhelmed with the performance difference of the 3.6. None the less I am positive the new 5spd A/T is going to be markedly better then the old 4spd attached to the 3.8.. As noted in many threads the final gearing difference in the 2007-11 and the 2012 is like the equivalent of the 2007-11 running 4.88 gears in the diffs which would keep the engine always in its powerband..
That being said the 3.6 may be a real firecracker once a tuner for that is available..

Onward and upward, I will post my findings as soon as I take that testdrive..

 

Test-Drive is done approximately an hour around town and down the highway in a 2012 Sahara 3.6 VVT auto with 3.73 (EDIT: turns out this Sahara has 3.21 diff gears not 3.73). So I am impressed, not so much with the engine but more the transmission.. I still think that the 3.8 would not have got the wrap it did if it had this new 5 speed. While cruising the hwy at 105kph the tach read 2,200 rpm. In my 08 on 35's with 3.73 gears with O/D Off at 105kph (corrected) the rpm is 2,400 rpm. What does that tell you...

Looks like the 2012 Rubicon order will go in by the end of the week...

 

Congrats. Thanks for the info, too. I've got a friend thinking of a 2012. I'll pass this along.

 

Well to my surprise I just found out that the Sahara I test drove had 3.21 Diff gears and not 3.73.. WOW that Rubi with 4.10 is really gonna work well with the 35's. Now I'm considering 37's.