The R&T staff drives and performance tests hundreds of new cars every year. Because we don't have time to give each one the full review treatment, we share select logbook notes here, in a quick, easily-digested format. Unless noted otherwise, each test car is in the office for two weeks and is driven by every member of the editorial staff. Each staffer spends at least one day, but often more, in each car.
Sam Smith, Executive Editor
ARGGGGGGGGGG this thing is a monster. ARRRRRRRRG I want to drive it somewhere and drive over things. ARRRRRRRRRG when was the last time you drove a car or truck that reduced you to loud noises? I'm having problems typing. ARRRRRRRRRG. This is not inexpensive. Everyone gives you dirty looks. It is everything the ordinary Wrangler four-door is not. I want to take it home and park it on my roof and live in it, pretending I am King of the World. You feel like a god.
Also a giant jerk. But mostly a god.
PLUS:
Manly. Unstoppable. Hemi.
MINUS:
Ride height plus huge sidewalls mean crosswinds pick you up, drop you off in the next county. Fuel economy is dreadful—I think the tank drops by half every time you light it up. But who cares? Yes, it's irresponsible and selfish. But to focus on that is to miss the point (which is: You feel like a god).
READ MORE Drive Notes: 2014 Jaguar F-Type S Roadster
David Gluckman, Associate Editor
I love pickups, I love Jeeps, and I love big V8s. I never thought they'd all be combined into one super-vehicle, and certainly not with this level of finish. AEV builds a truck that seems like it could have come out of Jeep's own Toledo assembly plant. Except it's better than that.
The attention to detail is amazing. Bedliner on the roof panel interiors that Chrysler just leaves bare white. Custom bumpers that match the sweep and angle of the factory fender flares. A composite bed that looks like it was there all along. And a truncated roof that looks just like the ones on stock Wranglers.
And then there's that engine, with its needless amounts of power and torque. AEV installs it using mostly factory parts. You open the hood and it looks like it belongs. The five-speed transmission might as well be a three-speed with all of the output it's being fed. I'm sure it's not as quick as the Grand Cherokee SRT8 it stole its engine from, but it feels a lot more dramatic this high up off the ground.
If I could invent a reason why I need one, I'd be motivated to start selling things to scrounge up the necessary $100K. Maybe one day.
PLUS:
Not-suited-for-winter off-road tires don't inspire confidence at highway speeds but do make for effortless, gigantic low-speed donuts.
MINUS:
It really needs to be louder. Lots of intake noise when you're on it, but I want to be deafened by that V8 at idle.
READ MORE Drive Notes: 2014 Ford F-150 Tremor
Josh Condon, Senior Editor
It's hard not to love the idea of a steroidal Wrangler with a pickup bed and a V8—but it's also really hard to live with the actual überJeep. I haven't jumped so much since my high school basketball team—and believe me, jumping is basically the only way to get into this thing. The charming crudeness of a Wrangler is there, though less charming and far more crude; road manners are barbaric and it's like commuting inside of a washing machine filled with ice.
But then my wife got stuck in a snowbank, and I showed up like the manliest man in the history of chest hair. Yes, the thing makes you feel like an overcompensating dweeb at times, but of course that's not the truck's fault—it's built for a very specific, very arduous set of tasks, and that list does not really involve being a daily commuter. I just wish I had seat time enough to really get it into its environment (hint: not a shopping mall parking lot).
PLUS:
Like you took a wrong turn and got separated from the rest of the invasion force. You'd have to downgrade a few levels just to get to "invincible."
MINUS:
This thing is practical in, basically, three scenarios: heading off-road, off-roading, and returning from off-roading. Fairly hard to live with otherwise.
READ MORE Drive Notes : 2014 Chevrolet SS
Alex Kierstein, Web Editor
I figured as I was passing him that the guy in the late-model Wrangler was going to have a reaction when we stopped next to each other at the next stoplight. Yup, the horn honked and he wildly signaled at me, then shot me a huge thumbs up. Of course, I also got scowls from people in sensible cars assuming my profession must be clubbing baby seals and burning down vast tracts of the rainforest. It's a polarizing truck.
There's an ancient reptilian part of my brain that can't stop thinking about it. But the part of my brain that allowed our species to use tools and reason raises feeble objections to the atrocious fuel usage and gawking looks from judgmental bystanders. To my objections, the Brute laughs and drinks another gallon of premium.
I'll say this: The Hemi sounds awesome and hauls the Brute to speed, well, like a Hemi stuffed into a Wrangler would. The huge tires meander around at speed, so pay attention. The ride height is mini-semi-truck, and the ride is stiff but not punishing. The form factor is great—AEV tacks enough bed onto the thing that it's as useful as any small pickup, or considerably more useful than a Honda Ridgeline-sized bed. The quad cab is surprisingly quiet, snug, and warm. With a diesel instead of the Hemi, with slightly narrower off road tires, and painted a nice, discreet gunmetal gray, this would be my perfect truck.
It's silly. It's wonderful. It's worth every penny. Just probably not my pennies. I don't need the attention. But … can I keep driving it for a while?
PLUS:
Induces silly grins, nonstop. I didn't want to stop driving it.
MINUS:
Induces too much attention, nonstop. Also requires too much attention paid to the fuel gauge.
READ MORE: Drive Notes: 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
Robin Warner, Road Test Editor
The AEV Brute, over $90,000 for a Jeep-truck. Truck-Jeep? Treep! For neanderthals, it provides lots of value because it looks like a tamed predator and helps hunt prey. But for folks like me, you know, guys who go to grocery stores? It's hard to get the point. It's well-built, capable off-road, and makes growly V8 sounds, but only one of three do anything for me. So if you have wads of cash and want to win a pissing match or two, check it out. Otherwise, buy a car.
PLUS:
Trucky truckness that won't be out-trucked.
MINUS:
Advanced in many ways, yet still in the dark ages.
