Sport vs Sahara

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Wild Hare

New member
I have a 2015 JKU Sport. The neighbor just brought home a 2014 JKU Sahara which he let me drive. I would guess he has tow package with the 3.73s. The Sahara is way tighter on handling than my Sport ever was, even off the lot. I have an EVO level on mine now. What are the differences in the stock Sport suspension vs the stock Sahara suspension, if any?
 
Tires can affect handling as well as the springs/shock combo. Did your sport have the same tires as his Sahara?
I know I ordered my Sport as a base model with basic steel wheels & it came with shitty passenger car tires on it.
Rode real nice going straight but she wasn't no sports car in the corners!
 
Get the Sahara only if you want leather interiors, the other extras in my opinion are not worth it, color painted fenders get scratched on the trail and if you want you can always paint the hardtop and fenders on the Sport if you so desire, The 430N Radio can de purchased on the Sport as well. The Sahara also runs 18" wheels and the choice in tires for 17" wheels is bigger
 
There are differences in suspension, see below. Also, if you have the base sport it came with 16" wheels and as mentioned the Sahara comes with 18".

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An option: create a build sheet. If you're going to remove most of what the Sahara offers, stereo, fenders, wheels, etc, than the Sahara might not be the best choice.


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I'm not interested in getting a Sahara. I was more interested in the difference in handling. The neighbor's Sahara seemed to have better/tighter handling than my Sport (when stock or with the EVO level). So the only apparent difference is mine has the Goodyear Wrangler 275/75/17s (for now) and his has Bridgestone 275/70/18s. Would the sidewall height and firmness make that much of a difference?
 
Wild Hare said:
I'm not interested in getting a Sahara. I was more interested in the difference in handling. The neighbor's Sahara seemed to have better/tighter handling than my Sport (when stock or with the EVO level). So the only apparent difference is mine has the Goodyear Wrangler 275/75/17s (for now) and his has Bridgestone 275/70/18s. Would the sidewall height and firmness make that much of a difference?
Click to expand...

I can't speak to those specific tires, but yes, absolutely sidewall height and construction can and do affect handling.
 
There can also be a difference in factory spring part number, the numbers can differ wildly. That might make a difference as well.

The front springs can range from 55 - 60 and rears 14 - 19 (I might have switched that up) but the higher the number the stiffer the springs.

So that could be a reason for a difference between the 2 rigs, that and the different wheels sizes.


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The Sahara does use a slightly stiffer spring rate. That is probably the difference you are feeling. It's kind of like a medium duty suspension, a little more firm then the Sport but not as firm as the Rubicon.
 
There is a difference between the basic Sport and the Sport S. The basic sport is on 16" wheels and 28"/29" tires, while the Sport S has 17" wheels and 32" tires. The Sport S has better shocks that are the same as the Sahara's.
 
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