Originally Posted by
TrialByFire
Sal,
I don't think you'll see a lot of difference in the mileage. The folks around here with anything but a stock JKU are getting about 13mpg on the highway (according to what they tell me, at least). The frontal area is about the same as the XK and they're about as aero too, so it doesn't surprise me. BTW, on my way to Moab (380 miles, fully-loaded, 3 people, hills & 1 crossing of the Continental Divide), I got an average of 16 mpg. On the way back, I averaged 18 (19.5 on the second tank). Admittedly, we were driving 60, so it took us an extra half-hour to get there. At 70 mph with the new lift, we are getting about 15.
I'm with Matt. Keep the XK for towing your crawler to the really extreme stuff! You are going to give up a lot of comfort for little gain in off-road capability. The 'fun factor' would be higher in a JKU though.