What does 12.9, 33.6 and 100:1 mean?
Jeep teases a future model with photos showing a collection of mysterious numbers. The background of these photos may hint at the meanings of the numbers.
Looking at each shot, you’ll see that 12.9 is over rocks and the road is in the background. A water picture has 33.6 halfway through it. Another rock picture shows 100. Finally, 47.4 has been tipped down a hill.
The image with 100 to 1 ratio is the easiest to understand. This number refers to the vehicle’s crawl rate. The Wrangler Rubicon currently has an 84 to 1 crawl ratio when equipped with the Rock-Trac four wheel-drive system and manual transmission.
The reference to the fording depth seems to be in the image with water and 33.6. It would be difficult to place the number in context.
A teaser that showed 47.4 was already shown in an earlier teaser, but it placed the number on the rear bumper a Jeep Wrangler. The company may be hinting at the departure angle for this model by showing it angled like this.
This might not be true, however. An earlier teaser featured an arrow pointing to the rear in a drawing showing a Wrangler, with the number 40.4 below. A Wrangler Rubicon’s departure angle is 37.0 degrees. So either number would be an improvement.
The most mysterious image is that with 12.9 One commenter on the Facebook posts suggested that it might be ground clearance. If the speculation is true, this would be quite an upgrade to the Wrangler Rubicon’s existing clearance of 10.8 inches.
Jeep has yet to reveal when the mystery machine will debut, so it’s possible that we’ll see a lot more unanswered numbers before the official launch. Jeep might release figures that are a bit less mysterious.