GREG CARLOSS: I like it, I like it, oh I love it, Heather!

HEATHER HARTMANN: Woo!

GREG: Trucks and utilities are more rugged than ever before. But the reality is, most owners have no idea how capable their vehicle is off-road because they’ve just never hit the trails. Well, I found a Jeep Wrangler owner who fits that bill and told her to meet me out here at Rausch Creek Off-Road Park.

HEATHER: I’m Heather Hartman. I’m a nursing talent acquisition manager for MedStar Health, and this is my 2013 Jeep Wrangler Warrior. So this Jeep was built by Joe Gatti to honor his late brother, Arturo. Arturo Gatti was a World Boxing Champion in two different weight classes. He was known as the warrior in the ring because of his fighting style, and in that first match with Mickey Ward, he actually wore red and black trunks, which is why the Jeep is red and black.

If you’re talking dirt and gravel, roads at breweries, that’s about as far as I’ve gone off roading. I mean, I’m an adrenaline junkie, so yes, my adrenaline is pumping right now and I am nervous, but I know it’s going to be a great time, so I’m super excited.

HEATHER: Sweet!

GREG: Heather. Great to meet you.

HEATHER: Nice to meet you, Greg.

GREG: Thanks for coming out.

HEATHER: Thanks for having me.

GREG: Well, I see you brought your Jeep.

HEATHER: I did, I did bring my Jeep.

GREG: Well, we’re not going to use it. We’re going to use this one. I brought a Wrangler 392. 470 horsepower, I hope that’s enough for you.

HEATHER: I would say so. It’s pretty dope.

GREG: All right, well, we’re going to have some fun today. But first, let’s just get you started off. Let’s get you comfortable with the truck. Alright?

HEATHER: Probably a good idea.

GREG: Okay. Why don’t you hop in?

HEATHER: Awesome.

GREG: Okay, so we are now on the high-speed loop. We don’t have to go high speed, but we’re just going to get you used to the Wrangler and feel what it’s like to go over some ruts. So, when you are ready, let’s hit it.

HEATHER: Okay.

GREG: Out here is kind of like, maybe you took a wrong turn somewhere. Like, it’s that kind of road where it’s not too hard to get over. Just gives you a nice feel for what it’s like to go over rocks and bumps and dirt, mud and all that good stuff.

HEATHER: There’s that ginormous rock.

GREG: There you go. Nice. Yeah. We don’t like that rock. That’s not a good rock.

HEATHER: Someone should move that thing.

GREG: There is actually a right way to go over rocks. Some people try to avoid rocks, and actually, that can make it worse, because if you catch the side of the rock, it goes into the sidewall. And then try to find the groove here. Like put your tires over here. You see that puddle over there?

HEATHER: Yeah.

GREG: Yep. This is where I’m pretty sure if you had enough speed, you could probably jump it a little bit. But, let’s try to keep all four on the ground. At least for the-

HEATHER: For the first lap?

GREG: For the first lap.

HEATHER: Gotta keep my promise to my daughter to not flip the Jeep.

GREG: That would be ideal. I would appreciate that too.

HEATHER: Yeah, I’m not sure how fast I would drive this in my current Jeep.

GREG: But the thing is…

HEATHER: I’d probably be crawling.

GREG: Your Jeep could definitely handle this. I mean every Jeep, every Wrangler is trail rated.

HEATHER: Yeah.

GREG: All right, pick up a little bit of speed. See what happens. I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I love it. Oh, I love it, Heather. That was fantastic.

HEATHER: Are you sorry you let me drive yet?

GREG: I’m approaching that level, no you’re good, you’re doing good..

GREG: Do you feel like this is kind of your speed? Are you at the point where you’re like, oh, I can handle a little more than this?

HEATHER: Oh, I can handle more than this..

GREG: I love to hear you say that because we’re going to do exactly that. After we get off here, we’re going to turn off, and we’re going to head to a slightly more intense section. And you clearly want to get there very quickly.

GREG: All right, Heather, I told you we’re going to kick it up a notch. This hill is that notch. We’re going to go up and down, but we’re not going to do it alone. We brought along some off-road professionals. We have Jeff and Kyle. Jeff’s going to be in the car with us teaching you how to work throttle and brake. Kyle is going to be out spotting, telling us where to go, where to put our wheels. We’re going to get you up and down the hill once on your own, and then we’re going to let the Jeep do it on its own. All you gotta do is steer. How’s that sound?

HEATHER: Sounds good.

JEFF MAYFIELD: First of all, we need to get the vehicle in low range in the transfer case. So go ahead and pull that back over to me and then further back. We get it locked in four low. So now we can put it in drive. All right. Let’s go! Nice and slow. Momentum’s our friend.

HEATHER: Yeah, I’m a little heavy on the foot.

JEFF: It’s okay with this Jeep it’s easy to do, right?. With this Jeep it’s easy to do.

HEATHER: I didn’t realize the hill was this long.

JEFF: Heather, you did awesome. You did perfect.

GREG: That was awesome.

HEATHER: Whew. I can breathe again?

GREG: Were you not breathing?

HEATHER: I don’t know I might not have been breathing?

GREG: It wasn’t just me? Great. Perfect. Perfect.

JEFF: Awesome. We’ll stop right here. And then we’re going to turn around, go downhill.

GREG: It feels steeper going down all of a sudden.

HEATHER: Right?

GREG: Oh yeah.

HEATHER: You’re making me nervous.

GREG: Sorry. I’m totally calm. You’re calm. Everybody’s calm.

JEFF: It’s amazing how capable these vehicles are. It truly is.

GREG: Jeff, I think we should show her what this thing can do on its own. What do you think?

JEFF: I think that’s a great idea. Let’s do it. All right. We call it Speed Select. We will control our speed simply by shifting up and down with the transmission. We can do the same thing with the brakes coming down the hill. Let’s try it.

HEATHER: Oh my gosh, this is crazy.

GREG: We are quite literally on trail cruise control.

JEFF: We are. Now I want you to upshift one.

GREG: Pull back.

HEATHER: Pull back?

JEFF: Pull back. Yep. You’re doing a really good job on not touching that pedal.

HEATHER: I’m like trying so hard.

JEFF: It’s hard, isn’t it? You can go a little faster if you want.

HEATHER: Sure.

JEFF: Heather likes to go fast.

HEATHER: I do.

GREG: Oh, I know, I know. You look like a professional from back here.

HEATHER: I kind of prefer it. I kind of prefer it, actually.

GREG: You prefer this over the actual control?

HEATHER: Yes.

GREG: Wow.

JEFF: Got it. All right, so now we’re going to use that same system to go down the hill. Same thing. Only this time we’re not going to have to touch the brake.

HEATHER: Foot is not touching the brake but it’s there. It’s there in case I need to.

GREG: You are a rockstar.

HEATHER: You having fun back there?

GREG: I’m having a lot of fun. Are you having fun?

HEATHER: I’m having a blast.

JEFF: And if I’m in four low, I’m having fun.

GREG: Oh, yeah.

JEFF: Heather, you have conquered the hills.

GREG: Woo! Nicely done.

HEATHER: Pretty proud of myself. That was intimidating looking.

GREG: Heather, that was a really fun hill. I saw your confidence go up and up. I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but all we were really doing was just going up and down a hill. What we’re about to do is actual rock crawling, and it’s something that a Jeep like this should be able to do right off the dealership lot. And I think you can too. So how’s your confidence level now?

HEATHER: Let’s give it a shot.

KYLE: So Jeff’s going to put you in Select Speed. Me from the outside I’m going to be showing you where the lines are, where to put your tires. I’m not necessarily going to be spotting you. I want you to have some comfort in choosing your lines.

HEATHER: Got it.

KYLE: Okay, we’ll start going.

HEATHER: Sounds good.

GREG: One last confidence check Heather. How are we feeling?

HEATHER: I’m nervous, but good. Let’s go.

GREG: So remember how the first part we did was like, if you make a wrong turn, you’re on that road. The second one is like, maybe you’re going to a remote camping location?

HEATHER: What are we doing now?

GREG: You have to go out of your way to climb over these rocks. You would never need to do this unless you wanted to.

KYLE: Good line. Just take your time there.

JEFF: Heather, you’re doing awesome.

GREG: You’re very quiet up there. Are you, just make sure you are breathing.

HEATHER: I am breathing.

GREG: Okay.

GREG: You’re doing great otherwise.

HEATHER: I do get quiet when I’m focused.

GREG: You are very focused.

JEFF: We are glad you’re focused.

KYLE: Now cut hard. Just go slow. Let the vehicle do the work. Nice and easy. Nice and easy.

GREG: This is pretty hard core, Heather. You’re hard core.

KYLE: Keep coming. Nice and easy. Just like that. Nice and easy. Turn this way just a little bit. Right there. That’s enough. Keep coming. Okay, cut hard to the driver’s side, as hard as it will go. Okay, now hold there. Okay, turn to the passenger side and reverse. We’re going to use the space we have. Keep going nice and easy. Keep going and hold.

HEATHER: Hard to the driver’s side.

KYLE: Hard to the driver’s side and drive forward. Take your time. That was a rock.

HEATHER: Yeah. That was not a good.

GREG: Oh yeah.

KYLE: Keep coming through. How’d that feel? Nice job. You did great.

GREG: Heather, give me some.

HEATHER: Woo!

GREG: That was pretty awesome.

KYLE: Nice job.

HEATHER: Woo hoo! That’s way better.

GREG: What’d you think of that?

JEFF: Like that?

HEATHER: That was awesome. That was so much fun.

GREG: Heather Hartman certified rock crawler.

GREG: I don’t know about you guys. I had a lot of fun today. Heather?

HEATHER: I had a blast.

GREG: We got you a little gift. This is a one of a kind MotorWeek duck. You can get this nowhere else, and now you can put it on.

HEATHER: I have room for, like, one more. So this will be the one more.

GREG: But I do think Kyle has a better gift for you.

KYLE: So we wanted to present you with a gift certificate to come back for a training class since you had so much fun today.

HEATHER: Oh that’s awesome.

GREG: We actually have one more surprise, because we’re going to show you what extreme rock crawling looks like.

GREG: Come on, let’s get in. Come on. You want to go rock crawling? This is how we do it.

BERNIE GARDULA: Let’s go for a ride. Ready?

HEATHER: I guess.

BERNIE: We’ll show you a whole nother world now.

HEATHER: Okay! Woo!

BERNIE: Hold on.

HEATHER: Glad I’m buckled in. Whoa!

BERNIE: How was that?

HEATHER: That was fun.