My '88 was a 4cyl, '97 is the inline 6cyl...and the old inline 6's have gobs of power and can turn the bigger tires much better. As much as I hated having the 4cyl at the time (was just a pooch to get through the gears very fast)...they are not all bad if you don't plan to ever pull anything (or drag race at a stop light) Mine 4cyl only had 30x9.5 tires on it, but like most Jeeps in the right hands - never really found any terrain it couldn't get through.
How underpowered? The misses has greenlighted me to get a 4 door soft top if I want it and I do, but they are still awfully proud of them.
The only place that I really notice mine is on a hilly interstate. It does fine on flatter ground but on the Hilly interstate going 70+ it will drop in and out of OD especially if its windy. BUT its got 33" tires on it to and stock gear. Unlifted and factory size tires im sure would be different. And yeah there proud of them,,I bought mine used for 21,500
