I drove a $62,000 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to see if the new pickup could steal some shine from midsize-truck rivals Ford and Chevy
Matthew DeBord
- I tested a 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, a Jeepified pickup truck that costs $62,020.
- The Gladiator is an insanely capable offroad pickup, powered by a 3.6-liter V6 making 285 horsepower.
- The Gladiator I tested was packed with cool features and enjoyed several premium upgrades to the interior.
- Going up against a spate of competition in the midsize segment, the Gladiator might be too robust for customers who would be OK with a pickup from Chevy or Ford.
- The Gladiator more naturally matches up with Chevy's most stout offroad choices for its Colorado pickup, and also the backwoods warriors made by Toyota and wearing the Tacoma nameplate.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The Jeep Gladiator was the one that got away in 2019.
Normally, we manage to sample just about every new, important vehicle that shows up in a given year, so that we can include the best of the best in our annual Car of the Year award competition.
We had the Jeep Gladiator, a hotly anticipated midsize pickup from the off-roading legend, all lined up. But there was a delay, and unfortunately, we couldn't hold the presses.
But no harm, no foul. We knew the Jeepified pickup would be available in 2020.
Jeep has done pickups before, including a few with the "Gladiator" moniker. The better-known models, however, were the 1980s and 1990s-vintage Scrambler and Comanche.
The midsize-pickup-truck segment, after being sort of abandoned by everybody except Toyota, has come roaring back in the past half-decade. You can now buy as many midsize pickups as full-size ... Wait! With the Gladiator on the scene, you can buy more!
Read the original article on Business InsiderSo, what's the verdict?
The Gladiator has been greeted by generally rapturous praise by reviewers, and that's understandable: Jeep lacked a pickup — and it lacked a midsize pickup, so the Gladiator filled two important gaps in the portfolio simultaneously. That's important for the brand, for consumers, and for Jeep's business. Nobody needs to remind the company that pickups have been hot sellers in the US market.
The Gladiator is also probably the coolest-looking and most capable midsize pickup money can currently buy. It's off-road cred is superior to the Chevy Colorado, although if you go for the ZR2 Bison trim level of the Chevy, you're giving the Jeep something to think about. As far as legacy players, the more crude and purposeful Toyota pickups are the Gladiator's natural foes, but those Tacomas — the TRD Pro and TRD Sport — are aging vehicles, lacking the Gladiator's pizzazz.
None of these positives mean that the Gladiator, like the Jeep Wrangler, is an even remotely practical pickup, if you aren't a hardcore outdoors person or committed weekend off-road-warrior. While the Colorado, the Ford Ranger, and the Honda Ridgeline all ride (sort of) like cars on normal public roads, the Jeep makes no such concessions. On knobby tires with off-road shocks and a suitable beefed-up suspension, it's a spine-rattler. More than once during my testing, I wondered if Jeep had A-B'ed the Gladiator against a farm tractor, just to make sure it wasn't suggesting anything too softly suburban.
Admittedly, this is the Jeep curse; even its benign crossover SUVs, which aren't ever likely to crawl a rock or ford a stream, are engineered to ride like Jeeps — which is to say, evoke the legacy of a homely military scout vehicle. Discomfort is a virtue.
As with the Wrangler, one adapts. But after a week of bouncing the Gladiator around the New Jersey 'burbs, I was ready to borrow a Ridgeline and realign the vertebrae in my lower back.
That said, if I were a full-time river guide, I'd be shopping for a Gladiator Rubicon. When it comes to a life lived outside, there's a reason why Jeeps have been so popular for so long. This pickup is insanely capable, and the addition of a bed just ups the versatility.
However, the Gladiator might be too much of a good thing. Jeep sold only about 40,000 last year, versus a quarter-million Wranglers. That somewhat makes sense, as the Gladiator competes most directly against the survive-anything versions of the Tacoma, not the more amenable midsizers from Ford and Chevy.
So in the end, you respect the crap out of the Gladiator. But maybe you get the Wrangler instead. And if you're an average human and not a proper back-to-the-wild type, you buy a more domesticated pickup.
There are plenty of connectivity options, in both the front and rear seats.
Like other infotainment systems on the market, it comes with a suite of apps. My Gladiator also included an Alpine audio system that sounds fine, if less than premium.
UConnect is an industry underdog, but we've found it matches up well against the competition. It does everything well, from GPS navigation to Bluetooth and USB device connectivity.
The 8.4-inch infotainment touchscreen is small by current industry standards. But the system runs Fiat Chrysler's excellent UConnect system.
Refreshingly, the Gladiator has plenty of nice, big buttons and knobs.
The multifunction, heated steering wheel is leather-wrapped, and the instrument cluster is an analog-digital setup. This aspect of the Gladiator is pretty much on par with all other Jeep vehicles.
... Is deep and roomy, yet narrow.
And the glove compartment ...
There's a grab bar above the glove compartment.
Interior storage is good, including a lockable compartment under the rear floorboard. The front doors have mesh pouches.
A bit of jazzy branding found its way to the front seats, which were both leather-trimmed and heated.
The back seats area bench design, and legroom is adequate, for a midsize pickup.
The Gladiator Rubicon's interior was basic black, with some orange contrast stitching and a bit of brushed metal. Actually, rather premium for a Jeep!
The Gladiator has a helpful grab handle so that you can hoist yourself into the driver's seat.
One thing I missed on the Gladiator Rubicon was a running board to ease climbing in and out of the cab. This feature can be a mud-magnet when off-roading, however.
The power can be sent through an optional eight-speed automatic, with four-wheel-drive capability. A six-speed manual is standard.
Fuel economy is not great: 17 mpg city/22 highway/19 combined.
That's a 3.6-liter V6, making 285 horsepower with 260 pound-feet of torque.
First, you have to unlatch the hood, which is secured against coming loose when busting around rugged terrain.
Let's have a look under the hood.
The front bumper could easily support bulk — and has been beefed up so that a winch can be attached.
My Gladiator has a $350 towing package. It can manage 7,000 pounds. Other trim levels can tow more, up to 7,650 pounds.
It's switched on via a button in the cab. The package an $895 extra.
You have a 115-volt outlet back there.
The box has lights, tie-down points — and power!
The bed has a 1,600-pound capacity and could handle most of what its target customers would put in it, ranging from camping gear to mountain bikes. My review car didn't have a spray-on bedliner, but the cover somewhat eliminates the need for the additional protection.
... Secure the cover with Velcro straps.
Yank a pair of release chords and roll it up ...
It was a piece of cake to use.
My test vehicle had a nifty tonneau cover, a $595 extra.
No mistaking that this is a Jeep, by the way.
Let's check out the Gladiator's most notable feature: the bed!
... And rear and you're basically ready to take on anything unpaved.
Throw in FOX shocks front ...
There are heavy-duty front and rear axles that can be locked, a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive setup, a shielded gas tank, a shielded transfer case, and a front skid plate. All this for around $60,000 represents staggering off-roading capability.
Perhaps you'll be rock-crawling at lower velocity, however. The Gladiator is prepared to subdue nature.
... And roofless beats sunroof every time. But in practice, the Jeep's blocky aerodynamics makes for furious wind noise and turbulence at higher speeds. So proceed with caution.
Taking off vehicle parts is always a lot of fun ...
... And instructions.
It contains a wrench with some attachments ...
Taking off the rest of the roof is more involved and requires this small tool kit.
Hinges on the outside!
By the way, if you're feeling ambitious, you can loosen a few bolts and take the doors off, too.
I briefly stowed the roof panels in the back seat. But the vehicle comes with a padded storage bag.
... You can be Jeepin' in the open air.
... And in a few seconds, literally ...
... About a half-dozen in all ...
Throw a bunch of interior latches ...
The "Body Color Three-Piece Hardtop" is a $2,300 extra. Removing the roof panels over the front seats is easy.
Time to have a little fun. Usually, I don't dismantle my Jeep review vehicle. But you can! Some are designed to have roofs and even doors that can be taken off.
My tester was outfitted with 33-inch all-terrain tires. But obviously, the Gladiator's wheel-arches could accommodate bigger rubber. The wheels were 17-inch "Granite Crystal" aluminum jobs, and they were standard.
Now about that bed, which of course gives Gladiator its pickup-truck status. It's a five-foot box, which is typical for the crew-cab midsize segment.
The hood vents are also borrowed from the Wrangler.
... Impromptu field table on which to perch a hot beverage.
That fender does provide a convenient ...
... And rear.
The fenders are borrowed from the Wrangler, and they have built-in running lights. They're part of a $1,045 LED lighting package, adorning the front ...
Luckily, Jeep's most committed customers don't want the brand to change nuthin.' That said, the front end has been updated, technologically, for the 21st century.
It's hard to mess around with design DNA that runs that deep.
And when you get right down to it, modern Jeeps continue to look a lot like the original Willys Jeep from the World War II era.
What we're really dealing with here is the blessing/curse of the Jeep design language. Up front, the Gladiator of course looks very, very much like a Wrangler.
You might think that, like certain Jeep pickups of the past, the Gladiator is simply a Wrangler with a bed bolted on. Not so! The Gladiator sits on its own, dedicated pickup-truck frame.
The Jeep family resemblance is unmistakable.
My 2020 model tipped the cost scales at $62,020, and it was well-optioned. Base, it was $43,545. The cheapest Gladiator is the Sport, stickering at $33,545.
If you're going to get a 2020 Jeep Gladiator, go for the Rubicon 4x4 trim level and go for the orange paint job — or "Punk'n," as Jeep has cleverly named it.
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