It's no great secret that Aussies love their four by four utes and increasingly we're using
these vehicles for recreational or family duties. Well, if you're that way inclined,
I wanna introduce you to this, the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon. It's similarly priced
to a top spec Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger, yet it does without the firm ride of those
cars. And as you might be able to tell by the dust in our gator green test vehicle,
this one's ready for serious off-roading, right out of the box as well. Let's check it out.
The Wrangler-based Gladiator ute landed in Australia midway through 2020,
amid a wave of hype and expectation. But with only two petrol models to choose from, both priced
north of $75,000, it hasn't exactly set the world on fire in terms of sales. We reckon that's a bit
strange, since what we have here is a genuine left-field American-built alternative to the
regular ute set. And in the case of the Gladiator Rubicon, a true rock-hopping option at that.
Many ute buyers in Australia will typically pick up their new wheels from the show room floor,
before going to town with after market parts. Now, granted a lot of ute-makers
allow you to do that in-house with their own parts, but no one really offers a catalogue
quite like Jeep's. On our particular test car, there are more than $12,000 in options,
including this very cool gator green paint scheme, the three piece hard-top roof, the steel bumper
and these cool black alloy wheels. But what recreational ute buyers will really appreciate
is, what's on offer optionally in the rear. A spray-on tub liner, this roll-able tonneau cover,
that's both waterproof and dust-proof, I can personally vouch, and the tray lights
in the rear, which do a really good job of illuminating the entire space at night.
With all of that said, The Gladiator doesn't really reap any huge benefit in terms of tray
space for it's huge 5.5 metre length. You won't quite fit a full-size dirt bike with the tail
gate up. And it feels weight more prominently than a lot of leaf sprung utes. But if we remember to
look at the Gladiator through that whole lens of a recreational ute, it still has a lot of merit.
For those less impressed with strut-assisted tailgates and the like,
the Gladiator is officially armed with a 2.7 ton towing capacity and 620 kilogram payload,
well down on Japanese rivals. In previous towing tests,
we found it performs as such. Okay, with handling a camper trailer, but not a lot more.
The same fun, recreational theme transcends the interior as well. Like the Wrangler,
there's a really cool retro theme inside the Gladiator, and it's got the same removable
windscreen, removable doors and even a removable roof. The interior is definitely made tough,
it's got a hose out rubber floor and there's a general hard-wearing premise to its fit-out.
But with that said, it's still trendy and comfortable as well. It's got a big centre screen,
a usable screen in the instrument cluster and I really like the fitment of all the switch gear,
they feel a level above, what you find in a typical Japanese ute.
For me, the biggest gripes are really the cramped driver footwell and also the lack of odds and ends
storage up front. And in terms of that after-market ready theme that I spoke
about before, well, Jeep has you covered there as well. Right here, a bank of four auxiliary points
that are ready to go for the future installation of after-market radios, lights or even a fridge.
Just like the tray, the rear seat doesn't really take advantage of the Gladiator's huge
exterior dimensions, with middle of the road leg room and moderate headroom. But there
are some truly clever touches in the rear. In the case of our test car, under-seat storage,
a removable Bluetooth speaker, air-vents and permanent child anchorage points,
instead of the fabric looping tethers used by many other ute-makers.
Where you'll really notice the Gladiator's huge dimensions is on the road. And I mean that in a
good way. Its stretch wheel base and coil springs at all four corners means that it's not afflicted
with that typical tremoring, that you find in dual-cab utes. It's really quite comfortable and
it's not hard work in any way. It sits flat on the road, it's composed and controlled at all times
and actually shifts its weight quite admirably through the corners, using disc brakes at all four
corners to pull up in time as well. Other than that, the major points of difference from, say,
a Toyota Hilux or a Ford Ranger is that you'll notice persistent tyre noise from the muddy BF
Goodrich tyres, a huge 13.6 metre turning circle and a little bit more free play and wandering from
the steering on the ride, which is a direct result of the Gladiator's off-road origins.
And what a suite it is. Front and rear Fox shocks, a forward-facing off-road camera,
a disconnecting front sway bar and front and rear electric locking differentials.
The resulting numbers are impressive. In fact, there's barely a chink in the Gladiator's armour
off-road. But if you wanted to be picky, the huge wheel base does impose a so-so break
over angle of 18.4 degrees. Thankfully though, the belly is well protected.
We've done our share of off-roading in the Gladiator Rubicon, especially
some rock hopping and some sand driving and throughout all that time,
it simply was unfazed. There's decent clearance, there's a lot of good low speed grip and control.
And it has no trouble getting traction out of the thicker sandy stuff either. But in my opinion,
where the Gladiator Rubicon really excels is high-speed dirt-road driving.
It's really composed and controlled over corrugation, washouts, sharp imperfections,
anything else. And when you do get a little bit squirrelly, keep in mind, you're in a 2.2 ton,
5.5 metre long ute, if things do become a bit squirrelly or out of control, the stability
control suite kicks in benignly and effectively to pull you to the rescue, it works really well.
With the off-roading box well and truly ticked, let's move on to the Gladiator's
potential Achilles heel for many, its engine. A solitary 3.6 litre V6 petrol, powers the range
and there's no diesel option on the immediate horizon for Australia, in a segment that is
fanatical about diesel. All told, the petrol V6 makes 209 kilowatts and 347 newton-metres, sipping
on a claimed 12.4 litres per 100 K's, which we found achievable in rural and highway driving.
Now, in isolation and especially when unladen, I've got to say the 3.6 litre
V6 petrol actually doesn't do a bad job. It's fairly linear and progressive with the
way it builds speed and it works well with the eight-speed automatic, both in terms of finding
the right gear for the right application, but also in terms of engine braking, using the gear
box to help with engine braking as you go down hills. Where the engine and drivetrain fall a
little bit short is low down torque, the engine really does lean on the gear box to put itself
up in the higher echelons, where it makes a lot more of its power and torque. And as a result,
it gets a little bit raucus inside the cabin and you'll use more fuel as a result.
But if we look at the Gladiator Rubicon through that recreational lens, especially the engine,
it really does as intended, it's inoffensive, it's civilised and it's refined at most times as well.
There is one elephant in the room here: Reliability. All we can say here is that
we've been behind the wheel of our test car for about 5000 kilometres, during which time it hasn't
thrown up a single fault. Prospective buyers can also take consolation in the fact the Pentastar V6
has been around a while. And the Gladiator is offered with 12 month,
12,000 kilometre servicing intervals, capped at $399 annually for the first five years.
A three star ANCAP safety rating and sub-par load capacities means that for many, the Jeep
Gladiator will be automatically stricken from their buying list before thorough consideration.
But having lived with one for a few months and learnt all of its quirks and idiosyncrasies,
I've got to say, I think that's a bit unfair. The Jeep Gladiator is different,
but it's a nice refreshing left field option in the duel cab segment. And
certainly a nice change from the droves of Hilux's and Ranger's already on our road.