Jeep Gladiator Rubicon 2020 Review

Is the new Jeep Gladiator simply a Wrangler with a handy tray out back, or a genuine rival to the increasing number of upmarket, one-tonne dual-cab 4x4 utes from the likes of Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Isuzu?

Judging by our first two-day test of a Jeep Gladiator Rubicon in Australia, it definitely sits more in the former category rather than latter.

On paper the Jeep Gladiator’s 2721kg tow rating and 620kg maximum payload is below par compared to most other four-door, five-seat dual-cab 4x4 workhorse utes available Down Under (and well off the pace in the real-world too, but more on that later).

The Jeep Gladiator ute’s appeal is also limited by only currently being available with a high-revving 3.6-litre petrol V6 engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, with no word if or when a torquier, turbo-diesel engine will be available.

While Aussie ute buyers are getting used to paying $70,000-plus for a premium multi-purpose hay-hauler, most brands also offer more affordable, family-friendly options for those on tighter budgets.

Not Jeep, which is introducing the Gladiator in Australia in just two, highly-specced, $75K-plus variants: the luxury-lined Gladiator Overland and more rugged Gladiator Rubicon.

There’s also a Rubicon-based Gladiator Launch Edition, which is limited to 100 units and bundles a number of options for $86,450, while Jeep is promising a slightly cheaper, Gladiator Sport S by end of this year for around $65,000, which lowers the price by $10K but is still Ranger Wildtrak money.

Both regular variants deliver plenty of standard kit for the money though, with the entry-level Overland (priced at $75,450 plus ORCs) getting 18-inch alloy wheels, leather seat trim, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, climate control, body colour guards, auto LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, keyless entry, a nine-speaker Alpine audio system and an 8.4-inch infotainment unit with smartphone mirroring.

The hardcore, cloth-seated Gladiator Rubicon ($76,450 plus ORCs) adds front and rear Fox shocks, 17-inch alloys wrapped in 32-inch BFGoodrich mud-terrain tyres, a forward-facing off-road camera, front sway-bar disconnect and selectable tyre-fill alert, among other bush-bashing features.

Being a Jeep, there are numerous options and accessories on offer. Our camo-coloured Rubicon test vehicle had around $12,000 worth of extras including the $3835 Lifestyle Adventure Package (roll-up tonneau cover, spray-in bedliner, lockable rear under-seat storage bin, wireless Bluetooth speaker, 700-amp maintenance-free battery and auxiliary switch bank with four programmable switches) and the $2535 Luxury Package (black leather-appointed and heated front seats, heated steering wheel and body-colour fender flares).

It also had the Gladiator-exclusive Gator paint ($1035), a body-colour three-piece hard-top ($1950), black alloy wheels ($975) and steel front bumper ($1625), boosting the final price to $88,405 – and that’s before the $2000-odd cost of fitting the tow pack and Redarc electric brake controller.

All Jeep Gladiator variants are backed by a five-year/100,000km warranty, with lifetime roadside assist when you service with Jeep. Servicing intervals are 12,000km/12 months, with service costs capped at $399 for the first five years.

The Jeep Gladiator is yet to be ANCAP-tested but the standard fitment of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) should see it follow the Wrangler's sub-standard three-star rating.

Like the latest Jeep Wrangler, the Jeep Gladiator comes with more safety tech and driver aids than you’d expect in a purpose-built bush-basher, making it one of the smartest dual-cab 4x4 utes on the market, although you do pay for it.

We didn’t get to experience the Gladiator’s auto-braking system, but the blind-spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and active cruise control systems worked well in busy traffic.

Sitting above the busy central cluster of controls including switches for the power windows, the 8.4-inch Uconnect touch-screen is very user-friendly. While it includes inbuilt satellite navigation, we found it just as easy to use Apple CarPlay and Google Maps to get to our off-road camping location in Victoria’s Toolangi State Forest.

Also handy for avoiding dings are the front and rear parking sensors, while for towing the Gladiator also comes with Trailer Sway Control and an excellent reversing camera to assist when backing up to a trailer.

One of the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon’s many party tricks is a forward-facing camera (like a reverse camera but mounted in the front grille), which provides a handy view of the ground ahead during low-range off-roading. There’s even a built-in washer to clean it after splashing through puddles.

Both the main screen and digital trip computer ahead of the driver provide a wealth of information and functionality, including a nifty Off Road Pages section that adds data like pitch and roll, front sway bar and front/rear diff status, and engine details like coolant and oil temperatures.

Pity then that you have to manually shift from two-wheel drive to high-range and low-range 4WD (with Rubicon’s Rock-trac 4WD set-up), using a clunky, old-school stubby shifter located next to the main gear lever.

If you were to only take a Jeep Gladiator Rubicon for a quick drive around the block, you’d probably come away impressed. Mostly quiet and refined, the 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 combines well with the smooth-shifting eight-speed auto and decent electro-hydraulic steering to hustle the unloaded ute along briskly in busy traffic.

It’s no Mercedes-Benz X-Class, but the big ute also rides and handles better than a jacked-up, live-axle, ladder-frame off-roader deserves to, although its rangy 5.6-metre length and sizeable 13.6m turning circle make it a handful in crowded shopping centre carparks.

With just the driver onboard it feels relaxed on the freeway, revving as low as 1500rpm in top gear, with just some tyre whirr and wind noise to spoil the ambience.

But add a decent load (a pop-top caravan weighing 1900kg in our case) and the Jeep Gladiator really starts to struggle. The biggest problem is the lack of low-down torque from the petrol V6, which delivers peak torque of 347Nm at a high 4100rpm and maximum power of 209kW at 6400rpm.

Seventh and eighth gears were almost redundant when towing; the auto shifted mostly between fourth and sixth gears, revving up to between 2800 and 4400rpm in order to maintain 100km/h – even on a straight, flat freeway.

Hit an incline and the auto quickly drops to third, with revs rising close to the 6500rpm redline to maintain momentum. Upshifting gears manually didn’t help things, with the V6 either labouring or causing a drop-off in speed.

No surprise then that fuel economy suffered, increasing drastically from around 10-14L/100km around town solo to an average of 24.5 L/100km over our 270km towing route; much of which was on freeway or open country roads.

Limiting its appeal to Outback adventurers and many off-road enthusiasts, that makes for a little over 300km of range from a full 83-litre tank of unleaded petrol!

The Jeep Gladiator is really crying out for a torquier engine like the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel available in the Wrangler, which produces 450Nm at a more relaxed 2000rpm.

While not quite as stable as the Ford Ranger or Volkswagen Amarok – our pick of the mid-size dual-cab 4x4 utes for towing – the long-wheelbase Gladiator felt reasonably secure as a 4000kg-plus rig, with some minor pitching, rear-end fidgeting and steering wheel vibrations on rougher bitumen sections.

But the Rubicon’s 2215kg kerb weight, 2835kg GVM and 5284kg GCM also means your payload will be reduced to just 348kg if you do tow the full 2721kg.

On a more positive note, engine braking down hills is good, with manual control available through the gearshifter.

And remember that the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon gets a shorter 4.1:1 rear axle ratio (compared to the 3.73 ratio on the Overland), making it more of a rock-hopper.

Indeed, with its long-travel, all-coil suspension, the Jeep Gladiator felt more at home blasting along corrugated gravel roads at 50-60km/h, soaking up big potholes in its stride with the similarly rugged Australian-built Lifestyle Reconn R2 camper behind.

Although the longer rear overhang and shallower ramp-over angle makes the Gladiator more likely to bottom out than the Wrangler, it confidently climbed a steep, muddy, rutted incline in low-range second gear without touching down the side and rear rock sliders and underbody bash plates.

Like the four-door Wrangler Unlimited on which it’s based, the Jeep Gladiator comes equipped with a comfortable and well-equipped cabin that offers good rear legroom and looks pretty cool.

If the sun’s out, you can remove the roof panels and doors and fold down the windscreen to create the only modern, drop-top ute in the campground.

Like the Wrangler, the Gladiator’s interior is full of chunky grab handles along with other practical novelties like side door elastic netting for holding drink bottles and grippy rubber mobile phone storage spots.

Then there’s the eye-catching red metallic dash and ‘Since 1941’ Jeep heritage reminder that flashes up in a digital display on start-up.

Like any decent off-roader, the driver sits up nice and high for a commanding view over the distinctive bonnet, with the Rubicon’s manually adjustable seats offering decent comfort and support.

Longer-legged drivers won’t like the lack of a driver’s left footrest though, and there are few decent storage spots apart from a small centre console bin and glovebox, and some optional hidden compartments under the lift-up, split/folding rear seats.

There’s sufficient room for two adults or three kids on the nicely reclined rear pews, along with rear air-vents, but there’s no 12-volt or USB sockets for mobile devices (there are some in the front though).

The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon comes with plenty of niceties like heated side mirrors and auto headlights, but oddly the powered windows only feature an auto-down function. No complaints about the big-sounding, top-end stereo complete with rear roof-mounted speakers.

Out back, our tester’s tray benefitted from the optional spray-on bed-liner and roll-up soft tonneau cover, in addition to the three-position damped tailgate, two tray lights and plenty of tie-down hooks and rails.

The 1531mm-long tray might not be quite as accommodating as the tubs in some other dual-cab utes, but it’s big enough to carry a decent load of camping gear, a couple of mountain bikes or even full-size dirt bikes (with the tray dropped).

So who’s going to buy a Jeep Gladiator? Hopefully not owners of heavy caravans or boats because, until there’s the option of a torquier engine, this American ute is best suited to light towing duties.

Tradies won’t flock to it either, with its pallet-unfriendly tray and restricted payload. Family ute buyers might baulk at the compromised interior packaging and the hassle of parking something so big.

That leaves a smaller group of dirt-loving adventurers seeking a well-equipped weekend fun machine, Jeep fans with deep pockets or those seeking a unique, hard-core ute straight off the showroom floor and aren’t fussed about the lacklustre petrol engine.

In other words, people in the market for a funkier alternative to the similarly priced, better performing Ford Ranger Raptor…

How much does the 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon cost?
Price: $76,450 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.6-litre V6 petrol
Output: 209kW/347Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 288g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: NA