Jeep Gladiator Rubicon 2021 Long-Term Review

UPDATED 29/11/2021: When you’re spending upwards of $80,000 (in the traffic) for a lifestyle-oriented dual-cab ute, many will argue it’s what’s on the inside that should set it apart from the trade site brigade.

For our long-term 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, sure, the eye-catching Fox shocks, off-road clearance and menacing stance are what lures most buyers into the fold.

Ditto its incredible crawling ability, high-speed off-road proficiency and its inherent character on the black-top.

Here, though, we plan to get into the nitty-gritty: those small elements that can help make or break a vehicle as a daily driver.

The Rubicon is a flagship vehicle, fitted standard with a laundry list of standard safety features and technology. Plus a price tag to match.

But how does it fare as another vehicle in the A-to-B drawl?

Surprisingly enough, the Gladiator’s hard-wearing yet tech-laden interior is incredibly conducive to family life. Well, at least once you’re inside and used to its quirks.

Yes, the driver’s footwell is cramped, the front windscreen is narrow and its proximity to front occupants is, well, close.

Similarly, fabric nets replace traditional door pockets (the doors can be pulled off altogether) and the window switchgear is located in the centre fascia rather than on the doors.

However, parents of young children will welcome the fitment of rear air vents and the installation of hard-mounted top-tether strap points for child restraints. On the latter, many modern utilities ask you use a flimsy fabric looping point which is painful and not as effective.

The Gladiator’s utilitarian theme dictates hose-out rubber flooring and materials that are likely to stand the test of time – again, appreciated features for the modern family.

We found the optional leather seats fitted to our Rubicon flagship comfortable and supportive, and came to appreciate the heated front pews and heated steering wheel on colder mornings.

Additionally, all those quirks and features conspire to lend the Gladiator Rubicon a distinct character; to be completely honest, it’s a refreshing change from the cookie-cutter dual-cab ute set.

Navigating FCA’s infotainment system – both native and in Apple CarPlay form – is a cinch, and the climate control switchgear feels well put together and on the move is simple to navigate. A win for hard-wired buttons, if ever there was one.

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.

Legroom is good for adults sitting behind adults, and headroom is similarly generous thanks to the boxy profile.

Across several weeks of testing, we have never really spotted an opportunity to use the lockable storage space located under the rear seat. In gun-toting America, that might be a different case…

Similarly to infotainment, the safety systems on the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon are user-friendly: relatively seamless and benign in their interventions.

We particularly like that adaptive cruise control can be switched on or off separately to regular cruise control, and found the blind spot monitoring and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) functions effective in their applications.

Too often in other vehicles, these systems can feel over the top.

The Gladiator’s reversing camera is also clear in its projection, even in wet weather and at night, while the parking sensors and front camera are a real boon – in urban and off-road driving alike.

All told, it has been a delight living with the Gator Green Jeep Gladiator Rubicon.

For something altogether different out of the box, Jeep’s bourgeoning dual-cab imparts a sense of adventure and occasion all at once.

The upshot is a vehicle that promotes an active, recreational lifestyle, yet happily plays the family card too.

UPDATED 28/09/2021: We’ve come to another key area of assessment for our long-term Jeep Gladiator Rubicon – load testing.

For MY21, both variants of the current Jeep Gladiator range come with upgraded rear suspension that increases their payload to 693kg. The Night Eagle’s gross combination mass (GCM) is 5601kg and its gross vehicle mass (GVM) 2880kg, while the Rubicon’s GCM is 5656kg and GVM 2935kg.

For many, the numbers alone could strike the Gladiator from potential buying lists. But if you look at the capacities through a lifestyle lens (as we have), then the Rubicon’s mix of a compliant road ride and the ability to carry a 693kg load on board has plenty of merit.

In recent weeks we’ve put the Jeep’s tray area to use for regular dirt bike riding.

Pushing a circa-100kg motocross bike up an alloy ramp onto a 4x4 dual-cab ute is a fine art at the best of times. Deft balance and a makeshift step (usually the centre stand) are key considerations in getting the job done successfully.

The Jeep Gladiator’s 885mm tray loading height is slightly taller than the regular dual-cab crop, which is a potential hurdle. But in reality, there’s very little difference.

Initially, we were disappointed the 1531mm-long tray doesn’t fit a full-size dirt bike without leaving the tailgate down. That seems an obvious downside when you’re driving a vehicle that spans nearly 5.6m long.

Thankfully, the Gladiator goes some way in redeeming itself by offering a mix of fixed and moveable tie-down points (ala Nissan Navara) as well as a handy light, which completely blankets the tray area when in darkness.

The various tie-down points at differing heights mean you can firmly fix dirt bikes of all sizes – not to mention lower-lying objects such as boxes.

Another boon is the two vertical indents about 45cm from the tailgate; they allow you to compartmentalise the tray area for smaller loads including shopping bags.

The spray-on bed liner ensures a hard-wearing and grippy surface that is immune to regular applications of dirt and sliding ramps in and out.

The liner is part of a $3835 Lifestyle Adventure package that also includes another of the Gladiator’s finer tray features: a roll-up tonneau cover that is waterproof, dust-proof and linked with the ute’s central locking system. It is hugely convenient.

We have had a couple of short stints towing with the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon as well. It feels quite stable with a moderate 1000kg trailer in tow. But as with a heavy payload, the biggest chink in its armour is the 3.6-litre V6, which feels bogged down by the additional weight.

We’ve reported the engine’s shortcomings during towing before, but the biggest problem is the lack of low-down pulling power from the petrol V6, which delivers peak torque of 347Nm at a high 4100rpm and maximum power of 209kW at 6400rpm. Once up at speed, however, the coil-sprung rear-end feels relatively stable, while the fitment of Trailer Sway Control and an excellent reversing camera to assist when backing up to a trailer are also welcome.

UPDATED 29/07/2021: The good times are continuing in our long-term 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon.

Even with changing seasons, we have wrung every last minute of every weekend with Jeep’s flagship 4x4 dual-cab ute in order to really test its merits: plenty of off-roading, consistent load lugging in the form of dirt bikes, plus plenty of trips to the beach for surfing.

The odometer says as much: we’ve piled 4000km on the Rubicon since taking its key. The news is mostly good from a long-term view, and in this instalment it’s all about the vehicle’s core strength – off-roading.

In recent weeks, before the COVID lockdown, we have ventured south of Sydney to multiple off-roading spots to test the Jeep’s wares away from the beaten track.

And on an earlier occasion, we took the opportunity to line the Gladiator up against its key foe in a comparison test, the Ford Ranger Raptor.

Having enjoyed the Rubicon’s thumping 11-speaker stereo on the Hume Highway south, we turn onto an 80km/h dirt access road. Usually, this would merely be a necessary, anodyne dirt road into where the fun begins, but in the Rubicon we get an early taste of its off-road nous.

With its long wheelbase and high-end suspension, the Gladiator Rubicon does not skip around like most live-axle 4x4 off-roaders and tyre grip is good on slippery dirt.

In fact, at 80km/h it feels remarkably poised and planted on rough, corrugated surfaces, using its geometry to shake off mid-corner bumps and big potholes with aplomb.

The steering, too, while approximate, resists temptation to rattle through bumps – thanks in part to Jeep’s deliberate tuning.

Making our way onto the 4WD-only track, heralded by a 30-metre water crossing due to recent rain, the Jeep offers up one of its many party tricks: we bring up the front-facing off-road camera to keep one eye out for any submerged objects, and then easily engage four-wheel drive.

A 760mm wading depth and high air induction points ensure the 500mm of water we’re navigating through poses no real obstacle.

Handily, there’s even a built-in washer to clean the front-facing camera after splashing through puddles!

Across a mix of soft sand driving, rocky obstacles and the occasional tame hill climb, there is nothing that really unseats the Rubicon: the combination of tough, more open-tread all-terrain tyres, diff locks front and rear and a disengaging front sway bar means it crawls over anything presented in front of it.

To be frank, you’d need to be navigating some pretty serious country to utilise a lot of that aforementioned gear. When we physically tackled the Rubicon Trail in the US aboard an equivalent Wrangler Rubicon wagon a few years ago, even there we didn’t engage the diff lockers once.

The Jeep has just one ‘Off-Road +’ mode, and that’s more relevant to the type of off-roading we’re familiar with. The mode basically alters power delivery, gear shift points and disengages the electronic stability and traction control to allow more wheel spin (and, ultimately, momentum) in terrain such as mud and sand.

About the only shortcoming we can find, in an off-road sense, is the relatively low 18.4-degree break-over angle – a virtue of the ute’s long size and wheelbase – and the positioning of the steering dampener, which appears precariously low given the Gladiator’s off-road intent.

The engine, too, arguably lacks the instant torque many off-roaders might demand for scaling sharp obstacles. But there’s merit in the engine’s useability and smoothness as it lopes across everything thrown in front of it.

ORIGINAL REVIEW PUBLISHED 15/05/2021: Oversized and over here: it’s hard to escape the unapologetic US undertones of the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon.

There’s about as much patriotism on display as a half-time Superbowl show. Yet, as the frenetic 4x4 ute market in Australia continues its dizzying run this year, the Gladiator has been exceptionally quiet in the sales race.

That got us to thinking, why? Only 570 sales in last year’s pandemic-struck market is one thing, compared to almost 35,000 from the Toyota HiLux 4x4 and 38,000 from the Ford Ranger 4x4.

But as COVID restrictions now ease and more people than ever are eager to explore their own backyards, Gladiator still holds a meagre 0.6 per cent of the booming 4x4 ute segment to the end of April this year (with 399 sales), while HiLux and Ranger have 22 per cent each with both racking up about 14,000 sales over the same period.

One could easily look to the Gladiator’s delayed arrival in Australia, the fact there is only a solitary petrol V6 engine, that there’s only three variants in the model range and that pricing starts at $65,450 plus on-road costs.

However, in the current climate of unprecedented interest in off-roaders, it still doesn’t add up.

We hope a more meaningful answer resides in our new ‘Gator Green’ long-term test vehicle.

We’ll get to our initial impressions of the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon in a moment, but first, a recap of the range.

Jeep’s first proper dual-cab 4x4 ute finally hit Australian showrooms in June 2020, and is now available in three full-time model variants – Sport S, Overland and Rubicon.

According to the US off-road brand, the rugged four-door five-seat pick-up is just as capable as the Jeep Wrangler it’s based on, thanks to five-link coil suspension, the Selec-Trac Active On-Demand 4x4 system and low-range gearing.

Every Jeep Gladiator is powered by the same Pentastar 3.6-litre petrol V6 engine (209kW/347Nm), paired exclusively to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

A diesel variant has been revealed overseas, however its Australian prospects remain in the dark.

The petrol’s towing capacity is 2721kg and payload is 620kg in the Rubicon or 527kg in the Sport S and Overland. That said, 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.

The Gladiator carries over unique features made popular by the Wrangler, including a three-piece removable hard-top roof, removable doors and a folding windscreen.

Other standard features include full LED lighting (headlights, daytime runners, fog lights and tail-lights), Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 7.0-inch instrument cluster display, nine-speaker Alpine stereo and dual-zone climate control.

Standard driver assist safety tech includes forward collision warning plus, adaptive cruise control (with stop), blind spot monitoring, rear cross path detection, tyre pressure monitoring, a reversing camera and front/rear park assist.

Officially, the Jeep Gladiator carries an inferior three-star safety rating, tested by ANCAP under 2019 guidelines.

It’s worth noting that many of the Gladiator’s rivals have been rated to older, less stringent requirements, but by the same token other new-generation utes such as the Isuzu D-MAX and the related Mazda BT-50 have maximum five-star ratings based on an even tougher assessment regime introduced in 2020.

Stepping up from the entry-level Sport S to the Overland (from $75,450), the specification brings 18-inch alloys, leather heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and a bigger 8.4-inch infotainment unit with sat-nav.

The range-topping Rubicon on our long-term test here is priced from $76,450 and comes with front and rear Fox shocks, Tru-Lok front and rear locking differentials, 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 32-inch BFGoodrich off-road tyres, an Off-Road Plus driving mode, forward-facing off-road camera, front sway-bar disconnect and selectable tyre-fill alert.

Our very distinct tester, BFM-267, takes equipment a step further with the addition of a Lifestyle Adventure Package, which costs $3835. It adds a 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.

There’s also a $2535 Luxury Package that adds items standard on Overland: black leather-appointed seats, body-colour fender flares, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

Taking in the $1035 paint job, steel front bumper and three-piece hard-top, BFM-267 sits in the driveway, as tested, at $88,405 plus ORCs.

The Jeep Gladiator is backed by a five-year/100,000km warranty – many competitors have an unlimited-kilometre limit over the same period – with lifetime roadside assist when you service through the brand’s franchised dealer network.

Service intervals are spaced every 12 months/12,000km, with service costs capped at $399 annually for the first five years.

Out of the box, there is something inherently cool about the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon.

Form follows function, there are some tell-tale nods to Jeep’s heritage and yet the Gladiator still infuses modernism and comfort in a way that makes it a completely feasible daily driver.

Inside the cabin of our Rubicon there are adequate soft-touch points and adjustment of the controls. Though its 5.5-metre length won’t appease all driver tastes, forward and rear-facing cameras, parking sensors and decent side mirrors go some way in offsetting the sheer size.

There are some natural idiosyncrasies at play, like the fact nets replace traditional door pockets, the window switchgear is located in the centre fascia, and the windscreen mimics a letter box opening with its proportions.

But all those features conspire to lend the Gladiator Rubicon a distinct character, and to be completely honest, it’s a refreshing change from the cookie-cutter dual-cab 4x4 ute set.

Spatially, the Gladiator feels a little tight on rear seat room against many dual-cab options. However, there are a couple of boons for families in the fitment of rear air vents and the installation of hard-mounted top-tether points. On the latter, some modern utes still ask you to use a flimsy fabric looping point which is not as effective.

The car’s utilitarian theme dictates hose-out rubber flooring and materials that are likely to stand the test of time – again, appreciated features for the modern family.

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.

Further back, the initial impression of the Gladiator’s lined tub is good. There are ample tie-down points, including a moveable sliding point either side (as per the Nissan Navara), and lights that handily illuminate the load space in darker conditions.

We also like the optional rolling tonneau cover, which is waterproof and dust-proof and provides moderate security.

Unfortunately, the Gladiator’s 1531mm-long tray won’t fit a full-size dirt bike with the tailgate up, meaning you’ll have to drop the rear and carry a spare number plate to keep the constabulary happy.

The off-road bent of the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon is telegraphed by a road driving experience that, initially, feels decidedly different to other showroom dual-cabs.

The steering, light at low speeds and offering ample assistance, is prone to some free-play upon initial turn-in, and the car’s huge BFGoodrich rubber imposes the kind of road noise you’d expect from a monster truck.

Furthermore, the Gladiator requires minute corrections to track straight, such is the robustness of its off-road hardware.

Combine these elements with a V6 engine that gets the job done comfortably but with no particular efficiency or fanfare, and you could quickly conclude the Gladiator Rubicon is hard work.

Yet, it isn’t. The cool-factor once again exudes itself to imbue the big, brutish Jeep with an air of nonchalance and, dare we say it, on-road comfort.

The ute’s huge 3488mm wheelbase and coil-sprung rear suspension conspire to deliver an on-road ride completely devoid of the tremoring that typically afflicts dual-cab utes. Instead, the Gladiator happily plods along with minimal fuss.

Its 2.2-tonne mass is well controlled through directional changes and over drawn-out undulations alike, which bodes well for future planned road trips.

On warm days, the Gladiator’s climate control promptly cools the cabin and its boombox-like stereo plays a cracking tune.

Fuel use is nothing to write home about, but in our opening 1500km, we’ve had no trouble matching or marginally bettering the official 12.4L/100km claim in a mix of highway and rural conditions.

I’ll be honest. Part of me didn’t want to like the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon. Truth is, I don’t like it – I love it…

Amid the growing trend of anodyne, desensitised new cars, the Gladiator Rubicon is a proud outlier.

It’s not perfect, yet like the Wrangler, you can approach this burly off-roader with full awareness of its imposed shortcomings.

More than that, our initial foray in the Gator Green tester reveals it does what it says on the box.

Stay tuned as we explore more of the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon’s potential on-road, off-road and under load in the future instalments of our long-term series.

How much does the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon cost?
Price: $76,450 (plus on-road costs), $88,405 (plus ORCs, as tested)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.6-litre V6 petrol
Output: 209kW/347Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.4/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 288g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Three-star (ANCAP 2019)