Jeep Gladiator Rubicon 4WD Ute 2023 Review

14/04/2023 admin Motoring Minute Episodes 5

Gladiator Rubicon – Amongst Dual Cab Utes the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon almost sits in a class by itself. Purpose built for heavy duty 4WD activities the Rubicon is amongst the best 4WD Utes around.

With almost 250mm of ground clearance, excellent wheel articulation, Fox shock absorbers, front and rear diff locks, mud terrain tyres and the ability to disconnect the front sway bars, the Gladiator Rubicon is at home in the rough stuff.

These very factors are opposite of what is needed for a good highway cruiser.

On road it’s a slightly different story. It has what we call personality. Its ok, just not my first pick as a long-distance cruiser.

Inside the Jeep is all comfort. There’s a little wind noise, and the mud terrain tyres have the typical roar. But the heated seats are particularly comfortable, the infotainment system is straight out of the premium models, and you soon adapt to the “personality’ and enjoy the drive.

Jeep has persisted with the 3.6L Pentastar petrol engine with 209kW and 347Nm, running through an 8-speed automatic transmission and the awesome Jeep Rock-Trac Active On-Demand II 4×4 system. It can be heavy on fuel if pushed hard but not bad on the freeway.

Jeep Gladiator Rubicon is priced from $87,250 plus the usual costs.

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Jeep Gladiator Rubicon details:

Jeep Rock-Trac Active On-Demand II 4×4 system [4:1 Transfer Case]
Jeep Tru-Lok Front & Rear Locking Differentials
Electronic Front Sway-Bar Disconnect
2:1 Crawl Ratio
FOX aluminum-bodied 2” diameter shocks [front/rear]
Off-Road Plus Mode
Forward-Facing TrailCam Off-Road Camera
Selectable Tyre-Fill Alert
32” BFGoodrich Off-Road Tyres [255/75R17]
17-inch Alloy Wheels
LED Headlights/Taillights/Day-Time Running Lights/Fog Lights
Forward Collision Warning Plus
Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop
Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Path Detection
Remote Proximity Keyless Entry
9-Speaker Alpine Premium Audio System
Uconnect 8.4-inch Touchscreen with Navigation
Wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto
Steel Rear Bumper
Rubicon Hood Decal
McKinley Leather Trimmed Seats
Leather-Wrapped Shift Knob & Parking Brake Handle
Heated Front Seats
Heated Steering Wheel

What is good?

Very cool styling
Outstanding 4WD capability
Interior comfort

What is not so good?

Limited Payload
Limited towing capacity
No diesel or hybrid

Some more Gladiator articles

Instead of the Gladiator Rubicon buyers could also look at:

Dual Cab 4WD Utes are popular. However, the Gladiator Rubicon is different to the mainstream 4WD Dual Cab Utes.

Buyers could look at Ford Ranger Raptor, Toyota 70 Series LandCruiser, RAM 1500, Chev Silverado ZR2, Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior, Toyota HiLux Rogue, Mazda BT-50 Thunder.

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Jeep Gladiator Rubicon 4WD Ute 2023 Review

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