2020 Jeep Gladiator

My 2013 Jeep Rubicon had a recall for the airbag inflator.  So I made an appointment at my local dealer Bob Baker Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Carlsbad  to take my Rubicon in and after talking with the tech he said the repair was only going to take an hour or two.  So I thought this is a great time to test drive the new Gladiator and see how this new Jeep truck drives.  So I gave service my keys and walked on over to scope out the new rides.  I figured the sales team would find me quickly as they always do, the minute you start looking in windows of vehicles at any dealer lot.  So Jim found me and I told him about my Jeep being in service and wanting to take the Gladiator for a spin he agreed.  So we walked around and looked on the lot to access the vehicles they had on hand.  There were 4 gladiators, a lifted red one that was buried in the lot. And 3 white ones with various modifications, One with an overlander kit, and a nicer model with cool rims and offroad tires and a plain one with street tires. Of course the pretty stock plain vehicle with street tires was the easiest to get out of the lot so we decided that would be the one we test drove.  So he did all is prep info with my license etc and then handed me the keys.  So Ginger and I hopped in the two front seats.  We checked out the new dash and windshield.  The 2020 Jeep windshield has a more aerodynamic slant to it which probably helps with noise and wind resistance.

 

The new dash looks good, the screens are newer and much easier to read.

This particular rig had heated seats and steering wheel which is nice in cold climates.  But here in Southern California, we need the cooled steering wheel option, that sucker bakes in the sun in these parts.  My Rubicon now only has heated seats and they are just the 2 front seats. There are a few new buttons that Jim pointed out like the A with and Arrow and the word off.  This apparently turns off the Auto shut down mode that new cars do when they come to a complete stop, which is supposed to help fuel economy.  Which I have never understood because I was always told starting your motor uses the most gas.  So to me shutting it off an on intermittently does not make fuel sense. But feel free to comment below and school me on this.

So you will see the window controls in the middle below and also 4 new built-in Auxillary switches for that winch and lightbar you want. So those can be added there nicely.  You will also notice a new spot called media this has a USB plugin and a few others. I should have taken a shot of it open too.

The Shifters are nice looking they look more like a traditional shifter than the typical t-top automatic shifter which is nice. The leather boot is a nice addition.  I had an issue with my rubicon where I had to activate this little transmission lock on my shifter and mine has this piece missing now.  So I like the look of the leather boots much better.

 

The small back window does open.

The Overlander edition has this handy outlet in the bed of the truck, which would be nice for a camper or if you are transporting a welder or generator etc.

 

The bed of the truck also has this cool feature, click to play:

Which is a nice addition.  One of my other favorite add -ons which I didn’t photograph is the door hinges now have automatic slow closures.  So that funny foot door grab thing that all jeep owners do when they open their door, and you stick your foot out just enough to catch the bottom of the door before it flies out and hits the car next to you.  Now you don’t have to do that anymore jeep has solved that for you finally.  I can’t tell you how many times one of my kids or visiting kids have gotten out of the door and that door has flung open and just about nailed the car next to me.

 

As for driving the gladiator, as I said earlier I was driving an edition with street tires (not the one in the pics) So the jeep was very quite.  The steering overall felt very tight and responsive more like an sports car then your typical jeep which felt nice.  When I turned right out of the dealership and on to the street and gunned the motor I did do a little burnout.  You can feel the motor has more power and is more responsive to my lead foot. It feels peppier than my current rubicon. When I turned the vehicle around and headed back up the step grade to the dealer I romped on the accelator and the getup you want was there.  The jeep accelerated nicely and quickly up the steep incline.

 

The Gladiators come with two motors a 3.6 L V6 and  I believe a smaller motor with a turbo. I couldn’t find the specs on the web site. The Gladiator has a towing capability of 7,650 lb Towing Capacity. Which is a lot more than the 3500 lbs that my current Rubicons tow capacity.

 

Another feature I saw that I thought was great is they did away with those dumb roof screws that you had to take out when you take the T-tops off. So now there is just toggles like in the front center of the roof in the back portion and you just turn those and lift out.  No more odd giant screws to contend with or question where to put them.

 

Which means this is possible. I love the idea of getting an airstream or vintage trailer and checking out the countryside or hitting car shows across the country with a trailer.

As for the backseat.  I thought it was more comfortable than the back seat in my 2013.  The seat felt slightly more angled and wrapped to your back a little.  The one in my Jeep is very upright and can be uncomfortable being so upright.  The new one feels a bit better.  When I looked behind the seat I saw nothing except the back wall of the Jeep.  In the lower portion which was below the seat there is a small space shown below with a speaker in it.  This wasn’t on the one I looked at. But if you are hoping to store things behind the back seat of your Jeep or anywhere besides in the bed, you can pretty much forget it.  There just isn’t any extra room.

Here are a few things I saw on the website but did not see in person.

 

Behind the back seat

 

 

 

 

 

On the web site, it shows this storage space under the back seat.  I was not shown this nor did I look at that space. So I am not sure if this is a paid add on or what.

 

Overall I really liked the new Gladiator.  It seemed very comfortable to drive and had the pep you want driving around Southern California.  And if you want to pull something it’s got the ability.  I really would like to take one off-road and see how they do out at Borrego.  The closest I could get to this with the dealer, was pulling it off the curb.  Wouldn’t it be cool if 4×4 dealers had an off-road course you could drive?  REI up in Seattle use to have something like this. They had a dirt and rock Mountain Bike path around their flagship store that you could test ride mountain bikes and see how they really perform.  It would be fun to take a few Gladiators out to the proving grounds in Borrego this winter and “play” with them.  I tell yah only some know the real feeling of taking your Rubicon out on a trail and having it crawl up rocks, there is nothing quite like it.  Cheers to Jeep I think the Gladiator will be a success.  Want to read our review of our journey out to the Proving Grounds in our 2013 Rubicon we did for Drive Line. You can check it out here.