2022 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon review

The Jeep Gladiator is a super cool and super capable off-roader but, despite its huge size, large tray and rugged design, it falls short on towing and load capacities afforded by smaller, cheaper and more popular dual-cab utes. So what is it then?

As Jeep Australia tells it, the Gladiator is a “lifestyle vehicle and not a workhorse”.

Don’t hold that as a slight against the big beast, however. There’s a lot to love, even around town, when it comes to the off-road ready Jeep Gladiator Rubicon.

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Pricing and Features

Jeep’s Gladiator is offered on the Australian market in two variants; the Night Eagle – featuring an array of black styling accents – and the Rubicon tested here, fitted to the hilt with off-road gear including super low 4.0:1 gearing, selectable locking differentials (front and rear), electronic swaybar disconnect, and Fox aluminium shocks.

The Gladiator Night Eagle asks $68,450, while the go-anywhere specialist Rubicon, driven here, begins at $76,950 (both prices before on-road costs).

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Just one powertrain configuration is offered in Australia, blending a 209kW/347Nm 3.6-litre petrol V6 Pentastar engine with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission in both variants.

The driveline offers full- and part-time four-wheel drive with high- and low-range gearing.

Diesel drinkers hoping for the American-market 3.0-litre V6 EcoDiesel engine will be sad to learn that right-hand drive examples of the Gladiator are not compatible with the diesel mill, and Jeep has yet to comment on whether the recently-revealed twin-turbo 3.0-litre ‘Hurricane’ petrol V6 will come Down Under.

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All Gladiators come standard with an 8.4-inch touchscreen display featuring both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and satellite navigation.

There is also a seven-inch driver information display, LED front and rear lights, black three-piece modular hardtop, nine-speaker Alpine Premium Audio, and keyless access and start.

The fully-loaded Rubicon adds the aforementioned off-road gear plus 17-inch Granite Crystal Alloy wheels shod in 32-inch BFGoodrich off-road Tyres, Off Road Plus driving mode, steel rear bumper, leather-trimmed seats, shift knob and parking brake handle, as well as heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

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Standard-fit safety equipment includes forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic detection, a reversing camera and parking sensors at both ends.

Comfort and Space

Jumping (perhaps literally) into the high-riding driver’s seat faces occupants with a well-equipped and largely well-laid-out cabin.

Those who decry haptic controls and touchscreens will feel right at home here, as apart from the central infotainment touchscreen there’s a button for virtually everything.

The upright dash has a brutalist feel, looking rugged and almost industrial, but it fits with the Gladiator’s weekend warrior spirit.

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Look closer, and there’s a measured level of consideration throughout with a nice leather-covered dashtop, stylish red fascia and a durable rubberised material proliferating throughout the array of controls. Form can indeed follow function.

Large, supportive and solid-feeling front seats provide good under-thigh support. Visibility on all fronts is good through the large upright glasshouse.

While the cabin feels nice and airy, colleagues have remarked that it can feel a little snug for larger drivers, especially the footwell that is impeded by the transmission tunnel and can feel cramped with no dead pedal or resting place for your left foot.

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Netted door pockets offer storage for bulky items, and there’s a two-tiered storage system under the central armrest with a shallow tray up top, and a deep bin below.

Moving to the second row, the Gladiator’s long wheelbase (3487mm) affords ample seating space for occupants in comparison to the shorter Wrangler. Seats again are large and supportive, and deliver ample knee and toe room for adult occupants.

Ingenious stowage spaces under the fold-up rear seats make for practical storage of any dirty/muddy equipment and even contain a thoughtful storage solution for the bolts removed when disassembling the roof, doors and windshield (yes, you can do that too!).

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This speaks to the Gladiator’s intended purpose as a hearty enabler in getting you outdoors and to places you’ve never been. Jeep wants you to get this car dirty, and has made thoughtful considerations for that everywhere.

Durable rubber floormats feature drain plugs that exit through the floorpan, for when the going gets really dirty, or you've taken full advantage of its factory-rated wading depth of 760mm.

Further out back, the sizeable tray measures 1531mm long, marginally shorter than the outgoing Ford Ranger, with a tailgate load width of 1270mm. It narrows slightly between the wheel arches to 1137mm, with a loading height of 885mm when the tailgate is folded down.

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The sticking point for many hardcore load-luggers is that the Gladiator Rubicon’s towing capacity is pegged at just 2721kg, significantly less than the battery of ubiquitous dual-cab utes on the market.

Ultimate payload, despite an increase in 2021, comes in at a comparatively meagre 693kg and that will come into play once you start adding passengers and accompanying gear.

Again, this is a ‘lifestyle’ vehicle – a warrior for the weekend, not the worksite. There’s plenty of practical versatility on offer for adventure activities like camping trips, mountain bikes and scuba gear but that limited payload means you'll have to pack carefully if planning a longer overlanding trip.

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On the Road

First impressions of the Gladiator were abrupt and took some acclimatisation.

Crossing Melbourne at 100km/h on the freeway took some getting used to. The Rubicon feels positively supersized in comparison to other traffic – you’ll be looking down at the roofs of non-lifted Ford Rangers and Toyota HiLuxes. It also loves to pick up a cross-wind, I tell ya!

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The steering is very slow, better suited to accurately traversing off-road terrain at a crawl. At freeway speeds, however, lots of steering inputs and corrections are required to keep the big Jeep in its lane.

Some online research suggests that there is a sizeable pool of owners out there (primarily from North America) who seem to believe this is some sort of critical factory fault, with pages and pages of forum discussions and various purported dealer and aftermarket fixes. I’m not convinced.

To my hands, butt and mind, this is merely an inherent part of what the vehicle is. It’s a large body-on-frame ute, with malleable all-terrain tyres, slow steering better suited to accurate low-speed crawling, and all of the aerodynamic properties of a toaster.

So yeah, things are a bit vague at high speeds. You get used to it rather quickly though and, if anything, it helps keep you alert.

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More pertinently, considering just how capable the Gladiator Rubicon is away from the tarmac, its on-road manners are actually a rather remarkable achievement on Jeep’s behalf.

The Fox shocks are a boon over even the most poorly maintained surfaces, delivering supple compliance over otherwise bone-jarring contusions.

Occasionally, over fine high-frequency corrugations, however, the long-travel shocks can deliver a somewhat uncomfortable see-saw action with lots of vertical body movements and some minor head toss.

As is to be expected, the BFGoodrich KM3 all-terrain tyres produce some road roar over coarse-chip tarmac, although the prevailing backing track is often wind noise, with a noticeable whistle generated – we suspect due to the removable roof panels – above 60km/h.

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The front end will be the first to give way should you approach a corner with too much pace. It eases into understeer quite gingerly as you wind on lock and is very manageable. Coast through a corner with a bit of momentum and the Gladiator has a tendency to dive off-throttle and roll.

Combined with the car’s high centre of gravity, this can deliver an unsettling feeling as the car ‘leans over’ the shoulder of the outside front tyre.

The car re-centres itself quite suddenly as you unwind lock, producing some uncomfortable head-toss as front contact patches re-engage the tarmac and the car jolts upright.

The automatic eight-speed transmission is intelligent and relaxed by default, though is well-calibrated in keeping the V6 engine in the zone it works best. Lower gearing than the Night Hawk further contributes to a feeling of sprightliness, at the slight expense of fuel economy.

We registered a 13.7L/100km over our test period, despite Jeep’s 12.4L/100km claim.

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We found the V6 a little hesitant upon pick up from idle, with most of its torque and power delivered higher in the rev range.

It's not fast per se, but once up and running, the Gladiator pulls strongly with the automatic gearbox neatly shifting up gears and keeping the V6 working happily within its torque band.

The Gladiator Rubicon has adequate stopping power, although arresting 2242kg from any speed requires some forethought and the smoothest progress comes from keeping your eyes up and ahead and easing onto the brake early.

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Yes, there are some dynamic foibles to be found on road, but keeping the Gladiator’s intended purpose in mind, these are minor concessions given the payoff it can deliver once the tarmac ends.

Off the Road

You can read a more in-depth off-road review from our colleagues over at 4X4 Australia, but we’d be remiss not to have a go for ourselves.

It’s no secret that the Gladiator does its best work off-road, after all.

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I’m as green as green can be when it comes to off-roading, but the Gladiator made me look and feel like a hero.

It can handle poorly graded dirt roads with surprising pace, although there is a fair bit of rattling going on due to the modular nature of its roof and body.

At speed, over small crests, the front end does get light and can pull rather suddenly if any steering lock has been inputted as the front end comes down and the tyres grab hold of terra firma.

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The 'Off Road Plus' button near the differential lockers and swaybar disconnect is a catchall setting for off-road driving.

With Off Road Plus engaged, traction control is disabled, while various other elements like throttle response and transmission shift points are optimised for off-road use.

You can switch between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive modes while moving, and the gearbox is very quick to engage low range.

It’s here that previous idiosyncrasies, such as the slow steering, bear fruit. The Gladiator Rubicon is a hugely capable package, allowing a newbie like me to tackle some pretty gnarly climbs and descents that would have otherwise grounded a bog-standard HiLux.

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Ownership

All new Jeeps are supported by a five-year, 100,000km warranty and all Jeep petrol models follow a servicing schedule with intervals of 12 months or 12,000km (whichever comes first).

The first five services, however, are capped at a max cost of $399.

Australia's Gladiator range is a petrol-only affair, with an 83-litre fuel tank as standard. Jeep claims a 12.4L/100km on the combined cycle, although we calculated an as-tested consumption of 13.6L/100 over a week of urban and highway travel, as well as some off-road driving.

The Jeep Gladiator bears a three-star rating from ANCAP, as tested in 2019. It achieved 60 per cent in adult occupant protection, 80 per cent in child occupant protection, 49 per cent in vulnerable road user protection and 51 per cent in safety assist.

VERDICT

The Gladiator is an experiential car, a charismatic tool that encourages you to venture further off the beaten track – and helps you do it, too.

The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon may present itself as a niche vehicle, but there’s a lot of appeal here for those who love the great outdoors. It’s easy to point at its towing capacity and payload as criticisms, but that’s not what it’s about. The Gladiator is an experiential car, a charismatic tool that encourages you to venture further off the beaten track – and helps you do it, too.

Combined with the ability to chuck things like mountain bikes, wetsuits, or weekend camping gear in the tray while your mates jump aboard, this makes the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon is an easy recommendation for all manner of outdoor hobbyists.

We can think of few factory cars, even at this price point, that will go as far as the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon when the tarmac stops.

It’s a Jeep thing, alright. I think I’m finally beginning to understand.

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2022 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon specifications