It’s well-known I’m a huge fan of Jeep’s Wrangler Unlimited and, more recently, the long-anticipated Gladiator. I recently spent a week with a Gladiator Rubicon equipped with the 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel, and I can say it’s made me even more of a fan.
The diesel is a significantly updated version of the engine that’s been available in the Ram pickup for several years. Among other tweaks, the block has been modified to reduce weight by 15 pounds while increasing stiffness. Power in the Gladiator is 260 hp and 442 lb.-ft., the latter available virtually full-fat from 1400rpm past 2800. Now that is a proper truck engine—none of this 4500rpm torque peak silliness common to so many gasoline V6 “truck” engines these days. It’s mated with one transmission, a superb ZF eight speed, honestly the only transmission it needs (I know, I know).
Besides effortless off-idle power in traffic and on 35-degree climbs alike, the turbodiesel returns excellent fuel economy. First I calibrated the computer’s fuel economy estimates the old-fashioned analog way and found them to be accurate within three percent. In a week of mostly around-town driving, plus a strenuous day of low-range use, the Gladiator turned a tick over 23 mpg. On the level stretch of 65mph highway out to our desert place, the computer bounced back and forth between 29 and 30mpg. That’s outstanding in a 5,000-poundish (with the 270-pound-heavier diesel) truck on 33-inch all-terrain tires.
Cynics point out how many hundreds of thousand of miles one needs with that economy to make up for the $4,000 premium of the diesel. They’re missing the point, which is that a high-torque turbodiesel is simply a better engine for a 4x4 truck, fuel economy notwithstanding. And once the pain of the initial price is gone, you’re still left with the long-term satisfaction of mid-size sedan frugality and a 500-mile freeway range.
Accepting the inevitable compromise in breakover angle of its 19-inch longer wheelbase (compared to a Wrangler Unlimited), the Gladiator diesel proved totally unflappable on a well-known four-wheel-drive circuit in Redington Pass east of Tucson. It even took the challenging Three Feathers rock face in stride, helped by excellent marshalling from my friend Brian DeArmon. Elsewhere, despite the wheelbase, I only made solid rock contact twice—and those were both on the front radius arm mount—user error as I came down off boulders too quickly. The center skid plate (which desperately needs a stouter aftermarket solution) only scraped lightly a couple of times.
The only downside to the truck I drove—and it is significant—is payload. The highest payload available in a gasoline-engined Gladiator is an okay 1700 pounds. The diesel in the Gladiator Sport drops that to 1,325 pounds, and the diesel/Rubicon option cuts it even further to a measly 1,075 pounds—not very much for a pickup. Subtract the weight of four occupants and you’re left with less than 500 pounds of actual cargo.
Personal opinion, not suggesting this, do not attempt at home: Given that the Sport and Rubicon share virtually everything load-capacity-oriented except springs and shocks, if I were lucky enough to own my test Gladiator and wanted to put something like an Alu-Cab shell on it, I’d have no hesitation in simply uprating the rear springs and shocks to handle the load.
In a world where proper body-on-boxed-frame, solid-axle, expedition-worthy 4x4s are disappearing, FCA continues to work magic on the Wrangler line, bringing it up to modern safety and comfort standards while retaining its capability, durability, and, last but not least, damn good looks.
